Opinion ID: 1752786
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Dealer and Steele

Text: Like the Manufacturer, the Dealer and Steele argue only that the trial court erred in refusing to direct a verdict in their favor. It is the Dealer and Steele's argument that the Martins failed to present sufficient evidence of certain of the elements necessary to establish fraud under Ala.Code 1975, § 6-5-102, and, therefore, that the trial court should have directed a verdict in their favor. Again, we disagree. There is evidence that the Dealer and Steele knew that a serious gear shifting problem existed in the new tractor that the Martins had ordered. After the Dealer installed the brake system, its mechanics discovered an electrical wiring defect that resulted in a failure of energy to the brake. The service manager called the Manufacturer, but got no help. Thereupon, the Dealer rewired the tractor more or less in the dark. This cured the energy problem with the brake, but it did not correct the gear shifting problem. The Martins came to take delivery of the tractor, paid an additional $27,500, and signed a note for a balance of $87,672. It has been settled for many years that a seller who misrepresents a material fact regarding a vehicle being sold will be liable on the basis of fraud. Likewise, this Court has addressed the question of liability resulting from suppression, holding in a particular case that liability results where the seller suppresses a material fact ... which such seller was under obligation to communicate, in relation to the physical condition of the car, and particularly its batteries, as that was an inducement to the plaintiff to enter into the contract to purchase. Standard Motor Car Co. v. McMahon, 203 Ala. 158, at 160, 82 So. 188, at 190 (1919). The Court in McMahon continued: This rule has particular application to the representations as to the condition of the electric batteries of the automobile, a physical condition that could not be known by the plaintiff. 203 Ala. at 160, 82 So. at 190.