Opinion ID: 2607985
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the directed verdict for the manufacturer and the distributor of the vehicle.

Text: The rental agency has also appealed from the trial court's granting of a directed verdict in favor of the manufacturer and distributor against the rental agency's cross-claim. The question raised here is whether enough evidence was introduced so that the jury could have found that a defect existed when the manufacturer and distributor sold the car in question. [7] The factual issue for the jury would be whether any defect in the car was the result of a defect in structure or design attributable to the manufacturer or distributor or, alternatively, was the result of a failure to maintain the car on the part of the rental agency thus exculpating the manufacturer and distributor. If there was enough evidence from which a jury might infer that reasonable care was exercised by the rental agency in the maintenance of the car, then the jury could have found that a defect was present at the time the product left the hands of a manufacturer and the distributor. Whether or not this was the case would depend upon the jury's evaluation of the nature of the accident and the length of time the car had been in the rental agency's possession; all of which influence the weight of the inference to be drawn, if any, that the defect which caused the accident existed when the car passed from the manufacturer to the distributor to the rental agency. In the present case there is no need to determine what length of time must pass after the final sale of the product or how many miles need be driven before it is no longer reasonable for a jury to hold the manufacturer or distributor liable for a defect. See Dagley v. Armstrong Rubber Co., 344 F.2d 245 (7th Cir.1965); Carney v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 309 F.2d 300 (4th Cir.1962). This car had been rented only five times and driven 2829 miles. Therefore, we hold that if there was sufficient evidence of a defect to go to the jury with respect to the rental agency, considering the nature of the accident and the testimony of the user, there was likewise sufficient evidence of a defect to go to the jury with respect to the manufacturer and the distributor. Accordingly, the case must be remanded for a new trial only on the question of the manufacturer's and distributor's liability under the cross-claim. The amount of the plaintiff's damages having been determined by the jury to be $90,500.00, and there being no error with respect thereto, the plaintiff's judgment against the defendant rental agency is affirmed. It is so ordered.