Opinion ID: 2063931
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Validity of Odometer Disclosure Regulations

Text: The NHTSA issued its odometer disclosure regulations in 1973. Included in the regulations was language providing that the transferor of a vehicle having a gross vehicle weight rating ... of more than 16,000 lbs. need not disclose the vehicle's odometer mileage. 49 C.F.R. § 580.6(a)(1). The majority of the Court of Appeals agreed with the plaintiffs that the NHTSA regulation was void because it conflicted with what it understood as the statutory mandate requiring disclosure by any transferor ... of a motor vehicle. Because the Congress defined motor vehicles to include semi-tractors, the Court of Appeals followed the reasoning of two federal district courts, Lair v. Lewis Serv. Ctr., 428 F. Supp. 778 (D.Neb. 1977) and Davis v. Dils Motor Co., 566 F. Supp. 1360 (S.D.W.Va. 1983), and concluded that the NHTSA had no authority to exempt semi-tractors from the general disclosure requirements of 49 C.F.R. § 580.5. [3] In dissent, Judge Friedlander argued that the regulation was valid, and that the defendant was therefore not subject to liability for failing to disclose the mileage to the plaintiff. See Mitchell v. White Motor Credit Corp., 627 F. Supp. 1241 (M.D.Tenn. 1986). While we are inclined to adopt the reasoning of Judge Friedlander and the Mitchell court, see Speedway, 627 N.E.2d at 1337-38 (Friedlander, J., dissenting), we find it unnecessary to decide whether the truck exemption is valid.