Court Opinion

ID: 9739727
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:20:09.718097+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:13.660264
License: Public Domain

BAKER, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. Although I agree with the majority that the statute places the responsibility for the risk of engine/mechanical breakdown due to ordinary wear and tear upon the rental car company, I cannot agree with the majority's construction of IND. CODE $ 24-4-9-18. The majority apparently holds that a renter may never be held responsible for any mechanical damage, as opposed to physical damage, which does not result from collision or theft. However, under such a construction, the renter would not be held responsible for mechanical damage to the vehicle intentionally caused by him which did not result from a collision. Thus, even if a renter put sugar in the gas tank of a rental car, the renter could not be held responsible for any resulting mechanical damage to the engine. I cannot agree that the legislature, in enacting I.C. § 24-4-9-18, would have intended such a result.
In the present case, the small claims court found that Guzman committed vandalism by wilfully inflicting damage to the car's engine by continuing to drive it after realizing that it was not operating properly. Given this finding and in recognition of our deferential standard of review, I would affirm the small claims court's judgment.