Court Opinion

ID: 9791994
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 02:21:42.254591+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:37:40.027932
License: Public Domain

CARDINE, Chief Justice,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I concur with the result reached by the majority in this case and, for the most part, concur with the reasoning by which it arrived at that result. However, because the majority has deviated from sound and customary principles of statutory construction in its treatment of Wyoming’s “Lemon Law,” I am compelled to take issue with that portion of the court’s opinion.
W.S. 40-17-101(a)(i) (June 1989 Cum. Supp.) provides:
“ ‘Consumer’ means any person:
“(A) Who purchases a motor vehicle, other than for purposes [purpose] of resale, to which an express warranty applies; or “(B) To whom a motor vehicle is transferred during the term of an express warranty applicable to the motor vehicle; or
“(C) Entitled by the terms of an express warranty applicable to a motor vehicle to enforce it.”
While I agree with the court’s assertion that subsections (A), (B) and (C) of this provision clearly extend statutory protections to three distinct classes of consumers, I depart from its reasoning in distinguishing those classes.
The court’s opinion assumes that all consumers protected by this statute share two characteristics: they are all “purchasers” of vehicles, and they are all entitled to enforce an express warranty. The court reasons that, if the statute’s application is confined to new vehicles, little remains to differentiate between the three consumer classes. It concludes that subsections (A), (B) and (C) are redundant under such a reading, thereby rendering the statute ambiguous. Accordingly, the court abandons the plain and usual meaning of the term “new vehicle” and, instead, defines it as a vehicle carrying a “new vehicle warranty.” By such means, the majority differentiates between the three classes of consumers based on three different circumstances under which they have received such warranties: (1) first purchasers of new vehicles which carry the customary new car warranty; (2) subsequent purchasers of such vehicles who become such prior to the lapse of the original new car warranty; and (3) those subsequent purchasers who obtain such vehicles from a dealer after the lapse of the original warranty but who receive equivalent warranty protection.
Because the plain meaning of the statutory language clearly delineates and distinguishes the three protected classes of consumers without redundancy or ambiguity, these contortions were wholly unnecessary. Contrary to the majority’s analysis, I perceive these “consumers” to share but a single attribute: they all have some interest in a “new vehicle,” as that term is commonly understood, which carries the customary new car warranty. They are not all “purchasers,” as the majority suggests. In fact, the ownership interest enjoyed by a purchaser distinguishes the “consumer” defined in subsection (A) from the two alternative consumer classes de*866fined in subsections (B) and (C). Subsection (B) refers to a non-purchasing party to whom some ownership interest in the new vehicle has nevertheless been transferred during the term of the original new car warranty. Clearly, that subsection describes the circumstances of lenders having a security interest in the vehicle. It is equally clear that subsection (C) has extended the protections of the statute to those without any such ownership interest in the vehicle. That is, the legislature has included among “consumers” not only purchasers and non-purchasing transferees of new vehicles but also those leasing new vehicles.
Reading the definition of “consumer” in this manner achieves a reasonable result from the plain meaning of the statutory language and avoids any of the redundancy or ambiguity perceived by the majority. The Wyoming “Lemon Law,” W.S. 40-17-101, is restricted in its application to new cars only, providing in part as follows:
“(b) If a new motor vehicle does not conform to all applicable express warranties and the consumer reports the nonconformity to the manufacturer, its agent or its authorized dealer within one (1) year following the original delivery of the motor vehicle to the consumer, the manufacturer, its agent or authorized dealer shall make repairs necessary to conform the vehicle to the express warranties. The necessary repairs shall be made even if the one (1) year period has expired.
“(c) If the manufacturer, its agents or authorized dealers are unable to conform the motor vehicle to any applicable express warranty by repairing or correcting any defect or condition which substantially impairs the use and fair market value of the motor vehicle to the consumer after a reasonable number of attempts, the manufacturer shall:
“(i) Replace the motor vehicle with a new or comparable motor vehicle of the same type and similarly equipped; or “(ii) Accept return of the motor vehicle * * *.” (emphasis added)
A 1983 Buick, having 6700 miles on its odometer when purchased in 1985 by its second owner, is not a new car. I, therefore, respectfully dissent from that portion of the majority opinion holding that appellant is entitled to the protection of Wyoming’s “Lemon Law.”
I concur in the resulting remand of this case, nevertheless, because recovery may be had by plaintiff under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.