Court Opinion

ID: 9697387
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 19:15:22.857808+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:27:19.878636
License: Public Domain

ZAPPALA, Justice,
dissenting.
I am compelled to dissent from the opinion of the Court because I believe a number of serious flaws in the reasoning lead the Court to an incorrect result.
First, the majority finds that the warranty in this ease, by specifying a 12 month/12,000 mile duration, “explicitly extends to future performance of the goods.” See Opinion at 431. I do not follow the logic. Granted, a warranty that explicitly extends to future performance of goods will by definition in most cases specify a certain time period. It does not follow, however, that because a certain time period is specified a warranty necessarily applies to future performance of the goods. The scope of the warranty — what is promised — may be something other than a representation about how the goods will perform and yet still contain a specified time period.
Here, the promise is to repair or adjust defective parts for 12 months or 12,000 miles. This is not the same as a promise *437that the car and its parts will remain free of defects for 12 months or 12,000 miles. The latter promise “explicitly extends to future performance of the goods;” the former promise does not.
The majority applies a faulty grammatical analysis of the phrase “where a warranty explicitly extends to future performance of the goods” to expand the reach of 13 Pa.C.S. § 2725(b). It is true that the adverb “explicitly” modifies the verb “extends” and not the noun “warranty,” and thus it is the extension that must be explicit. In this context, however, the verb “extend” does not merely describe temporal duration, as the majority suggests. Rather, it describes scope or application. The conceptual difficulty with this case is that the Appellant characterized the warranty as a representation “that said vehicle would be free from defects in material and workmanship, for at least 12 months or 12,000 miles,” Complaint ¶ 8, in order to bring this action within the exception of 13 Pa.C.S. § 2725(b), when in fact the warranty was not so worded.
Second, the majority, states that “the essence of Appellee’s position is that the document here is not a warranty, but a promise to repair or replace defective parts.” Opinion at 1176. In doing so, it sets up a straw man, mis-characterizing the Appellee’s position in order to more easily refute it. The essence of the Appellee’s argument is not that the document is not a warranty, but that it is not a warranty within the definition of 13 Pa.C.S. § 2313.1
In the Uniform Commercial Code, the term “warranty” is given a very specific definition. “Any affirmation of fact or promise made by the seller to the buyer which relates to the *438goods and becomes a basis of the bargain creates an express warranty that the goods shall conform to the affirmation or promise.” 13 Pa.C.S. § 2313(a)(1) (emphasis added). Likewise, “[a]ny description of the goods which is made a part of the bargain creates an express warranty that the goods shall conform to the description,” 13 Pa.C.S. § 2313(a)(2), and “[a]ny sample or model which is made part of the basis of the bargain creates an express warranty that the whole of the goods shall conform to the sample or model.” 13 Pa.C.S. § 2313(a)(3).
A warranty, in this sense, establishes as a term of the agreement certain qualities of the goods being sold. If the goods actually delivered do not possess such qualities, the buyer has remedies for breach of warranty. It is thus entirely sensible that in setting out when a cause of action accrues, the Code states that “[a] breach of warranty occurs when tender of delivery is made, except that where a warranty explicitly extends to future performance of the goods and discovery of the breach must await the time of such performance the cause of action accrues when the breach is or should have been discovered.” 13 Pa.C.S. § 2725(b). Since a warranty as defined by the Code is a promise as to qualities of the goods, if the goods, when tendered, possess the qualities promised, the warranty has been satisfied; if the goods, when tendered, do not possess the promised qualities, the warranty has been breached. In the limited case where the promise is that the goods will have certain qualities, or will perform in a certain way, at a time beyond when the goods are delivered, it cannot be determined at the time of delivery whether the goods possess the promised qualities. Because the promise endures over a period of time, whether a breach has occurred can only be determined when the specified time has passed.
Here, in the document captioned “1982 Chevrolet New Car Limited Warranty”, the seller did not promise that the car would perform without defect for twelve months or 12,000 miles; in fact, the “Limited Warranty” contained no specific promise or affirmation of fact relating to the car. The only promise was that any repairs and adjustments to correct *439defects in materials or workmanship would be made free of charge during the specified period. This promise related to the seller’s obligations under the contract, not to the quality of the goods. Although this document is a warranty in the general sense in that it guarantees or promises something, it is not a warranty as to the quality of the car or as to its performance.
Indeed, as the majority notes, “although ‘repair and replace’ warranties are not traditional warranties, they do fit within the modern concept of warranty,” and a document such as the one involved here fits within the definition of “warranty” under the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2301(6)(b). Opinion at 432-33. This, I believe, is the ultimate source of the difficulty in this case. General Motors, selling its product in a national market, produces a standard document that includes a promise to repair or adjust defective parts. Under federal law, such a promise is properly captioned a warranty. Unfortunately, it does not “fit[ ] neatly within the UCC view of warranties.” Id. When an action is later brought under the UCC, GM suffers the consequence of having the “difficulty interpreting the agreement,” id. at 432, be resolved against it, the drafter.
I think it entirely unjust to apply this rule of construction in these circumstances. As noted above, the Appellant miseharacterized the nature of the warranty in order to bring it within the exception to the limitations period under § 2725(b) of the UCC. To my mind, the Appellant is as much responsible for the “difficulty interpreting the agreement” as the Appellee. Had the action been brought under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2310(d)(1)(A), the “difficulty” would not have arisen. The warranty could then have been analyzed as a promise as to the Appellee’s conduct and a determination made whether the failure, or practical inability, to repair the vehicle constituted a breach of that promise.
This analysis also avoids the “problem” identified by the majority with respect to warranties of duration longer than four years. Id. at 431, n. 8; id. at 433-35. Because such warranties set forth promises as to the seller’s conduct during *440a specified period of time, any breach of such promise will occur, and therefore any cause of action for breach of such promise will accrue, only after the lapse of time. Thus, for example, under a seven year/seventy thousand mile “repair and adjust” warranty, if a defect appeared in the fifth year, there would no longer be an action for breach of warranty to claim that the car was not of the quality bargained for, but the seller would still be obligated by the terms of the contract to make the necessary repairs or adjustments. Refusal to do so would be actionable as a breach, the cause of action accruing at the time of the breach and the limitation period extending four years from that point.
In the case presently before the Court, if the defect was such that the car delivered was not in fact possessed of a quality that had been bargained for, a breach of warranty action pursuant to the UCC could have been maintained. Such claim, however, would have to have been brought within four years of the date of delivery. Because this action was not commenced within four years of delivery, the Appellant could no longer make such a claim. Instead, the Appellant attempted to make the seller’s promise into something that it plainly is not — a guarantee of the future performance of the car — in order to bring the action within the exception of the statutory limitation period.
Had the Appellant alleged that the seller breached the promise that it had made, the action would have been timely and the grant of summary judgment would have been improper. The Appellant made no such allegation. It was not alleged that the seller refused to make repairs or needed adjustments to correct defects in material or workmanship; nor was it alleged that any such refusal was the cause of the Appellant’s damages.
By obligingly adopting the Appellant’s transmogrification of this action in order to secure a remedy, the majority has, I fear, thrown the entire law of warranty under the Code in Pennsylvania into confusion.
I dissent and would affirm the grant of summary judgment.

. The majority also errs in perceiving an internal inconsistency in the appellee’s argument based on its erroneous characterization of the argument. The appellee argues that if the warranty is construed as a promise about the quality or condition of the car, it does not "explicitly extend to future performance,” therefore an action under that theory had to be commenced within four years of the date of delivery. If, however, the warranty is construed as a promise to repair, I believe the Appellee would concede that the four year limitation would not have commenced until this promise had been breached, if the complaint had alleged this as the basis for the action.