Commercial Code Bars Revocation of Vehicle Sales Contract Absent Sufficient Opportunity to Repair Defects

A seller sold a luxury motor coach without telling the buyer that the vehicle had previously been returned to the manufacturer to fix electrical problems. Those electrical problems were not, in fact, fixed when the coach was sold. The buyer brought the coach to both the seller and the manufacturer for repairs, but neither was able to fix the electrical problems. In the buyer’s suit for recision of the sales contract, the district court held that the buyer failed to give the seller sufficient opportunity to cure the defect before revoking acceptance because the buyer only brought the coach to the dealership once. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the buyer was required under O.C.G.A. § 11-2-608(1)(b) to provide the seller with a reasonable opportunity to repair the coach prior to revocation. The Court of Appeals agreed with the district court that the buyer failed to provide the seller with an opportunity to cure. The court held that providing only one opportunity to repair before the extent of the defect was fully known was not reasonable. The Court also rejected the buyer’s argument that a futility exception should excuse the failure to provide an opportunity to cure, holding that there was no evidence the buyer knew the seller would have been unable to repair the coach if given sufficient opportunity prior to revocation.

Car Transportation Brokerage Company, Inc. v. John Bleakley R.V. Center, Inc., 322 Fed. Appx. 891; 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 7661 (2009).

Counsel for Defendant: Diane Owens and Brad Wolff