Sarah Saunders was interested in purchasing a new sport utility vehicle. Using the Web page of a large volume dealer in a nearby city, she provided the dealer with the make, model, color, and primary options for the vehicle she was seeking. The dealer indicated that he could obtain a vehicle meeting Sarah's specifications, quoted her a very favorable price, and offered to deliver the vehicle to her at the apartment house where she lived. Sarah accepted the offer and wired a deposit to the dealer. When the vehicle arrived, the truck driver refused to unload it from the car carrier or let Sarah inspect it until she had given him a certified check for the balance due. Then he gave her the title to the vehicle, unloaded it, and drove away. Sarah subsequently discovered a number of scratches in the paint and that some of the options she had bargained for—such as a CD player—were not on the vehicle. When she complained to the dealer, he offered her a monetary "allowance" to cover the defects. She also discovered that the vehicle had a tendency to stall and have to be restarted when she stopped at intersections. Despite repeated trips to the nearby city to have the dealer remedy the problem, those efforts have been unavailing. Sarah has indicated that she wants to return the vehicle to the dealer and get a vehicle that performs properly, but the dealer insists that she has to give him additional time to try to fix it. This situation raises a number of legal questions that, among others, will be discussed in this chapter, including:
Did Sarah have the right to inspect the vehicle before she paid the balance of the purchase price?
When Sarah discovered the scratches on the vehicle and that it did not conform to the contract specifications, could she have refused to accept the car and required the dealer to provide one that met the contract?
Does Sarah have the right to return the defective vehicle to the dealer and obtain either a new vehicle or her money back, or must she give the dealer the opportunities he wants to try to remedy the defect?
If the dealer knew the vehicle he was delivering to Sarah did not conform to the contract and was damaged, was it ethical for him to deliver it anyway?
