>Does onyone have information if that was common back in 78 that the car was
resprayed even at the factory or by the dealer.
Heck, it's common NOW. My buddy had the dealer take back his Audi TT and
give him another one when he found that the car had been repainted en route
from the factory.
I doubt this happens quite as much now as it did. Check BMW v. Gore, 517
U.S. 559 (1996), for a U.S. Supreme Court case on the subject. You can find
full text at http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/94-896.ZO.html, but,
briefly, from the facts:
"In January 1990, Dr. Ira Gore, Jr. (respondent), purchased a black BMW
sports sedan for $40,750.88 from an authorized BMW dealer in Birmingham,
Alabama. After driving the car for approximately nine months, and without
noticing any flaws in its appearance, Dr. Gore took the car to "Slick
Finish," an independent detailer, to make it look " `snazzier than it
normally would appear.' " 646 So. 2d 619, 621 (Ala. 1994). Mr. Slick, the
proprietor, detected evidence that the car had been repainted. [n.1]
Convinced that he had been cheated, Dr. Gore brought suit against petitioner
BMW of North America (BMW), the American distributor of BMW automobiles.
[n.2] Dr. Gore alleged, inter alia, that the failure to disclose that the
car had been repainted constituted suppression of a material fact. [n.3] The
complaint prayed for $500,000 in compensatory and punitive damages, and
costs."
Footnote 1 reads: "The top, hood, trunk, and quarter panels of Dr. Gore's
car were repainted at BMW's vehicle preparation center in Brunswick,
Georgia. The parties presumed that the damage was caused by exposure to acid
rain during transit between the manufacturing plant in Germany and the
preparation center."
Dr. Gore won his suit and was awarded $4,000 for actual damages and
$4,000,000 in punitive damages. You read that right, $4,000,000. The
Alabama Supreme Court reduced the amount to $2,000,000, and the U.S. Supreme
Court found the award had not met constitutional process and sent it back to
be redetermined, but the fact remains that Dr. Gore was able to prove that
by repainting his car, BMW committed a serious act of fraud. If you read
the text of the opinion, however, it is clear it was standard practice as
late as 1990 to repaint imported cars stateside.
Brian Ruess
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