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Werremeyer v. K.C. Auto Salvage6/30/2003
On February 20, 1997, defendant, K.C. Auto Salvage Co., Inc., ("K.C. Auto"), through employee John Tyson, bought a 1993 Toyota Forerunner ("car") at an auction held by defendant, Copart of Kansas, Inc. ("Copart") in Kansas City, Kansas. The price was $14,500. Before buying the car, Tyson asked a Copart employee whether the title had "checked out." The employee said it had. Tyson testified he did not ask whether Copart had run a "Carfax," a title search for cars. K.C. Auto having paid a $99 buyer's fee to Copart for the cost of running such a search. When the Copart employee said the title had "checked out," Tyson took this to mean that the Carfax gave the car's title clean bill of health. Before the sale, Copart had given Tyson and the other bidders a bid sheet that included a "T" code, meaning that the car had clean title, and also with language which said: "ALL VEHICLES SOLD 'AS IS' - 'WHERE IS.'" Copart had also passed out handbooks with the following language to the bidders:
Copart, and the clients who provide with salvage, offer No guarantee as to the accuracy of any Copart or Client Information provided. This information includes but is not limited to:
Vehicle: year, make, model, condition, damage, accessories, mileage, VIN #, etc.
Unless a Buyer notifies Copart in writing, via FAX or the next business day following receipt of title documents, buyer waives any and all claims as to the title, status or accuracy of title documents for vehicle(s) purchased through a Copart sale. . . . You the customer are responsible for the verification of all vehicles you purchase from Copart. Make sure you check the I.D. #, year, make, model and mileage of the salvage you purchase.
Signs posted at the auction said that all sales were "as is, where is."
On March 11, 1997, the Werremeyers, plaintiffs, bought the car, which had passed both a Missouri and California safety inspection, from K.C. Auto for $17,500. Unknown to them, the car was the product of a "full frame off" or "body swing"-i.e., the combination of the chassis from one car (which had been in an accident in Nebraska), and the body from another (which had been stolen in California). Before the Werremeyers bought the car, Mr. Werremeyer noticed that the vehicle identification numbers ("VIN numbers") apparently had been partially scratched out and asked salesman Tyson, whether it had ever been wrecked or rebuilt, because he did not want to buy a salvaged vehicle. Tyson responded with a series of falsehoods: He said the car had not been rebuilt or wrecked (though he did not know whether the car had been rebuilt or wrecked), that the scratch marks were made by the former owner in an attempt to prevent the repossession of the car, and that the car had a clean title. He also said that K.C. Auto procured the car at an action held by Metro Auction. He thought, but did not tell Mr. Werremeyer, that the car should have had a repossession title if it had been wrecked.
Werremeyer testified he did not trust Tyson, nor did he trust used car salesmen in general. Werremeyer checked the certificate of title against the scratched VIN numbers; they matched. Werremeyer took the car to a mechanic to be inspected. The mechanic reported no problems, except that the car was out of alignment. (K.C. Auto paid for a wheel alignment.) Twice, Werremeyer took the car for a test drive. Mr. Werremeyer then bought the car.
The Werremeyers took the car to a Toyota dealer for minor repairs. The dealer's computer sent notice to the former owner of the Nebraska car, the source of the chassis in the Werremeyers' car. The former owner called the dealership's service manager, Tom Turner, and told him that
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