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Thiedemann v. Mercedes-Benz USA.5/18/2005
dant disputes that the cause of Lam's stalling problem was related to her vehicle's fuel gauge and proffered its engineering expert's opinion that the cause was a malfunctioning electrical system. Because of the summary judgment context, however, we assume the facts in Lam's favor. The reason notwithstanding, since Lam's car last stalled, defendant has repaired the vehicle and the problem has not recurred. Moreover, as with the Flahertys, each time she presented her vehicle to defendant for diagnostics and repair, the warranty work was performed at no cost to her and she received a free loaner car for interim use.
The Mercedes-Benz warranty that was provided with the lease or purchase of the new vehicles involved in this action covers forty-months or 50,000 miles, whichever comes first. It declares that "[Mercedes--Benz's] intention is to repair under warranty, without charge to you, anything that goes wrong with your car during the warranty period which is [Mercedes-Benz's] fault." Defendant adhered to the terms of its warranty in respect of plaintiffs' vehicles and performed the repairs at no expense to the plaintiffs. Accordingly, it contended that plaintiffs had failed to demonstrate any objectively verifiable damages associated with the problematic fuel gauge units and that therefore all three of plaintiffs' causes of action should be dismissed.
As noted, the trial court dismissed the complaint. We set forth in full the court's reasoning:
Defendant maintains that each time the plaintiffs encountered a problem related to fuel with their vehicles, the problem was repaired at no cost to plaintiffs. Furthermore, the Flahertys have not endured a fuel-related problem since March 2001 and Lam has not endured such a problem since February 2001. None of the plaintiffs [have] spent a single penny in relation to the fuel system problems they experienced. Nevertheless, plaintiffs attribute to themselves as a species of damages, an unincurred cost of repair extrapolated from defendant's internal warranty remediation efforts. Plaintiffs further assert an inchoate and unsubstantiated loss of the benefit of the bargain. Plaintiffs insist that they did not get what they bargained for and instead received an unsafe motor vehicle with a known fuel-reporting defect. Essentially, what plaintiffs urge here is that they are entitled to a Mercedes-Benz motor vehicle without any flaws or glitches, without any reasonably-remediable problems, and without any of the ordinary tribulations of automobile ownership or lease: in other words, a perfect car unaffected by the laws of physics and common sense. Plaintiffs are not so entitled, and they may not seek legal remedies because of their unrealistic disappointment. If plaintiffs' position were to be sustained -- that is, their subjective and intangible disenchantment be translated into legally recoverable damages -- it would severely impair the working relationship among automobile manufacturers, distributors, and consumers and undermine the efficacy of the very warranties consumers have fought so hard to obtain and protect. Here, defendant has honored every warranty claim made by plaintiffs and has made their motor vehicles fully operational with minimal consumer travail. Is not that the way the consumer society is supposed to work? The record in this case discloses nothing more than an efficiently operating consumer-complaint and remediation system. To allow plaintiffs any remedies in this case -- on this record -- would interrupt and distort that system.
Within each of plaintiffs' theories[,] damages are an essential element that must be proved to the satisfaction of the trier of the facts. For purposes of analysis, the least searching and mos
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