Crowther v Shannon Motor Company
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | The Master of the Rolls,Lord Justice Orr,Lord Justice Browne |
| Judgment Date | 07 October 1974 |
| Judgment citation (vLex) | [1974] EWCA Civ J1007-2 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Civil Division) |
| Date | 07 October 1974 |
[1974] EWCA Civ J1007-2
In The Supreme Court of Judicature
Court of Appeal
Appeal by defendant from order of His Honour Judge Michael Lee
on 21St February 1974.
The Master of the Rolls (Lord Denning),
Lord Justice Orr and
Lord Justice Browne.
Appellant
Mr. J.N. Rudd (instructed by Messrs. Ward Bowie, agents for Messrs. Ewing Hickman & Clark of Southampton) appeared on behalf of the Appellant Defendant.
Mr. R. Belben (instructed by Messrs. Paris, Smith & Randall of Southampton) appeared on behalf of the Respondent Plaintiff.
Mr. Crowther is a young man interested in art. In 1972 he bought a second hand motorcar from reputable dealers in Southampton. It was a 1964 Jaguar. He bought it on 17th July 1972 for the sum of £390. The dealers commended it. They said that "it would be difficult to find a 1964 Jaguar of this quality inside and out." They added that for a Jaguar "it is run in". Mr. Crowther looked carefully at it. He took it for a trial run. The next day it was tested by the Ministry of Transport officials. The report of the test was satisfactory. So Mr. Crowther bought the Jaguar. He did not take the words of puff seriously. But he relied on the sellers skill and judgment. There was clearly an implied condition under section 14(l) of the sale of Goods Act 1893 that the car was reasonably fit for the purpose for which he required it and which he made known to the seller.
That was 17th July 1972. The mileage as stated on the milometer at that time was 82,165 miles. Mr. Crowther took the car. He drove it on some long journeys. He went up to the North of England and back. He went round Hampshire. He went over 2,000 miles in it. He found that it used a great deal of oil. But he managed to drive it for three weeks. Then on 8th August 1972, when he was driving up the M3 motorway, it came to a full stop. The engine seized up. The car was towed into a garage. The engine was found to be in an extremely bad condition. So much so that it had to be scrapped and replaced by about reconditioned engine. The car was out of use for a couple of months or so.
Mr. Crowther brought an action in the County Court for damages from the dealers. He called as a witness a previous owner of the car, a Mr. Hall. He gave evidence that he had boughtit from these selfsame dealers about eight months before. He had paid them about £400 for it. He had used it for those eight months and then sold it back in July 1972 to these very dealers. When he re-sold it to them he knew the engine was in a very bad state, but he did not disclose it to them. He left them to find out for themselves. He was himself an engineer. He gave a trenchant description of the engine: "At the time of resale I thought the engine was clapped out. I do not think this engine was fit to be used on a road, not really, it needed a rebore." The Judge accepted the evidence of Mr. Hall. He held that there was a breach of section 14(1) of the Act. He awarded Mr. Crowther damages in with the sum of £460.37 with costs. Now there is an appeal to this Court by the dealers. They say there was no justification for the finding that this car was not reasonably fit for the, purpose. The mileage when they sold it was 82,165 miles. The mileage when it clapped out was 84,519 miles. So that in the three weeks it had gone 2,354 miles.
Mr. Rudd, who put the case very cogently before us, submitted that a car which had covered 2,354 miles must have been reasonably fit...
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