"Sorting out" Issues...

[MRGEORGE077]

Originally Posted by Mark IV

The dealer is NOT an agent for Shelby American. A dealer agreement (sometimes a "franchise") states that the dealer is a separate entity from the manufacturer and is prohibited from binding or otherwise commiting the manufacturer.

I have written dealer agreements for two small volume manufacturers, they were not "franchises" as most states have a very involved and legally expensive process for registering a franchise (check out a McDonald's franchise agreement or a Ford dealer agreement sometime if you want complex) so I suspect it is either a "dealer agreement" or possibly a "personal services agreement" (which is what Mercedes uses in the US). Either way the dealer cannot bind or commit the manufacturer and is limited to what the mfr represents such as warranty, etc.

As to the legalities, several here feel the difference between the "dealer" doing a completion and the "manufacturer" doing the turn key allows the dealer to do so. I propose: What if the dealer bought every individual part to build the complete vehicle, that is he assembled it from 1000 pieces. Would this make him a "manufacturer? Now suppose he does it using an assembled rolling chassis and only two other "parts", the engine and transmission. Is he a "manufacturer" now? Is there any difference? NHTSA thinks not...............

However, there's been cases where, the Manufacture has required the Dealer to institute policies, procedures or acts of omission (which were not in the dealer agreements) that were found to be improper or illegal. Such as requiring it's dealer not to pay for overtime worked. Under those circumstances, the manufacture was held liable along with the dealer.

Another set of circumstances, most probably in this case, is where the manufacturer knew of procedures or acts of omission that were either being or not being performed by its dealer, and the manufacturer did not take steps to prevent it from happening. I believe under those circumstances the manufacture would have as much liability as the dealer.

This is sometimes called collusion or working together to get the deal done.

Neither a franchise agreement or corporation ora dealer agreement would protect you from these types of actions.

In other words, let's say GM Motor Company was aware that one of its dealers was improperly modifying the braking system on an new automobile and took no actions to keep that from happening, and it resulted in the death or injury of a person, then GM would have as much liability as a dealer.