Purcell Tire & Rubber Company, Inc., Appellant, v. Executive Beechcraft, Inc., Respondent., 2000 Mo. App. LEXIS 1776

Summary

Appellant purchased a pre-purchase inspection of an airline from appellee. Several months after the purchase, appellant discovered an oil leak which caused repairs costing over $ 300,000. Appellant's suit, based on contract and tort, alleged that during its survey appellee negligently failed to note that the leak had been recorded in the plane's official logbook. The trial court granted appellee's motion for partial summary judgment, ruling that the contract limited appellee's liability for negligence to the amount paid for the survey, or $ 1250. The court reversed. While clauses limiting liability for negligence were not void per se as against public policy, it must be proved that the parties bargained, implicitly or explicitly, for a shifting of the normal rules of liability. Due to the nature of a pre-purchase inspection contract, since its language purporting to limit the inspecting party's liability was vague and inconspicuous, this language was presumed to be unbargained for. ...