AN ACT
RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES; REQUIRING
NOTIFICATION OF REPLACED OR REPURCHASED VEHICLES; PROVIDING QUALITY ASSURANCE
STANDARDS FOR USED MOTOR VEHICLES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF
THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. Section 57-16A-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1985,
Chapter 220, Section 2) is amended to read:
"57-16A-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Motor Vehicle
Quality Assurance Act:
A. "collateral charges" means
additional charges to a consumer not directly attributed to a manufacturer's
suggested retail price label for a new motor vehicle and includes all taxes,
license, title and registration fees and other governmental charges related to
the purchase of the vehicle;
B. "comparable motor vehicle" means an
identical or reasonably equivalent motor vehicle;
C. "consumer" means the purchaser,
other than for purposes of resale, of a new or used motor vehicle normally used
for personal, family or household purposes, a person to whom such a motor
vehicle has been transferred during the duration of an express warranty
applicable to the motor vehicle and any other person entitled by the terms of
the warranty to enforce the obligations of the warranty;
D. "express warranty" means a written
affirmation of the fact of promise made by a manufacturer to a consumer in
connection with the sale of a new or used motor vehicle that relates to the
nature of the material or workmanship or to a specified level of performance
over a specified period of time, including any terms or conditions precedent to
the enforcement of obligations pursuant to the warranty;
E. "manufacturer" means a person
engaged in the manufacturing, assembling, importing or distributing of a motor
vehicle as a regular business;
F. "motor vehicle" means a passenger
motor vehicle, including an automobile, pickup truck, motorcycle or van
normally used for personal, family or household purposes, that is sold and
registered in this state and whose gross vehicle weight is less than ten
thousand pounds;
G. "used motor vehicle" means a motor
vehicle that has been sold, bargained or exchanged or a motor vehicle that is
the subject of a title that has been transferred from the person who first
acquired the motor vehicle from the manufacturer, importer or dealer or agent
of the manufacturer or importer and that has been placed in bona fide consumer
use; and
H. "used motor vehicle dealer" means a
person or business that sells or offers for sale a used motor vehicle after
selling or offering for sale four or more used motor vehicles in the previous
twelve months but does not include:
(1) a bank or financial institution;
(2) an insurance company;
(3) a business selling a used motor vehicle to an
employee of the business; or
(4) a lessor selling a leased vehicle to the
lessee of the vehicle or to an employee of the lessee of the vehicle."
Section 2. A new section of the Motor Vehicle Quality
Assurance Act is enacted to read:
"NOTICE OF REPLACEMENT OR
REPURCHASE TO USED MOTOR VEHICLE DEALERS AND CONSUMERS.--A manufacturer, its
agent, its authorized dealer or a used motor vehicle dealer that has been
ordered by judgment or decree to replace or repurchase or that has replaced or
repurchased a motor vehicle pursuant to the Motor Vehicle Quality Assurance Act
shall, before offering the motor vehicle for resale, attach to the motor
vehicle written notification indicating that the motor vehicle has been
replaced or repurchased. A consumer or a
used motor vehicle dealer may bring a cause of action against a person who
removes the notification from the motor vehicle, unless the manufacturer, its
agent or its authorized dealer or a used motor vehicle dealer, before
completion of the sale, has provided the purchaser with written notification by
the manufacturer, dealer or agent of the dealer, that the motor vehicle has been
replaced or repurchased."
Section 3. A new section of the Motor Vehicle Quality
Assurance Act is enacted to read:
"USED MOTOR VEHICLES.--
A. Unless a seller is a used motor vehicle
dealer, before the seller attempts to sell a used motor vehicle, the seller
shall possess the title to the used motor vehicle and the title shall be in the
seller's name.
B. Except as otherwise provided in the Motor
Vehicle Quality Assurance Act, a used motor vehicle dealer shall not exclude,
modify or disclaim the implied warranty of merchantability prescribed in
Section 55-2-314 NMSA 1978 or limit the remedies for a breach of the warranty
before midnight of the fifteenth calendar day after delivery of a used motor
vehicle or until a used motor vehicle is driven five hundred miles after
delivery, whichever is earlier. In
calculating time under this subsection, a day on which the warranty is breached
and all subsequent days in which the used motor vehicle fails to conform with
the implied warranty of merchantability are excluded. In calculating distance under this
subsection, the miles driven to obtain or in connection with the repair,
servicing or testing of the used motor vehicle that fails to conform with the
implied warranty of merchantability are excluded. An attempt to exclude, modify or disclaim the
implied warranty of merchantability or to limit the remedies for a breach of
the warranty in violation of this subsection renders a purchase agreement
voidable at the option of the purchaser.
C. An implied warranty of merchantability is met
if a used motor vehicle functions substantially free of a defect that
significantly limits the use of the used motor vehicle for the ordinary purpose
of transportation on any public highway.
The implied warranty of merchantability expires at midnight of the
fifteenth calendar day after delivery of a used motor vehicle or until a used motor
vehicle is driven five hundred miles after delivery, whichever is earlier. In calculating time, a day on which the
implied warranty of merchantability is breached is excluded and all subsequent
days in which the used motor vehicle fails to conform with the warranty are
also excluded. In
calculating distance, the miles driven to obtain or in connection with the
repair, servicing or testing of the used motor vehicle that fails to conform
with the implied warranty of merchantability are excluded.
D. An implied warranty of merchantability does
not extend to damage that occurs after the sale of the used motor vehicle that
results from:
(1) off-road use;
(2) racing;
(3) towing;
(4) abuse;
(5) misuse;
(6) neglect;
(7) failure to perform regular maintenance; and
(8) failure to maintain adequate oil, coolant and
other required fluids or lubricants.
E. If the implied warranty of merchantability
described in this section is breached, the consumer shall give reasonable
notice to the seller within thirty days of the date of the breach. Before the consumer exercises another remedy
pursuant to Chapter 55, Article 2 NMSA 1978, the seller shall have a reasonable
opportunity to repair the used motor vehicle.
The consumer shall pay one-half of the cost of the first two repairs
necessary to bring the used motor vehicle into compliance with the
warranty. The payments by the consumer
are limited to a maximum payment of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) for each
repair.
F. The maximum liability of a seller pursuant to
this section is limited to the purchase price paid for the used motor vehicle,
to be refunded to the consumer or lender, as applicable, in exchange for return
of the vehicle, unless the seller knew or should have known of the defect given
the circumstances in which the vehicle was acquired or sold and the seller did
not disclose that defect.
G. An agreement for the sale of a used motor
vehicle by a used motor vehicle dealer is voidable at the option of the
consumer unless it contains on its face the following conspicuous statement
printed in boldface, ten-point or larger type set off from the body of the
agreement:
"New Mexico law requires
that this vehicle will be fit for the ordinary purposes for which the vehicle
is used for fifteen days or five hundred miles after delivery, whichever is
earlier, except with regard to particular defects disclosed on the first page
of this agreement. You (the consumer)
will have to pay up to twenty-five dollars ($25.00) for each of the first two
repairs if the warranty is violated.".
H. The inclusion in the agreement of the
statement prescribed in Subsection G of this section does not create an express
warranty.
I. A consumer of a used motor vehicle may waive
the implied warranty of merchantability only for a particular defect in the
vehicle and only if all of the following conditions are satisfied:
(1) the used motor vehicle dealer fully and
accurately discloses to the consumer that because of circumstances unusual to
the business of the used motor vehicle dealer, the used motor vehicle has a
particular defect;
(2) the consumer agrees to buy the used motor
vehicle after disclosure of the defect; and
(3) before the sale, the consumer indicates
agreement to the waiver by signing and dating the following conspicuous
statement that is printed on the first page of the sales agreement in boldface
ten-point or larger type and that is written in the language in which the
presentation was made:
"Attention consumer: sign here only if the dealer has told you
that this vehicle has the following problem(s) and you agree to buy the vehicle
on those terms:
1._______________________________________
2._______________________________________
3._______________________________________.".
J. A used motor vehicle dealer has the burden to
prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the dealer complied with
Subsection I of this section.
K. A consumer or seller that is aggrieved by a
transaction pursuant to this section and that seeks a legal remedy shall pursue
an appropriate remedy prescribed in Chapter 55, Article 2 NMSA 1978 and shall
comply with the requirements prescribed in that article."
Section 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the
provisions of this act is January 1, 2004.