Legal Question in Product Liability in Indiana

I purchased a new 2010 Kia Soul on Sept 17, 2010 at a dealership. A recall apparently went out on it on Sept 13, 2010...but was not repaired before we purchased it, nor were we informed of the recall (SC083 is the recall number). On July 12, 2011...the vehicle caught fire while my husband was driving. The damage is to the drivers side door. There was an wiring/speaker malfunction. There is over $5000 in damage to the vehicle. Kia has the vehicle and says they are going to repair it and are paying for my rental. (State Farm, my insurance carrier was handling the issue...then Kia took over) My husband sustained mild burns to his right hand. They are simply wanting to fix the vehicle, and that's it. I am part of a carpool with other mom's...and 2 of them say I cannot continue to be in the carpool if I keep that vehicle. Honestly, I don't blame them and do not want to put my kids in there either. They sold me a defective, dangerous vehicle that clearly had a safety defect. In addition, they were negligent in the fact that they did not repair before they sold it to me and were in possession of the vehicle when the recall went into affect. Would it be worth it to file suit against Kia and the Kia dealership? Or, do I just have to have them fix it...and then sell it (it's only 9 months old...so I would lose money on this)---


Asked on 7/24/11, 12:41 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

A lawsuit would take years. Practically speaking, you may want to repair and sell, or repair and trade in as the dealer would be in an awkward position to state that the repair would effect the value of the vehicle on a tradein, since they performed the repair. You may be bale to use their negligence to negotiate a better price.

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Answered on 7/25/11, 3:57 am


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