Mercury Marine v. Clear River Construction Co.

Nicholas Travis, president of Clear River Construction Co. (plaintiff), purchased a catamaran fishing boat and two motors from Mercury Marine (Mercury) (defendant). The motors came with a standard repair-or-replace express warranty, obligating a buyer to bring any defective product or parts to an authorized service dealer for repair. The warranty allowed for on-site inspection and repair if a buyer was unable to transport a product to an authorized dealer, provided the buyer gave notice in writing. Travis experienced a number of problems with the motors and the boat. Mercury Marine effectuated two successful repairs of the motors within the first year. While Travis was preparing for a fishing tournament in the Gulf of Mexico, one of the motors failed. Travis called a Marine employee to arrange for a repair and demanded that Mercury send a new motor immediately so he could compete in the tournament. Travis was told that, per the warranty, he would have to take the motor to an authorized dealer for repair. Unable to find an authorized dealer that would repair the motor the next day, Travis went to a Yamaha dealership, which worked overnight to install two new motors on Travis’s boat. The total cost for the new motors was $21,000. Travis returned to the fishing tournament the next day to compete, and he subsequently filed suit against Mercury to recover the cost of the new motors. Mercury argued that Travis failed to afford it a reasonable opportunity to cure the motors’ defects. A jury returned a verdict in favor of Travis for the amount he sought. A court of appeals upheld the judgment. Mercury appealed.