Montana Code 61-4-212. Damage notice
61-4-212. Damage notice. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), a franchisor is required:
Terms Used In Montana Code 61-4-212
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Dealer: means a person that, for commission or profit, engages in whole or in part in the business of buying, selling, exchanging, or accepting on consignment new or used motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, pole trailers, travel trailers, motorboats, sailboats, snowmobiles, off-highway vehicles, or special mobile equipment that is not registered in the name of the person. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Franchisor: means a person who manufactures, imports, or distributes new motor vehicles and who may enter into a franchise. See Montana Code 61-4-201
- Motor vehicle: includes a motorboat and a personal watercraft as defined in 23-2-502, a snowmobile as defined in 23-2-601, and an off-highway vehicle as defined in 23-2-801. See Montana Code 61-4-201
- New motor vehicle: means a motor vehicle that has not been the subject of a retail sale regardless of the mileage of the vehicle. See Montana Code 61-4-201
- New motor vehicle dealer: means a person who buys, sells, exchanges, or offers or attempts to negotiate a sale or exchange or any interest in or who is engaged in the business of selling new motor vehicles under a franchise with the manufacturer of the new motor vehicles or used motor vehicles taken in trade on new motor vehicles. See Montana Code 61-4-201
- Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
- Vehicle: means a device in, on, or by which any person or property may be transported or drawn on a public highway, except devices moved by animal power or used exclusively on stationary rails or tracks. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Writing: includes printing. See Montana Code 1-1-203
(a)to disclose in writing to a new motor vehicle dealer damage to a new motor vehicle delivered to the new motor vehicle dealer if the damage is known to the franchisor and repaired, the damage occurred after the manufacturing process is complete but before delivery to the new motor vehicle dealer, and the damage exceeds 5% of the franchisor’s suggested retail price as calculated at the rate of the new motor vehicle dealer’s authorized warranty rate for labor and parts; and
(b)to disclose in writing to a purchaser of the new motor vehicle before entering into a sales contract that the new motor vehicle has been damaged and repaired if the damage to the new motor vehicle exceeds 5% of the franchisor’s suggested retail price as calculated at the rate of the new motor vehicle dealer’s authorized warranty rate for labor and parts.
(2)Disclosure is not required for any glass, tires, or bumper of a new motor vehicle if the damaged item has been replaced with original or comparable equipment.
(3)If disclosure is not required under subsection (2), a purchaser may not revoke or rescind a sales contract due solely to the fact that the new motor vehicle was damaged and repaired before completion of the sale.
(4)For purposes of this section, “franchisor’s suggested retail price” means the retail price of the new motor vehicle suggested by the franchisor, including the retail delivered price suggested by the franchisor for each accessory or item of optional equipment physically attached to the new motor vehicle at the time of delivery to the new motor vehicle dealer that is not included within the retail price suggested by the franchisor for the new motor vehicle.