The Utah Supreme Court found a car dealership that failed to heed a safety recall is not entitled to a new trial after a jury awarded a woman $2.7 million for injuries sustained in her newly purchased vehicle.
According to the appeals court’s June 30 opinion, Lois Smith bought a vehicle from Volkswagen SouthTowne Inc. and took the car on a long trip when she began to feel ill. Smith had the car towed to a nearby Volkswagen dealer after she smelled strong fumes and saw smoke coming from the hood of the car. A dealer mechanic ascertained that the car had a cracked fuel line and had sprayed diesel fuel inside the engine compartment.
