CASE RESULTS DEPEND UPON A VARIETY OF FACTORS UNIQUE TO EACH CASE. CASE RESULTS DO NOT GUARANTEE OR PREDICT A SIMILAR RESULT IN ANY FUTURE CASE.
On Wednesday, August 24, a Santa Barbara jury returned a defense verdict for Ferrari North America, Inc. in the case Nigro v. Ferrari. This lemon law case involved a 2008 Ferrari F430 Spider convertible that was purchased new by plaintiff James Nigro for $250,000 in May 2008. The 15 month old case was brought under California's lemon law known as the Song-Beverly Act which provides for treble damages and attorney fees, bringing the total exposure of the claim between $850,000 to $900,000.
Plaintiff's primary complaint was that the battery dies for which he has presented the car five times for repair. The battery was replaced three times and he was given a battery tender (trickle charger). Ferrari recommends the vehicle be driven 620 miles per month for optimal battery life and to use a battery tender or maintainer when not in use. The defense demonstrated that the plaintiff was not driving the vehicle enough and not using the battery tender when not in use.
After three days of trial in the historic Santa Barbara County Courthouse, the jury delivered a 11 to 1 defense verdict after an hour of deliberations.
Case No 1369723
Judge Denise de Bellefeuille
Plaintiff was represented at trial by Juliana R. Makler, Makler Consumer Law PC, Santa Barbara
Ferrari was represented at trial by Richard L. Stuhlbarg, Bowman and Brooke LLP, Los Angeles.