Price v. Gatlin and Columbia Tractor & Implement Co.

This is an action for damages for economic loss resulting from the defective manufacture of a tractor. A jury found that because a new Ford tractor had failed to perform adequately the plaintiff had suffered $4,500 in damages to his business. Judgment was entered against the retail seller, but not against the wholesaler. (The manufacturer was not sued.) The purchaser appeals the judgment in favor of the wholesaler.

The only issue in this case is whether a purchaser of a defectively manufactured product, who is not in privity with the wholesaler, may recover for economic loss against a…