## Facts

- A consumer, Clark, purchased a used automobile from Boise Dodge, Inc., a Boise, Idaho car dealer.
- The car was sold with an odometer reading that understated the vehicle’s true mileage.
- The understatement resulted from an altered or “rolled back” odometer.
- Evidence supported that the dealer, through its agents, knew or acted with reckless disregard as to the falsity of the mileage representation.
- Clark relied on the mileage representation in deciding to buy the vehicle and later discovered the discrepancy.
- Clark sued for fraudulent misrepresentation (deceit), seeking compensatory damages for diminished value and punitive damages.

## Issues

1. Whether the evidence was sufficient to support a finding that the dealer committed fraud by misrepresenting the vehicle’s mileage.
2. Whether punitive damages are available under Idaho law for fraud in a consumer sales transaction.
3. Whether the punitive damages award was so excessive that it required reversal or reduction.

## Decision

- The court affirmed judgment for Clark on liability for fraud.
- The court held that punitive damages were permissible because the conduct supported a finding of willful deception or reckless disregard of the buyer’s rights.
- The court declined to set aside the punitive damages as excessive, concluding the award did not reflect passion or prejudice and did not “shock the conscience.”

## Legal Principles

- Fraud may be established where a seller makes a material misrepresentation of fact, knows it is false or acts in reckless disregard of its truth, intends the buyer to rely, and the buyer justifiably relies to their detriment.
- In Idaho, punitive damages may be awarded when the defendant’s conduct is willful, wanton, malicious, or in reckless disregard of the plaintiff’s rights; intentional deceit in a commercial sale can meet this standard.
- Punitive damages need not be mathematically proportional to compensatory damages; review focuses on whether the amount is unreasonable in light of the wrong, the purposes of punishment and deterrence, and whether the verdict reflects improper jury motives.

## Conclusion

The court sustained a consumer’s fraud verdict against a used-car dealer for mileage misrepresentation and upheld a substantial punitive damages award, reasoning that deliberate or recklessly indifferent deception in consumer sales may warrant exemplary damages to punish and deter similar misconduct.


Boise Dodge, Inc. v. Clark, 92 Idaho 902, 453 P.2d 551 (Idaho 1969)