## Facts

- Durametal asked Vance Equipment Co., a used-equipment dealer, to locate a crane for purchase.
- Vance found a 24-year-old crane; Durametal inspected and approved it.
- Vance purchased the crane and immediately resold it to Durametal, documenting the sale “as is.”
- Buddy E. Tillman, a Durametal employee, operated and serviced the crane, including greasing its gears.
- Tillman believed proper greasing required removing the gear cover and applying grease while the gears were moving.
- While greasing the moving gears with the cover removed, Tillman’s hand was pulled into the gears, injuring him.
- Tillman alleged the crane was defectively designed because it could not be properly greased without removing the protective cover and that Vance failed to warn of the danger.

## Issues

1. Whether a seller engaged in the business of selling used goods is strictly liable in tort for a manufacturer-created design defect in a used product resold “as is.”
2. Whether strict products liability policy justifications and buyer expectations support extending strict liability to used-goods dealers for original manufacturing/design defects.

## Decision

- The Oregon Supreme Court affirmed judgment for Vance Equipment Co.
- The court held that, on these facts, a seller of used goods is not strictly liable in tort for a defect in a used crane when the defect was created by the manufacturer.
- The court declined to decide what effect, if any, the “as is” language had on strict-liability claims, resolving the case on the status of the defendant as a used-goods seller.

## Legal Principles

- Oregon strict products liability does not extend to used-goods dealers for manufacturer-created defects in used products, at least where the dealer merely resells the product and did not create the defect.
- Policy grounds for strict liability (loss distribution, capacity to influence product safety, ability to detect or control defects) apply differently to used-goods dealers, particularly for latent design defects originating years earlier.
- Buyer expectations regarding used products—especially older machinery—include an understanding that the product may lack safety features of newer models, affecting the scope of strict-liability protection.

## Conclusion

The court refused to impose strict products liability on a used-equipment dealer for an alleged design defect originating with the manufacturer in a decades-old crane, affirming judgment for the dealer and leaving unresolved whether an “as is” sales term affects strict-liability claims.


Tillman v. Vance Equip. Co., 286 Or. 747, 596 P.2d 1299 (Or. 1979)