Warranty

• A warranty is an explicit promise or representation made by a seller in connection with the sale of a particular product. For example, an automobile manufacturer expressly warrants that the vehicle sold will be free from defects for a period of five years or 50,000 miles, whichever first occurs. Or a merchant warrants that the widgets delivered to the buyer will be of a specified size or shape.
  
  

Alabama Statute of Limitations

• Alabama law provides that a civil cause of action for damages resulting from a breach of warranty must be brought within four years after the cause of action accrued. The cause of action accrues on the date of delivery of the goods or if the warranty is for a specified period of time, at the time the goods fail to perform for the period as warranted. The statute of limitations clock begins on the date the action accrued, and it stops on the day a lawsuit is filed in court.
  
  

Exception

• Under Alabama law, a cause of action for damages resulting from personal injuries sustained arising from a breach of a consumer product warranty accrues on the date the injury occurred.
  
  

Procedures

• A seller or merchant of goods who has been sued for breach of warranty must raise the statute of limitations as an affirmative defense against the lawsuit when it is filed in court. This is accomplished by citing the statute of limitations in the answer to the plaintiff's complaint. If properly raised, the defendant/merchant may make a motion to the court to have the action dismissed for failure to comply with the Alabama statute of limitations for breach of warranty actions. Once the case is dismissed for being filed outside the statute of limitations, a plaintiff would have no further legal recourse against the merchant.