Question
David works an engineer with HBR Construction. He wanted to take his family on a caravan trip to Queensland over winter to escape the rain
David works an engineer with HBR Construction. He wanted to take his family on a caravan trip to Queensland over winter to escape the rain and get some warm weather. David thinks the 'Nomad 5000' is the best caravan on the market and Aussie Caravan Experts (ACE) is the company with the best range and lowest prices. David went to inspect the Nomad 5000 at one of ACE's show rooms in June 2022 and spoke to one of ACE's sales representatives, Nade. David told Nade that he wanted the caravan for a long family holiday that would involve travelling to remote parts of Queensland.
Nade tells David that the Nomad 5000 doesn't have various features for driving off-road driving e.g. traction control, roll bars, rugged tyres. Nade also says that the Nomad's air-conditioning unit might not be strong enough to cope with tropical climates. David was disappointed to hear about these limitations and reluctant to proceed with the sale. He specifically told Nade that reliability and comfort means a lot to him, because his job is stressful and he has a small time window for a holiday between mid-July and mid-August before he needs to be back in Sydney for an important project deadline. To address David's concerns, Nade offers to upgrade the caravan if David commits to the sale immediately and pays 50% up front.
Nade seems like a trustworthy person, so David shakes her hand and says: "I assume the contract is pretty straightforward so, I think we have a deal". Nade escorts David to the office area and prints off a standard form contract for him to review, which David signs without reading. The contract does not mention anything about upgrades, and there is a disclaimer clause in small font on the final page which reads:
"Bysigning this document, the purchaser acknowledges and agrees that: (a) they have read and understood the terms set out above; (b) this document contains the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the sale; (c) ACE accepts no responsibility for caravans not meeting customer expectations or requirements; (d) ACE makes no representation and does not warrant that the caravan is fit for purpose"
The caravan was delivered a few weeks later on 15 July 2022. David was so excited that he forgot to check whether the upgrades had been made before setting off for a well-earned break. Unfortunately, the caravan was not up to scratch. Itgets bogged whenever David takes it off the highway, and the air-conditioning system isn't powerful enough to keep the caravan cool at night. David's family had a miserable time on the holiday and, because they got bogged all the time, they got back to Sydney later than planned. When they arrived home, David discovered that the family home had been flooded due to the heavy rains and he'd been fired from his job for missing the project deadline.David wants to take action against ACE
Assuming that David can establish that the contract contained certain terms and ACE breached the contract, what remedies could he obtain?
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