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Join Steven Chabotte in a look at what constitutes a lemon under
the law and what does not. Find out what steps to take, what records
to keep and who to contact if you believe that you have a lemon
on your hands.
Is Your Car A Lemon?
There are very few things more satisfying than buying a new car.
There is great pride of ownership and a feeling of accomplishment
and pride as you drive around town in your new vehicle. For most
of us, that new car excitement lasts until we must make our first
payment or until we get our first parking lot ding. For an unlucky
few, they wish these were the only negatives that they had to worry
about.
These unlucky few are the people who find themselves with an automobile
that will, after much frustration and exhaustion on the part of
the owner, be classified on a lemon.
So just what is a lemon car? After all, we've all had the occasional
breakdown of some part of our car. And no matter when it happens,
it is extremely inconvenient (and often quite expensive.) When does
"regular wear and tear" flow into the realm of having
a true lemon.
Typically a lemon is a new vehicle (or in some states a used vehicle
under certain circumstances) that has had a large number of repair
attempts on a single defect or an overall large number of repair
attempts overall. It can also include just a single repair attempt
on a portion of the car where failure could be a life threatening
situation. Each state has their own lemon law warranty act and each
of them defines what will make a vehicle a lemon. For instance,
in California, a lemon automobile can be summarized as follows:
Vehicles Covered by California Lemon Law - California lemon law
covers any new motor vehicle used primarily for family, personal
or household purposes. It also includes the chassis portion of motor
homes.
Repair Interval / Coverage Period Details - To be considered a
lemon law vehicle in California , the vehicle must either be out
of service for 30 calendar days or have 2 repair attempt for a defect
that could cause death or a serious injury or have 4 repairs for
the same defect. The coverage period is for 18 months or 18,000
miles, whichever occurs first.
(Lemon law summaries and the statutes for all 50 states and Washington
DC can be found at the Lemon Law Resources
website at http://www.lemonlawresources.com.)
If you believe your car is a lemon, it is very important that you
have proper records to show this. That means that each time you
go to your service center, it is very important that they record
exactly what you believe the problem is in the car and specify what
they did to try to solve the problem. You need to do this for two
reasons. First, you will need these records when making a claim
for restitution. Second, for these "mystery" problems,
dealers will try many different things and it may not be clear to
an adjuster that they were all related unless you ensure this is
the case on the receipts.
Once your car has passed the state hurdle to be classified to become
a lemon, you must take actions to get restitution. Each state has
a different procedure you must follow. Some states requre that you
send a letter to the manufacturer to give them one last chance to
repair the defect. Other states have arbitration panels you must
deal with to get restitution.
No matter what method the state has in place for you to seek restitution,
you always have the option of working with an attorney if you do
not feel the issue was solved to your satisfaction. You should consider
an attorney as a last resort as not all states allow you to be reimbursed
for your legal fees if you win. (And of course if you lose, you
would not get reimbursed.) So as frustrating as this situation may
be, it is best to persue all state sponsored remedies
before seeking legal help.
What happens if you win?
If your vehicle is determined to be a lemon under your state's
law, you are entitled to a refund or a comparable replacement vehicle.
A comparable vehicle most be indentical or a reasonable equivalent
of your current vehicle. A refund will include your purchase price,
taxes and any other options installed in the vehicle minus a usage
fee based on how much you used the car. The terms will very a bit
from state to state but this is generally what you can expect.
What happens to the car after the manufactuer takes it back?
The manufacturer will generally recondition it and put it back
for sale within its network. Depending on the state where the problem
occurred, the title may or may not be stamped with a phrase like
"Lemon Law Buyback" when it is returned to that state
for resale. However, not all states require this and if the car
was transferred from one state to another, the information may not
follow on the title issued from the new state.
Used car buyer beware!
While lemon cars are only a very small percentage of the used cars
that are sold, this issue with titles not always conveying the true
history of the car, it shows the importance of doing research on
any used car purchase. If you are buying a used car from a dealer,
you should insist on a Carfax lemon check report and if you are
buying from an individual, you should do one yourself at carfax.com.
It is a very reasonable price to pay to be sure your car has no
hidden defects.
About the Author
Steven Chabotte is a freelance writer that writes for Lemon Law
Resources lemonlawresources.com and My Attorney Finder http://www.myattorneyfinder.com.
The California Lemon Law website is dedicated to bringing our
readers both information specific to the state of California
and more general information across all 50 states so that you can
make informed judgements concerning your rights and methods of achieving
retribution.
Disclaimer: The information on this website has been complied
by the California Lemon Law website from public sources. Use
of information from this website does not constitute an attorney-client
relationship. Please contact an attorney in your state or your Attorney
General to ensure that all your rights are protected.
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