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Got a Lemon?</font id="size5">
State Lemon Laws can vary somewhat in coverage. Some states offer motorcycles lemon laws in addition to car lemon laws. Each state defines what a lemon car is and require that the manufacturer, not the dealer, takes care of the defects. If a number of attempts have been made to repair a defect that significantly impairs the use, value or safety of a car and the car continues to have this defect, the car is than considered to be a "lemon".
Most statutes set up a warranty rights period for a defined period, typically 12 to 24 months or 12,000 to 24,000 miles. Please note that your defect(s) must occur sometime during this period.
Most state laws provide specific guidelines as to what constitutes a sufficient number of attempts to repair, and whether these attempts entitle the consumer to a refund or replacement. These are:
- If the defect is a serious safety defect involving brakes and or steering, the manufacturer is granted one attempt to repair.
- If there is a safety defect that is not considered a serious safety defect, the manufacturer has two attempts to repair.
-For any other defect, the manufacturer is usually given three or four chances to repair the same defect.
-If at any time the vehicle is in the shop for a cumulative total of 30 days in a one year period, with at least one of those days occurring in the first 12,000 miles.
If any one of these of these guidelines occurs, the consumer is usually given the right to require repurchase or replacement of his/her vehicle.
Most lemon laws do allow an offset for use of the vehicle by the consumer, in that a reduction occurs for the usage the consumer has received. One law spells out the reduction in refund for use as follows:
(miles at time of refund X purchase price)/100,000
The consumer can often argue that he/she should not be charged for miles that were put on the vehicle after the first try to fix the defect. For example, what if the consumer allows a dealer many attempts to repair a defect over a period of several thousand miles? Should the manufacturer be allowed to reduce his refund for the period of time he was not unsuccessful in fixing the defect? Our answer is no. The above formula should be used to compute the mileage at the time of the repair attempt. This can often make a difference of several hundred dollars to the consumer.
Only about one half of the lemon laws allow the consumer to recover attorney's fees in his/her action. Those states that do allow attorney's fees provide for a greater likelihood of success and representation in warranty disputes.
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Make Lemonade!</font id="size5">
There are essentially three sets of laws that apply to defective vehicles and products in the United States.
1. The
Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act is a Federal Law that protects the buyer of any product that costs more than $25 and comes with an express written warranty.
Here is a summary of the Act in layman's language, and
here is a more detailed explanation of the Act from the FTC.
2. The
Uniform Commercial Code or UCC has been adopted in all 50 states and covers contracts dealing with the sale of products.
3. Summary of State Lemon Laws
here and individual State Lemon Laws begin
here.
This info and much more at:
http://www.vehicleidentificationnumber.com
2004 | 6MTs | Diamond Graphite/Graphite
Upstate NY
Got a Lemon? Make Lemonade!
