LEMON LAW INFO FOR ,
Lemon Law Facts
Each year, approximately 150,000 vehicles sold are lemons. Although each state has its own lemon laws, there are some general qualifications that one must meet to qualify for protection under a lemon law.
You must have purchased a defective car and have allowed a reasonable number of repair attempts. The repairs performed on your car are a result of the same problem which has resulted in your car being out of service due to repair for more than a reasonable number of days.
If you qualify under the protection of the lemon law, you may be entitled to a refund or replacement. Not only that, but your sales taxes, licensing fees, vehicle title fees, registration fees, rental car fees, towing fees as well as attourney fees, finance and interest charges can all be refunded!
What does it mean to have a "lemon"?
In general, to have a lemon, the vehicle would continue to have the same defect that substantially impair its use, value or safety. Typically, the vehicle would have had required four or more repair attempts and after the repair attempts the defect still has not been fixed. If you fall into this category, your car most likely qualifies as a lemon.
Again, laws vary from state to state depending on where you live. You can find all of the laws and statutes for your particular state on our lemon law by state page.
How Do I Know If I Have A Lemon?
You may have a lemon if your vehicle has atypical issues such as defective breaks, a transmission that does not work, parts fall off for no reason, etc. Again, you have to give the dealer or manufacturer a reasonable opportunity to repair the issues. If, however, after reasonable repair efforts have been made and the problem still exists, most likely you have a lemon.
If you have a lemon, you need to be informed of your rights. In order to receive the full benefits of the lemon law, you should fully document all repairs done on your vehicle along with the dates they were performed.
If I Have A Lemon, Do I need a Lawyer?
You may or may not need a lawyer depending on the extent of the problem and the state that you live in. Some states will correct the issue with proper documentation and other states will require that you hire an attourney. To help answer your question, you can visit the page do I need a lawyer?.
Do I Have To Pay The Lawyer?
Again, this depends on the state that you live in. Some states entitle you to recover your attourney's fees and otehrs don't. If your lawyer sues under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (the typical law otherwise known as the "lemon law"), then you should be awarded your attourney's fees if you win. However, if you lose your case, some states will require that you pay your attourney's fees.
Are Leased Or Used Cars Covered Under The Lemon Law?
Some state lemon laws will include leased and used cars under the statues. Other states have different laws for new vehicles and used vehicles. The Attourney General for your state can help you answer your question or you can always read the entire lemon law and statutes for your state by visiting the lemon law by state page.
Are RV's, Motorcycles And Boats Overed Under The Lemon Law?
Motorcycles typically are not covered by the lemon law, but some states do offer consumer protection with motorcycles. As for motor homes (RV's), most states will cover at least the drive train. They usually do not cover parts of the RV that are used for dwelling purposes such as a microwave, bed, table, etc.
How To Protect Yourself
With a new vehicle, you may not suspect it to be a lemon until its out of warranty, and you think it to be too late. Be sure to keep a detailed record of every repair visit so that if it is later suspected of being a lemon you have all of your documentation in place.
The more you document, the more you protect yourself. While you may think it to be going overboard, you will not think that if you later discover that your vehicle is a lemon! Some things you should be careful to documetn including times and dates of each repair and what was repaird. Also be sure to note who you talk to. Keep a copy of each invoice or repair slip. Make sure that all paperwork shows in detail what work was done and for what reason. If the repair slips do not specify exactly what was done, you have no documentation to back yourself up. Remember, with the lemon law, you have to show that multiple repairs were done for the same problem. If your paperwork does not show what problem the repairs were for, you can not prove this.
Also be sure to note whenever you notice problems with your vehicle. For example, when you notice something wrong with the vehicle, note what happened along with the time and date. If your vehicle was out of service or if you incurred any expenses such as having to rent a car, be sure to include that information as well.
For more information, see:
What Is A Lemon Law?
Am I Eligable?
What Do I Need?
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