Whereas at one time you had no alternative but to allow the
manufacturer or seller of a defective product an endless
amount of repair attempts, State and federal statutes
informally known as "Lemon Laws" provide for compensation to
you where you have a defective product that cannot be fixed
within a reasonable opportunity. The federal Lemon Law,
officially known as the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, provides
for the payment of your attorney fees and court costs if
successful, as do most State Lemon laws.
To qualify for protection under a Lemon Law, you must
generally have a defective consumer product that has not been
fixed within a reasonable amount of repair attempts. Most
State Lemon Laws specifically apply to motor vehicles and
require the manufacturer to refund your money or replace your
vehicle if, during the first twelve to twenty-four months of
ownership, your vehicle has suffered three to four repairs for
the same problem or has been out of service by reason of
repair more than thirty days. Although State Lemon Laws are
generally limited to new vehicles, many states have enacted
specific lemon statutes that protect purchasers of used
vehicles and/or other consumer products such as Motor Homes
and computers.
The federal Lemon Law often extends protection far past State
law, making warrantors responsible for irreparable defects for
up to four years after the factory warranty has expired. This
federal statute generally provides cash compensation where the
warrantor cannot make your product free from defects within a
reasonable opportunity. Unlike State Lemon Laws, the
Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act applies not just to vehicles but
instead to all consumer products - including boats and
appliances. Magnuson-Moss also creates strict requirement for
warrantors when drafting warranties and disclosing warranty
terms, thereby eliminating much of the confusing "doubletalk"
inherent in consumer warranties. To read your State's Lemon
Law, or the Federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, click here
Steps You Can Take to Protect Your Rights and Investment
Lemon Laws often, but not always, require you to provide
written notice of the defect to the warrantor and a final
opportunity to fix the defects. These statutes also authorize
warrantors to establish programs to resolve consumer
complaints out of court. However, these programs are often
wholly funded by the warrantors themselves, calling into
serious question the credibility and impartiality of these
mechanisms. You are generally only obligated to participate in
such programs where the warrantor establishes the program in
strict compliance with State and federal law. Before
participating in any such program, you should consult an
attorney as although such programs may be helpful, they may be
harmful as well due to the bias towards the warrantor inherent
in most of these mechanisms.
Because of the expansive legal rights these statutes provide
you, sellers and manufacturers will often create obstacles to
your enforcement of these rights and at times, will discourage
you from enforcing your time-sensitive rights by providing
false and misleading information. For example, a warrantor may
tell you the time to enforce your State Lemon Law rights has
expired without informing you of the rights you have under the
federal Lemon Law. Likewise, in an effort to make you accept
your lemon, warrantors will often tell you there is no problem
with your product and that what you are experiencing is a
"normal operating condition." Always get a second - or third -
opinion before believing that problem you know is there really
isn't. Further, always ask for all Technical Service Bulletins
("TSB's") on your vehicle as these internal documents often
prove your problem exists. Finally, and perhaps most important
of all, always make sure to get documentation from the
warrantor of each and every repair attempt whenever you
retrieve your product back from the repair shop. Withholding
these records from you is often the warrantor's best way to
prevent you from building your lemon case, so always insist on
receiving a repair order. If the warrantor refuses to give you
one, make your own by faxing or mailing the repair shop a
letter memorializing the defect and date of the repair, and
the warrantor's refusal to provide you a repair order. To
download our copyrighted Lemon repair log, click here.
What to do Now
You have an expensive investment, its time to protect your
rights and interests. Apathy and inaction is the exact
situation that all manufacturers seek from consumers, and this
Website believes pursuing the damages applicable laws make
available helps not only yourself, but other consumers as well
by showing big corporations they will be held responsible for
making less than satisfactory products. If you think you have
a Lemon, click here for a free lemon law case review, or
simply fax your repair records to 866-773-6152 866-773-6152
. Your inquiry will be promptly responded to.
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