Lemon Law
When you buy a new vehicle, make sure you hold onto the initial paperwork and warranty. Keep a binder in your glove box where you can file away all the papers from the repair technicians as well. While it may seem like useless junk riding around initially, it can really help you if you feel the lemon law might apply to you. Many people are familiar with the car lemon law, although they may not know their local stipulations or understand the various state warranty acts. For this reason, some people hire special lemon law lawyers even though they can file the complaint on their own too.
The federal law defines a lemon as any new vehicle that has a serious defect that isn't fixed within "a reasonable number" of attempts or after "a certain number of days" out of service. Under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, the buyer is protected for any product costing more than $25 that comes with a written warranty. The Uniform Commercial Code allows for consumers to get a refund or replacement for "lemon" products. As one can see, these federal laws are vague at best. It's the state-specific laws that really specify what restitution is given for the defect and what constitutes as a lemon purchase.
At www.lemonlawamerica.com, consumers can click on their state to get the specific state laws that apply to them. For instance, the Texas lemon law says there are four ways to determine if a new car is a lemon. First, there is the "four-times test," which says that a lemon car is one that has been taken in two times for the same defect within 12 months or 12,000 miles, and twice more during the same duration of time after the repair attempt. There is also a "serious-safety-hazard" lemon law test that allows consumers the ability to get a refund if a car has an extremely hazardous defect that isn't able to be fixed after one attempt. There is also the "30-days" test which applies if the vehicle has been out of service for repair for 30 days or more during the first 24 months or 24,000 miles, and there were two repair attempts during this time -- unless a loaner vehicle was provided during this time.
To be eligible for lemon law protection, the consumer must have copies of documentation regarding the vehicle and its history. For instance, the initial purchase contract, warranty book and manual should all be kept. Also, all the paperwork from any repairs that needed to be completed should also be held onto. This will show exactly how much work has been done on this supposedly "fine" vehicle. Many consumers elect to take written notes of conversations with dealership representatives and repair technicians. Sometimes a particular problem is simply associated with a particular vehicle, so Technical Service Bulletins should be looked up to see if this applies to the consumer's purchase. It often helps a case to write up a timeline that clearly shows each repair by date, as well as the number of times the vehicle has been serviced or taken off the road for repairs. Even if dealers or mechanics advise against seeking the lemon law for protection, there is still a chance the consumer may qualify, so a licensed attorney should be contacted instead.
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Tagged with: attorney advice • car lemon • lawyer help • state laws • texas lemon law
Filed under: San Diego Car Accident Lawyer Leads
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