Posts Tagged ‘Federal Lemon Laws’
If you own a New Car that’s a Lemon, the Lemon Law gives you Options
At one time or another, most of us have driven a car that we would describe as a “lemon”. For some of us, that car came in the form of an old jalopy that we still felt lucky to be driving when we were sixteen. But for others of us, a lemon car was vehicle that we purchased new but that nonetheless performed like an old jalopy. Anyone who has encountered the latter scenario knows how frustrating it can be in terms of cost, social autonomy and maintaining a punctual schedule. Just when you feel free of auto repairs, are ready for a weekend outing or are leaving for work, your supposedly “new” car is headed for the repair shop. Just how unfair is this scenario? According to lawmakers, it’s so unfair that “Lemon Laws” have been enacted to hold automakers responsible.
Lemon Laws vary by state. But most states define a lemon as a vehicle that spends an undue amount of time in the repair shop or is repaired numerous times for the same problem before its warranty expires or it reaches a certain number of miles, whichever comes first. For example, in Ohio, your vehicle is presumed a lemon if within the first year or eighteen thousand miles, it has been unsuccessfully repaired for the same problem three or more times, or if it has spent a total of 30 days or more in the shop since, or it has been subject to 8 or more repairs for various problems or one time for a problem likely to cause death or serious bodily injury.
Once a vehicle becomes a legal lemon, compensation arrives in of two forms: the vehicle is returned and replaced with a comparative vehicle or the consumer is refunded the car’s purchase price (minus a mileage based “allowance” in some states) and is compensated for other expenses as well, such as sales tax, options and modifications made by the dealer, finance charges, licensing and registration fees, rental car fees incurred while the lemon was being repaired and towing charges. If you’re driving (or, rather, not driving) a lemon car, contact a Lemon Law attorney and let the Lemon Law work for you before it’s too late.
