Posts Tagged ‘used cars’
Used Cars and State Lemon Laws
Every state has a body of statutes known as lemon laws that protect consumers from owning vehicles that fail to live up to the manufacturer’s original warranty. Under state lemon law, a vehicle qualifies as a lemon when it undergoes a certain number of unsuccessful repairs for the same problem within a certain range of miles after its original delivery date, meaning that owners of used lemon cars typically aren’t covered by state lemon laws. However, if you own a used lemon car and your state’s lemon laws don’t cover used vehicles, you still have a right to compensation under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, which is often referred to as the “Federal Lemon Law”.
Driving a used lemon car can feel the same as driving a new lemon car, but with one exception: its “used” status often results in its owner having it endlessly repaired, thinking that the window of mileage to pursue a lemon law claim has expired. Under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, a car can qualify as a lemon at any point during its warranty. For example, if your used car is 86,000 miles into its 100,000-mile warranty and experiences a problem that can’t be fixed within a reasonable period of time or reasonable number of attempts, the act allows you to receive compensation.
In terms of compensation, the biggest difference between state lemon laws and the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act is that the latter does not entitle consumers to full refund of a vehicle’s purchase price or a free replacement vehicle. Instead, vehicle owners receive a cash award and may return the lemon vehicle on their own. The act also allows consumers to recover attorney fees from the manufacturer.
