subject: Lemon Law For Cars - How are new vehicles covered under lemon laws? [print this page] A consumer has just picked out their new vehicle, after taking care of the paperwork, the salesperson hands them the key to their vehicle. Seems like a good thing to experience. They have welcomed the newest member of their family. Then the problem starts, imagine the feeling when the newest adventure in their life comes to a dead stop. The vehicle won't start, or maybe the engine gives out when they are way out in no man's land. All of this without as much as even a hint of a warning. The effort that the consumer has exerted to this point was all in vain. We start hoping that the dealer will correct this problem with our new vehicle. Imagine now that the manufacturer or dealer attempted to fix this vehicle problem several times, but nothing worked. It is only now that the idea of the consumer having a lemon arises. This situation can be very disturbing, maybe because the consumer has spent most of their money on a vehicle they can't use. In this situation the consumer should start looking into the lemon laws.
States differ in their individual laws governing lemon laws, but this difference is only slightly. The majority of states have similar laws on lemons. New cars can be known as demonstration vehicles, low mileage vehicles that came with a warranty. Even some leased vehicles are considered to be "New". Most of the time lemon laws are concerning consumer vehicles rather than commercial vehicles. In example, a refrigerator truck that is a business vehicle would not be considered under these laws. But in this same situation, a vehicle that is used by staff would be considered under these laws. Normally lemon laws include vehicles that are newer than two years, and have less than 18,000 miles on them.
These laws usually will define what is considered a lemon and what is not. While these definitions vary from state to state, they usually require the consumer to have gotten the automobile repaired at least two times for serious problems, and four times due to other problems. If a vehicle has been out of commission for thirty days or more, depending on which state they reside, then they are covered by lemon laws. Most of the time laws require the consumer to provide written notification to the manufacturer or dealer in order to keep in line with the laws.
If a consumer's vehicle is considered to be a lemon, as described in the lemon laws, there is a chance that the vehicle will be replaced with a new vehicle of the same kind or equal value. Some of the lemon laws will give the consumer the choice of either getting the vehicle replaced, or getting a refund of the purchase price. Some of the lemon laws also give the manufacturer or dealer the choice in this situation.
Lemon Law For Cars - How are new vehicles covered under lemon laws?
