The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) claims roughly 150,000 Americans purchase defective vehicles each year. They don’t do this intentionally, but inadvertently. Most consumers expect their brand-new vehicles to perform as advertised – after all, buying a new vehicle is often the largest single purchase most people make in their lives. When other products fail to perform as advertised, it’s an inconvenience. When a car fails, it’s a disaster. When a defective “lemon” car strikes, it can cost a consumer hundreds if not thousands of dollars in lost wages, towing fees, alternative transportation costs, and many other unseen expenses.
Every automotive manufacturer has built the occasional lemon. Companies including Ford, Honda, General Motors and many others have cranked out thousands of vehicles containing repeating, unfixable defects. Defects arise from any number of causes, including design flaws, substandard materials, mistakes in manufacturing or incidents in transport from factory to dealership. No matter what causes the problem, one thing remains true regardless: the manufacturer must solve the problem one way or another. When the manufacturer fails to make consumers whole when their mistakes come to light, lemon laws compel them to do so and give consumers the tools they need to seek legal redress.
There are two big steps a consumer can take to ensure their lemon law claim succeeds. The first is, of course, contacting a qualified and experienced lemon law attorney. The second is one many consumers may not know about: detailed, meticulous record keeping. Purchase documents and repair records are the foundation upon which lemon law attorneys build successful lemon law claims. These documents include the vehicle’s original manufacturer’s warranty, proof of purchase by the consumer, and detailed records of every attempt to repair the problem the consumer thinks may be a defect.
For more information on arbitration and other frequently asked lemon law claim questions, click here.
Every state in America has its own version of lemon law on the books, detailing how long you must allow the manufacturer to attempt repairs. States break this down into both how much time the vehicle spends being repaired or the number of specific attempts, whichever comes first. For example, the Texas lemon law requires a vehicle to meet one of three specific criteria or “tests” before lemon law protections go into effect. These are the “four times test,” “30-day test,” and “serious safety hazard test.”
A vehicle passes the four times test if the manufacturer cannot fix the problem after four different repair attempts. The repairs must be attempted by the manufacturer themselves or an authorized technician.
A vehicle passes the 30-day test if it has been in the shop for repair because of problems covered by the original factory warranty for 30 days or more. Specifically, these 30 days must occur during the first two years or 24,000 miles of ownership without a comparable loaner vehicle offered, and there were two repair attempts during the first year or 12,000 without any success.
A vehicle passes the serious safety hazard test of the owner takes it to the manufacturer to repair a serious safety problem during the first 12 months of ownership or 12,000 miles driven, whichever comes first, and then once more during the 12 months or 12,000 miles following the first repair attempts without the problem being fixed. The Texas lemon law defines a “serious safety hazard” as any life-threatening malfunction that substantially impedes the driver’s ability to control or operate the vehicle normally, or that creates a substantial risk of fire or explosion.
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Records of these repairs form the foundation of a lemon law claim. Consumers should save every scrap of paper they receive when purchasing their car and demand detailed records of all repair attempts when they suspect their new car has gone bad. They should digitize these records as well, not only safeguarding them in case physical copies are lost, but also so they can quickly and easily send them to their lemon law attorney. Digital records mean instead of waiting for the postal service or relying on expensive express courier services, they can send them quickly for free.
Your lemon law lawyer will use your documents and construct a timeline of events from purchase, the first reported defect, and all repair attempts to the present day. They will use your manufacturer’s warranty to point out the manufacturer’s duty to provide a working vehicle and show how they have failed to do so. If all goes according to plan, your claim will prevail and you will get the compensation to which you are entitled, which is often repurchase or replacement.
Repurchase, also known as buyback, is when the manufacturer buys the vehicle back from you. The manufacturer simply cuts you a check for the full price of the vehicle, plus fees incurred for taxes, title and licensing. The Texas lemon law, for examples, makes manufacturers pay “reasonable incidental costs resulting from the loss of use of the motor vehicle.” The Texas lemon law defines these costs as rental car fees, towing costs, phone or mail communications made when contacting the dealership or manufacturer, personal property damage, attorney’s fees if the consumer hires an attorney after learning the manufacturer has also hired an attorney, and even room and board if the vehicle fails while on an out-of-town trip.
Lemon laws are confusing. Read our guide to the lemon law complaint process.
However, lemon laws also allow the manufacturer to withhold a certain amount for the consumer’s use of the vehicle. They calculate this amount using the number of miles the consumer drove the vehicle before first reporting a problem. This is another reason consumers should immediately report any suspected problems with their new vehicle as quickly as possible.
The other option is replacement, in which the manufacturer provides another vehicle – specifically, a properly functioning vehicle without defects. The manufacturer must provide a “comparable” vehicle of similar make and model. Just like a repurchase, the manufacturer must reimburse the consumer for reasonable incidental costs while also withholding reasonable allowances for the consumer’s use of the original vehicle.
The attorneys of Allen Stewart P.C. have helped hundreds of clients stand up to manufacturers when their vehicles end up a lemon. They have the knowledge and experience needed to guide your claim to a successful conclusion. Using your records, they will build a rock-solid case and get you the justice you deserve. The sooner you reach out, the better your chances: contact Allen Stewart P.C. today.