Understanding Washington Lemon Law

Washington’s lemon law also covers motorcycles, trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 19,000 pounds, and the self-propelled chassis of motorhomes.

The Washington lemon law provides a special provision for U.S. service members. It covers their vehicles regardless of where they were bought, as long as it is a new vehicle and the service member is stationed in Washington.

The Washington lemon law does not cover new vehicles bought or leased by a business as part of a fleet of ten or more vehicles at one time or under a single business purchase or lease agreement.

Washington’s lemon law defines a “consumer” as anyone who purchases or leases a new vehicle other than for the purposes of resale or sublease. The lemon law also covers a “subsequent transferee,” defined as someone who acquires a new vehicle within the manufacturer’s written warranty period. For example, if someone is given the vehicle as a gift by the purchaser, the recipient is the subsequent transferee.

The lemon law covers any “nonconformity” of the car. The law defines nonconformity as a “defect, serious safety defect, or condition that does not conform to the warranty and substantially impairs the use, value, or safety of the new motor vehicle.”

The law’s definition doesn’t include any problem stemming from abuse, neglect or unauthorized modification or alteration of the vehicle.

The law goes on to define a serious safety defect as “a life-threatening malfunction or nonconformity that impedes the consumer’s ability to control or operate the new motor vehicle for ordinary use or reasonable intended purposes or creates a risk of fire or explosion.”

The law defines “substantially impair” as rendering the new vehicle unreliable, unsafe for ordinary use, or diminishing its resale value below the average resale value for comparable unimpaired vehicles.

The manufacturer must repair any nonconformity if the consumer reports it within the period of the written warranty, or within the “eligibility period.” The law defines the eligibility period as two years after the date of the vehicle’s original delivery to the consumer, or within the first 24,000 miles of operation – whichever comes first.

The consumer must allow the manufacturer a “reasonable number of repair attempts” to fix the nonconformity. The Washington lemon law defines a reasonable number of repair attempts of a serious safety defect being subject to diagnosis and repair twice with no success, or four times for a less serious nonconformity. At least one of the attempts must be made during the coverage period of the manufacturer’s warranty. The lemon law’s provisions also take effect if the vehicle is out of service for 30 calendar days because of a nonconformity or serious safety defect.

Motor homes in Washington fall under a different standard for “reasonable number of attempts.” The standard is met if a motor home has been serviced one or more times for a serious safety defect or three times for a less serious nonconformity without success. The law’s provisions also take effect if the motor home is out of service for 60 calendar days or longer.

The manufacturer must repurchase or replace the vehicle if they or their agents are unable to repair the nonconformity after a reasonable number of attempts. They must do so within 40 days of the consumer’s written request to the manufacturer’s corporate dispute resolution zone or regional office.

Washington’s lemon law compels manufacturers to pay the purchase price, collateral charges and incidental costs when repurchasing a vehicle. Collateral charges include sales and use taxes, arbitration service fees, unused license fees and more. Incidental costs include costs incurred by the consumer in connection with the repair of the vehicle in question, including towing charges and alternative transportation.

Manufacturers are allowed to deduct a “reasonable offset” for use. This is calculated from the number of miles traveled between the original purchase of the vehicle and the date of the first attempts to repair the nonconformity.

Manufacturers buying back a leased vehicle must pay the pay-off amount to the lessor, as well as lease payments, collateral charges and incidental costs to the lessee. They can also deduct a reasonable use allowance as well.

The Washington lemon law requires manufacturers to provide an identical or reasonably equivalent vehicle in the case of replacement. That includes any service contract, undercoating, rustproofing, and factory or dealer installed options. The law says the manufacturer must pay sales tax, license and registration fees for the replacement vehicle, along with refunding any incidental costs.

A consumer accepting a replacement vehicle must compensate the manufacturer for a reasonable offset of use, calculated in the same way as in the case of repurchase.

The Washington lemon law’s provisions covering refund or replacement don’t apply until the consumer has first resorted to an “informal dispute settlement procedure,” i.e. arbitration. The Washington Attorney General has established a motor vehicle arbitration board to settle disputes between consumers and manufacturers. Consumers must submit their disputes either to the Attorney General’s arbitration board, or through the manufacturer’s informal dispute settlement mechanism before seeking relief in the court system.

For more information on arbitration and other frequently asked lemon law questions, click here

The manufacturer must abide by the decision of the arbitrator, while the consumer does not. If dissatisfied with the outcome, a consumer can bring civil action in the civil court system. By filing a claim under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, Washington consumers can hire lawyers who will represent them without the vehicle owner having to pay any attorneys’ fees directly out of their pocket. The Act provides that the vehicle manufacturer shall pay the claimants’ reasonable attorneys’ fees if the claimant prevails against the manufacturer. Lemonlawusa.org encourages vehicle owners with a lemon to hire a lemon law attorney. You can bet the car manufacturers have legal counsel at the ready to help defend against lemon law claims both in arbitration and in court. Shouldn’t you have competent legal counsel in your corner?

Ross said clients who win out in court against their vehicle’s manufacturer or settle outside of court can use their awarded money however they see fit.

Clients who financed their vehicles must continue making their periodic payments throughout their lemon law claim. Regardless of whether your car is drivable or stuck in the shop throughout your claim’s lifetime, missing your regular payments can adversely affect your claim. However, once the client’s lemon law claim resolves, they can use their awarded funds to pay off what remains of their auto loan. Freed from their old loan, they can freely seek a new, working vehicle.

Clients who’ve already paid their vehicle off by the time their lemon law claim ends or bought it outright can use their awarded funds as a down payment on a new vehicle, or to buy an entirely new vehicle cash. The choice belongs entirely to the client.

The Washington lemon law covers only new vehicles and not used vehicles. The lemon laws in most states only cover vehicles still under their original manufacturer’s warranty, and most used vehicles are resold long after that original warranty expires. Contact a qualified lemon law attorney to discuss the details of your situation and determine if you have a valid claim.

Whether the client wins in court our settles outside of court, their awarded funds can be used any way they choose. However, statutes of limitation limit how long clients have to file a claim. Contact the lemon law attorneys of Allen Stewart P.C. and start your claim today.

This information brought to you by Allen Stewart P.C.