Americans buy and lease hundreds of thousands of vehicles each year, many of which leave the factory with repeating, unfixable problems. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) states 150,000 vehicles sold in the United States each year have these defects, making them known colloquially as lemons. Every manufacturer worldwide sells lemons, including domestic manufacturers like Ford and GM and overseas builders including Honda, Volkswagen, Fiat and more. Lemons arise from any number of problems, ranging from faulty components and substandard materials to human errors during manufacturing or any combination thereof. Lemons disrupt their owners’ lives, costing them hundreds to thousands of dollars in unforeseen repair costs, lost wages, alternative transportation costs, towing fees and more.
When consumers pursue a lemon law claim through an experienced lemon law attorney and win, they are given the choice of repurchase or replacement. One involves the manufacturer buying the defective car back from the consumer, the other involves the manufacturer replacing it with another vehicle of, if possible, the same year make and model. Both outcomes involve the manufacturer taking back the original, defective vehicle. While this is the end of the story for the consumer, the vehicle’s tale only continues.
Each state has its own version of “lemon law” governing automotive manufacturers and their duties to repair defective vehicles still under their original factory warranty. Each state gives manufacturers a certain amount of time or repair attempts to fix the problem and present a functioning vehicle to the consumer. When they fail to do this, lemon laws force the manufacturer to make the consumer whole in other ways – by either refunding the vehicle’s purchase costs, or providing a new, functioning vehicle to the consumer. In addition to state laws, the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975 covers all consumers in the United State regardless of what state they live in.
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The manufacturer will take the original defective vehicle back and sometimes continue trying to repair the problem. Many states will apply a “branded” title to these vehicles if they are put back on the market, telling anyone who considers buying the vehicle about the problem upfront and letting consumers make an informed purchasing decision. This is like how vehicles declared a total loss by an insurance company can be repaired and resold but have “SALVAGE” printed on their title informing consumers the vehicle was previously wrecked and repaired. This also happens sometimes with vehicles specifically caught in floodwaters, as flooded vehicles often suffer hidden, insidious problems persisting long after the vehicle has been cleaned and refurbished. These vehicles often hit the market in large numbers after major weather events, when unscrupulous dealers buy flooded vehicles that should be scrapped for materials and instead sell them to unsuspecting buyers.
This system isn’t foolproof, however. RoadAndTrack.com states fewer than a third of American states brand vehicles repurchased under lemon law buybacks. Thus even a car repurchased in a state that does brand lemons can be moved to one that doesn’t, effectively washing the title clean. Consumers seeking what they think is a deal in states that don’t brand lemons could be stuck with a defective vehicle. Worse yet, as most used cars are resold long after their original factory warranty expires, they have no recourse when the defects rear their ugly heads once again. Most U.S. states don’t cover used cars in their lemon laws, with outliers including New York as exceptions.
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Consumers should use title tracking services like Carfax before purchasing a vehicle to check for such irregularities. However, complicating matters is states that actually do brand lemons often don’t use that term, instead choosing obfuscating language such as “manufacturer repurchase.” The best way to spot a potential lemon when looking for a used car is checking for the above verbiage, as well as checking the repair records for repeated repairs while under warranty. This is a dead giveaway the vehicle was, and still may be, a lemon.
The exact number of repair attempts to look for can vary from state to state, further complicating matters. Even if the vehicle was repurchased in a state that brands lemons, it could theoretically be resold in a state that doesn’t. Each state allows manufacturers different repair attempts or total time in the shop before declaring it a lemon. Texas, for example, has three “tests” a vehicle must pass before it becomes a lemon.
The first test is the “four times test,” meaning if the manufacturer cannot repair the vehicle’s defect after four attempts, it is considered a lemon.
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The second test is the “30 days test,” which states if the vehicle 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.
The third test is the serious safety hazard test, which the vehicle passes if 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.
The lemon law attorneys of Allen Stewart P.C. have represented hundreds of clients across the United States when their car’s manufacturer fails to uphold their end of their written manufacturer’s warranty. They have the knowledge and tools needed to get you the compensation you deserve, and a proven track record of doing that for scores of clients just like you. The sooner you reach out to Allen Stewart P.C., the better your chances of getting a positive outcome. Contact Allen Stewart P.C. today and get back behind the wheel.