Law Pointers

The automobile lemon laws were designed to protect car buyers from irreparable manufacturers’ defects in automobiles that should be ordinarily be covered under warranty.

So How Did The Lemon Laws Come About?

Consumer demand for lemon law protection started to swell from around 1972, when more than one million people were found to have paid for vehicles that had problems that dealers could not, or would not, repair. Connecticut and California were the first states to adopt an automobile lemon law, and other states were quick to follow. They’ve had a dramatic effect on vehicle quality and today, with the increased accountability demanded by lemon laws, claims have dropped to about 100,000 new cases a year.

So What Is Covered Under Lemon Law?

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If you are fortunate, you can purchase a brand new car. If your fortune takes a turn after you purchase the car and problems arise with the car, what can you do? Are you covered under the state lemon law? Can you just return the car? Will the dealer talk to you? What requirements must my car fit in to be called a “lemon”?

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I have a brand new car that has been back to the dealership multiple times and cannot seem to be repaired to my satisfaction. How can I go about having it replaced via the lemon law?

Lemon laws are very specific to each state, so you’ll want to investigate further for your specific state, but I’ll outline a few general rules before you proceed.

First off, you have to allow the business an opportunity to resolve the problem directly. Generally a vehicle would have to be in a dealer a certain amount of times for a specific period of time before the lemon law would apply.

If the dealership still cannot fix your vehicle and you are outside of the restrictions that are applicable for your state, then you would next contact your states consumer affairs division and file appropriate paperwork for a lemon law claim.