Some car companies are able to stand behind the quality of their cars, but most of us aren't so lucky. If your vehicle was a lemon, and you know it, then this blog post is for you! This guide will walk through what steps you should take in order to receive compensation for your used car caused by "a manufacturing defect that was not apparent when the vehicle left the factory."
In general terms, a used-car lemon law is determined by state law and provides certain protections to consumers. Lemon laws typically protect consumers from:
- The cost of the repair
- Refunds or re-stocking of the purchased vehicle (i.e., "replacement value")
- Negligent misrepresentation of a car's condition by manufacturers. Lemon laws are typically found in the states that have lemon laws in place. These states typically include California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas.
The legal definition of what constitutes a lemon may vary from state to state, but typically:
If your vehicle fails to meet the specifications of its original manufacture or the manufacturer is unable to repair your vehicle after a reasonable number of attempts, then you may have a case against them. Depending on the state in which you bought the vehicle, there are different statutes that regulate how you may proceed with recovering compensation for your used car lemon.
In many states, lemon law statutes extend to used cars too (and not limited to only new cars). In California, for instance, the Used Car Lemon Law covers private sales. In Texas and Virginia, you are required to purchase a vehicle from an authorized dealer who will have a recall history and warranty of the used car. If your used car is a lemon, then you may be entitled to compensation towards the value of the car price by the dealer or manufacturer.
Compensation available to used lemon car buyers
If you check with auto protection dept or a lemon lawyer, you will be told of lemon buyback - the most common type of compensation:
- the dealership has to repurchase the car from the plaintiff. They will also need to bear 'incidental costs'
- the dealership will deduct a small amount as a reasonable deduction for the time the lemon history car was in use by the buyer.
- Auto protection dept states that all transportation and other costs will be borne by the dealership
- the lemon lawyer you hired would be paid by the manufacturer under the fee-shifting provisions.
To conclude
As a used car buyer, you have a lot of points to check before you zero in on a suitable second-hand car. Plus, you would need to protect yourself from lemon history cars. This post showed how the law works for used cars.
Andrew Richardson is the author of this Article. To know more about Automobile troubleshooter please visit our website: allenstewart.com