Automobile Lemon Laws
Free Lemon Law Tips by Doug Smith

A lemon car or vehicle is very generally defined as a vehicle that has a non-repairable manufacturing defect (even after several repair attempts), a problem that makes the car worth less, or a car that has a serious safety issue.

The U.S. enacted automobile lemon laws to protect the consumer in the event of non-repairable and repetitive defects found in newly purchased vehicles.

These automobile lemon laws allow the consumer to demand that the faulty lemon car be fixed, or if that is not feasible, ultimately replaced.



Individual states set the guidelines for implementation of their own automobile lemon laws. Automobile lemon laws protect you as a car customer and provide you a better guarantee that the car you purchased will perform up to reasonably acceptable standards.

Upon discovering a vehicle problem or defect, most automobile lemon laws require you to have an authorized repair center attempt repairs. If several repair attempts fail to fix the problem, it is possible you have purchased a lemon car.

To be covered by state automobile lemon laws, the car must still be under factory warranty. Most manufacturer warranties last between 12 and 24 thousand miles, or a period of two to three years, whichever comes first.

When a consumer determines that a lemon car has been purchased, automobile lemon laws require him seek a solution from the manufacturer. He should not attempt to solve the lemon car problem with the dealer from which it was purchased. If you happen to have a lemon car, you must document this in writing to the manufacturer to be eligible for a refund.

The car's manual often contains the address and instructions for addressing concerns about a lemon car. In order to file an automobile lemon law complaint, you must keep all of your correspondence and repair documentation. You will need them to prove your lemon case to the manufacturer.

Be sure to keep excellent notes of any phone calls you make regarding your lemon car case, including why you called (or why the person called you), full name of the person you talked to, the person's position, date and time of call, and a summary of the conversation.

Getting a refund rather than a replacement car is an option for car buyers under most automobile lemon laws. Furthermore, you may be entitled to be reimbursed for bills spent on the repairs, towing rental cars, and related fees. Keep all receipts of these expenditures.

Generally, the automobile lemon laws of most states allow manufacturers only one attempt to make a serious safety repair. If it is determined that the problem is not fixed (or cannot be fixed), the car falls under the jurisdiction of the automobile lemon laws.

Serious safety repair examples include, but are not limited to, a defective steering wheel, or faulty brakes.

The manufacturer may attempt to repair non-serious safety repairs at least two or three times if the car is covered by the state's automobile lemon law.

Besides lemon cars created by safety issues, a car can be considered a lemon if it has been in a garage for more than 30 days for one repair that occurs during the first 12,000 miles.



When facing litigation under automobile lemon laws, most manufacturers are willing to work with the consumer in repairing the car, replacing it with a new vehicle, or offering a refund of the full price.

The manufacturer may subtract the mileage accumulated by the consumer while he or she was driving the car.

Note that if you find that the manufacturer will not cooperate with you to resolve your lemon law case, there are attorneys that specialize in automobile lemon laws. They can help you proceed with the next step to require the manufacture to honor the state automobile lemon laws.

This article is ©2006 by Doug Smith. Bought a lemon car? Browse many free and informative articles and tips on car lemon laws, including definition of a lemon car, lemon law attorneys, lemon law arbitration, state lemon laws and more. Visit http://LemonLaws.FindCarsForHire.com. This article may be freely reprinted as long as this copyright notice remains intact, the article is unchanged, and all hyperlinks remain active and clickable.