Consumer Protection Law Group Inc.
General Lemon Law Information

In today’s fast-paced world, juggling your personal and professional life may be a tremendous challenge.Your life might become even more stressful if you don’t have your own personal transportation vehicle. That’s why having a reliable car is essential as it allows people to exercise personal power and autonomy.

Perhaps second only to the purchase of your house, acquiring a car is one of the most significant purchases you will ever make. Because of this, your vehicle is more than just a car. So what if instead of being able to purchase a fully functional vehicle, you get a dysfunctional one? Fortunately, there is Lemon Law to protect automobile buyers.

Lemon law stipulates that if a manufacturer is unable to fix a faulty car, they may refund the vehicle’s original price. If you lease or buy a new car covered by an initial warranty, you’re protected by these rules throughout the United State. *Certain state laws may differ.

Similar and overlapping faults to warranties are common among lemons manufactured by various manufacturers. Vehicles that suffer from Lemon Symptoms have issues with the engine transmission, electric components and steering as well as the brakes and suspension as well as the HVAC and safety restraint system. Examples include oil leaks, loss of power, damaged brakes, and locked steering wheels, to name a few of the most common.

In order to be qualified for a lemon law claim in the United States (*certain states may differ), a customer must try a “reasonable” number of repairs throughout the warranty term. Reasonable is a subjective term but can include the following:

  • The sum does not exceed one-half of the Internal Revenue Service’s per-mile allowance for the use of a personal car to conduct business.
  • This sum is determined by a revenue procedure, revenue ruling, or a regulatory revenue procedure.
  • The allowance also includes a sum to account for any wear and tear losses to the vehicle’s fair market value.

Manufacturer and dealership duties must be well understood by customers. If your automobile is a lemon law case, the dealership where you bought it is not legally obligated to reimburse you or replace it. Your manufacturer, on the other hand, is an exception to this rule. It becomes a legal issue if the manufacturer refuses to refund your fees or replace your lemon. It depends on your specific situation, but if your car manufacturer refuses to refund or replace your vehicle after a fair period of time, you should speak with an attorney about your rights.

After you submit a Lemon Law claim, you have two options to choose from: arbitration or judicial proceedings to resolve your dispute. Unfortunately, manufacturers often try to encourage customers to resolve their Lemon Law disputes through arbitration, but the truth of the matter is that arbitration tends to benefit manufacturers rather than consumers. If you decide to take your Lemon Law claim to court, you will have an attorney on your side who is knowledgeable with the legal duties of your manufacturer and who will fight on your behalf.

“Lemon law” arbitration refers to an informal dispute resolution method in which a neutral third party arbitrator resolves a disagreement between separate parties (in this example the car manufacturer and consumer). Arbitration generally takes up to 40 days, but might reach a conclusion sooner. When a Lemon Law is resolved through arbitration, customers are not obligated to engage a counsel to represent them during arbitration. Manufacturers, on the other hand, frequently engage attorneys to represent them during the entire process. When this occurs, customers are considerably more susceptible and more likely to lose their case because they lack competent legal representation.

In arbitration or court, consumers are not necessarily compelled to employ an attorney, but they do have the choice to do so if they so want. In arbitration or court, legal costs might be expensive depending on the attorney, but you can be assured that your best interests will be represented. Manufacturers may also be forced to compensate consumers in certain Lemon Law instances. When this happens, the manufacturers are frequently required to reimburse the consumer’s legal expenses.

A car settlement or reimbursement of your original vehicle expenditures is available if you prevail in your Lemon Law lawsuit through arbitration or in court. If you want to have your car replaced by the manufacturer, your manufacturer must do so with a vehicle that is reasonably comparable in function and design to the defective one. Alternatively, you are entitled to a reimbursement for the original purchase price of your car.

Unfortunately there are a lot of people out there who don’t realize that they’re driving a lemon. Furthermore, many individuals who drive defective automobiles are unaware that there are legal safeguards in place on a federal and state level to protect customers in the unfortunate event that they acquire a lemon vehicle. If you feel you have a lemon or would like to learn more about lemon law claims in Arizona, please contact us.

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