Michigan lemon law

It’s not the way you’d expect an article on the Michigan lemon law to begin, but we’re sorry you need to find information about it. Unless you’re just being careful, you probably think you’ve got a lemon on your hands. We hope that we’re writing here will help you get through this difficult, frustrating and unpleasant time.

To start, here are some basic facts about Michigan’s lemon law—

: it applies to all new and leased cars (this is a recent change, to our benefit)

: a car’s “problem” is now defined by the consumer, rather than the manufacturer (more good news for us)

: Michigan cars are covered for two years after the first lemon problem surfaces OR once the car’s been in the shop for 30 days or more

: the first problem must come up within 12 months of your buying the car

: if your car is a lemon, you can get a refund or a replace vehicle

: you must give your car’s manufacturer the opportunity to fix the problem (which they’ll usually do through your local dealership)

: document every problem you have with your car and every problem related to it. (The more details you have, the stronger your case will be.) Your documentation should include all your service records, the mileage and date of each incident, who you talk to at the dealership, manufacturer, etc., what they and you say, etc. The more records you have, the better

: before your car has been fixed for the fourth time, or it’s been out of service for its 30th day, contact the manufacturer and tell them you believe you’ve got a lemon on your hands.

There is more information about Michigan’s lemon law at http://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,1607,7-164-17278-47386--,00.html.

If you’ve done all of this but haven’t gotten any satisfaction, there are a couple of other laws that might help. These are federal laws: the Uniform Commercial Code and the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. You’re fast getting to the point where you’re going to need professional legal help; if neither of these laws help, successful lawsuits have been won using breach of contract or unfair marketing laws.

Our final word on the Michigan lemon law is to remind you to please keep the best records possible, use whatever arbitration programs are available to you and provide the right notice to the right people in the most timely manner. Fighting the lemon law is a maddening, frustrating experience to go through. Good luck.

What is lemon law

What do I mean when I say “My car is under lemon?” It refers to the major defects in your car that deteriorates its usage, safety and value. In such a case, there are Lemon Laws to protect the consumers.

Now you must be wondering what a Lemon Law does. Lemon Laws are meant to obligate the seller or the manufacturer of the product to refund, repair or replace the defective product to the consumer. The Lemon Laws protect the purchaser of the defective new vehicle within its warranty period of the purchase. The Law is only applicable provided the consumer replaces the car within a specific given time limit. The manufacturer or the seller would provide the consumer with a new car or completely refund the full cost price.

There are certain key factors that need to be kept in mind to opt for a Lemon Law. These key factors are:

1. The purchaser can’t complaint of minor issues which do not affect the usage and its safety such as funny noises, certain lights, etc. The consumer can not be protected under the lemon law in case there is anything in the car which the consumer does not prefer. These decisions should be made during the time of the purchase and the seller or manufacturer can not be blamed for it.
2. The second factor is that the defect has to affect one of three or all the areas; safety, usage and value. If it’s a major defect then it has to affect any one of the three.
3. Even if you have several defects during the warranty period, it does not mean your car is lemon. But a single serious problem can prove your car lemon if the manufacturer can not fix it in the first go.
4. The manufacturer might take more than one chance to fix the problem.

In case the dealer refuses to repair or replace your vehicle, you are entitled to a legal Lemon Law help. When the dealer assures the buyer with a warranty during the purchase of the car, he is committed to provide all the after sales services. In case the manufacture doesn’t abide by the obligations, check with a trusted expert attorney. It is advised to possess all the required documents of the purchase of the car for further actions.

When you need expert

Lemon law cases follow a certain sequence, as do most other legal matters. Roughly sixty five percent of the time a lemon law case never reaches the litigation stage. These cases are handled in what is called prelitigation.

Phase I: It goes roughly like this. Joe Jones buys a new vehicle: Ford, Nissan, BMW, it doesn’t matter which kind, they all manufacture lemons; some more than others. Joe drives the vehicle for a month or so then he notices that whenever he hits the brake, the steering wheel shudders and the front end has a tendency to pull to the left of right. Various other things are wrong with the vehicle, but none that are serious or life threatening.

Joe takes the vehicle back to the dealer where he purchased it. Let’s back up a step. He calls them to make an appointment. Maybe they play games, like making him wait two weeks, or maybe not. At the dealer, as soon as he explains the problem to the service writer, they know exactly what’s going on. His isn’t the first vehicle brought back for this problem. Besides, soon after this vehicle came out, the manufacturer issued a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) describing the problem and some things that might be done about it.

By the way, the manufacture did not send the TSB to Mr. Jones. They never do. Unfortunately the problem is a design fault, so no matter what the dealership does, they can’t fix the problem without replacing the entire front end, redesigned to correct the problem.

Pennsylvanian Lemom Law

The Pennsylvania Lemon Law (73 P. S. sec. 1951 et seq.) is a powerful state statute that protects consumers and purchasers of defective motor vehicles. The Lemon Law was established in 1984, and originally protected only those individuals who actually purchased a motor vehicle. In the late 1990’s, with the popularity of leasing a vehicle increasing dramatically, the PA legislature began to see that those individuals who leased what turned out to be defective vehicles were left without a remedy under the Pennsylvania Lemon Law. To that end, the legislature amended the PA Lemon Law in 2001 to include vehicles that were leased after February 11, 2002 for protection under the law.

The PA Lemon Law, in a nutshell, provides for a refund of the purchase price or a replacement of the defective vehicle if certain criteria are met with regards to the defective conditions of the vehicle. The defective condition must substantially affect the Use, Value or Safety of the vehicle in question. Whether the Use, Value or Safety is affected for the most part requires application of the common sense test. If the vehicle has problems with the engine stalling while making left turns, that would likely be a serious problem that affects Use, Value and Safety. If the vehicle’s radio doesn’t pick up someone’s favorite station, that likely would not qualify as an impairment under the statute.

The PA Lemon Law provides that the first occurrence of the defect must arise within the first 12,000 miles, and that the Manufacturer be notified in that time frame as well. This notification can come simply in the form of having the purchaser/lessor take the vehicle in to the dealer for a repair. The law provides that the Manufacturer must be given a reasonable number of attempts to cure the defect, and in Pennsylvania there is a presumption that the number of repair attempts is three. An exception to that rule exists in that one occurrence of a defect which might cause death or serious bodily injury would be enough to render the vehicle a lemon. The type of defect necessary to fulfill that exception is not defined by the statute, and there has been no actual case law that has established what type of defect that might be. After the third occurrence of the defect, the purchaser/lessor of the vehicle can bring a claim under the Lemon Law, seeking either a refund of the purchase price or a replacement vehicle.

The Lemon Law also provides for recovery of all consequential and incidental damages, which generally include all payments made towards financing, any down payment made, any charges for repair costs, rental car charges, towing charges and the like. Perhaps the most important aspect of the Lemon Law is that it provides that the Manufacturer must pay the consumer’s Attorney Fees and costs if the vehicle is found to be a lemon. This serves to provide the public with free legal representation in Lemon Law cases. It would be hard to imagine a more public friendly statute.