Do You Have a Lemon Car?

The first thing that helps you in dealing with your new lemon car is to first know for a fact that you have a lemon. If the paint is peeling, or if the light switch came out when you pulled on it, or if the car makes weird sounds but basically rides well this does not constitute a lemon.

If you found 10 things you don't like about your new lemon car but none of them actually makes the car undrivable, then you do not have a lemon.
 
However, if the brakes don't work, the lemon car won't go into reverse, it won't start on cold mornings or hot afternoons, or the car barely runs at 30 mph when it should be going 50 mph, then you may have a lemon. This of course, only applies if you have given the manufacturer an opportunity to repair it.
 
In most states, 10 different defects during the warranty period do not constitute that the car is a lemon. In some states, a single defect that might cause serious injury makes your car a lemon if the manufacturer cannot fix the problem within 1 attempt.
 
You may have a lemon, but if you do nothing to protect your consumer rights, such as keeping track of all repairs and letting the manufacturer have a chance to fix the problem, you could lose all rights under the various State Warranty Acts. Let's look at these next.

"The Lemon Law" Basics
 
When it comes to the basics behind the lemon laws, knowing the basics can be the difference between whether or not you get screwed or get the chance to recover the money that you spent on the car.
This section will help you to uncover the basics behind the lemon laws. Keep in mind that this is just an overview and each of these laws varies by state.

The state and federal statutes offer a wide array of relief for consumers who get stuck with a bad car or truck after they buy.

At the same time, these statutes provide buyers with the chance for recovery of costs and attorney fees which are a strong incentive for attorneys who would like to take up the cause on behalf of unhappy lemon owners.

For the sake of this guide, I will call them "lemon laws". Lemon laws basically outline all of the procedures that are used in order to settle these sorts of new car problems.

Again, these lemon laws differ from one state to another, but lemon laws in general are designed to provide the owner with a refund or replacement vehicle should this problem occur.

For example, some states mandate a refund or a new car if a large enough problems cannot be repaired within four tries, or if the car has been out of service for around a month within the first year or 12,000 miles driven.

However, there are some exceptions to this rule, such as; some states only provide you with the chance to make one attempt for significant safety related issues such as the brakes or steering.

Some states do not even stop with just providing lemon owners with either a refund or a new car. Some of them will, in fact, also let you recover any sort of attorney's fees that you have to deal with during your pursuit of getting some satisfaction from your purchase of a lemon.

It is always good to know that you can get some sort of return on your money when you buy a lemon. It happens so often that eventually there was bound to be some laws protecting the buyers.

What is sometimes sad about the lemon laws is that they do not necessarily help you, depending on your specific situation. Let's look at the real truths about those laws right now.