{"id":2650,"date":"2014-06-18T09:58:38","date_gmt":"2014-06-18T16:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/?p=2650"},"modified":"2014-06-18T09:58:38","modified_gmt":"2014-06-18T16:58:38","slug":"my-new-car-is-a-lemon-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/my-new-car-is-a-lemon-help\/","title":{"rendered":"My New Car is a Lemon \u2013 Help!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you one of those unlucky people who think their car is a lemon? You\u2019re not alone \u2013 every year, auto manufacturers buy back an average of 100,000 cars identified as lemons.
\nBut all is not lost \u2013 no matter if you\u2019ve bought or leased a motor vehicle, if the vehicle does not perform as stated under an express warranty, you have rights under both state and federal law. Don\u2019t you wish your car insurance<\/a> came with a warranty?<\/p>\n

In California, the Lemon Law<\/a> (Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act) gives protection to consumers who lease or buy new motor vehicles. This act:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Requires the manufacturer of a new or used vehicle sold or leased with a manufacturer\u2019s written warranty to buy back or replace a vehicle that hasn\u2019t been repaired after a reasonable number of repair attempts.
\n\u2022 Covers many vehicle types, including cars, vans, trucks, motorcycles, boats, SUVs and motor homes.
\n\u2022 Relates to problems if they begin during the first 18 months after the consumer takes delivery of the vehicle or within the first 18,000 miles on the odometer, whichever occurs first.
\n\u2022 Presumes that a manufacturer has had a reasonable number of chances to fix the vehicle if either:<\/p>\n

\no (1)<\/strong> The same problem results in a situation that is likely to cause death or serious bodily injury if the vehicle is driven and the problem has been subject to repair two or more times by the manufacturer or its representatives, and the buyer or lessee has at least once directly notified the manufacturer of the need for the repair of the problem as provided in the warranty or owner’s manual or,
\no (2)<\/strong> The same problem has been subject to repair four or more times by the manufacturer or its agents and the buyer has at least once directly notified the manufacturer of the need for the repair of the problem as stated in the warranty or owner’s manual or,
\no (3)<\/strong> The vehicle is out of service because of the repair of any number of problems by the manufacturer or its agents for a cumulative total of more than 30 days since delivery of the vehicle.<\/p>\n

Tips on filing a Lemon Law claim<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you want to make a lemon law claim, it\u2019s important to keep track of everything.<\/p>\n

\n\u2022 Keep detailed records of all issues, repairs made, and how long your car is out of service while being repaired.
\n\u2022 Every visit counts as a \u201creasonable attempt to repair\u201d your car and must be noted.
\n\u2022 You must communicate with the dealer attempting to fix the vehicle that you believe your car qualifies under the Lemon Law.
\n\u2022 If the dealer is not complying, contact the manufacturer directly, explaining the problem.
\n\u2022 When contacting the manufacturer, specifically ask for their procedure for making a lemon law claim.
\n\u2022 If the manufacturer has a state-certified arbitration program, you must submit the warranty dispute to the arbitration program before you can apply for help in court.<\/p>\n

Not all automakers have a state certified program. Contact the Department of Consumer Affairs’ Arbitration Certification Program<\/a> at (800) 952-5210 or on the Internet at www.dca.ca.gov\/acp\/<\/a>. Or request “Lemon Aid for Consumers”, the department’s free pamphlet that explains more about arbitration.
\nOne final step you can take is to hire a lemon law attorney; the fees are generally free to the consumer. If an attorney who specializes in the California state lemon law loses your case, they don\u2019t get paid. If they win, the manufacturer gets hit with the legal fees.<\/p>\n

While there\u2019s no guarantee you\u2019re not buying a lemon, you can get the best rate on your car insurance. Why not get a free car insurance quote today?<\/p>\n

Have you ever bought a lemon? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are you one of those unlucky people who think their car is a lemon? You\u2019re not alone \u2013 every year, auto manufacturers buy back an average of 100,000 cars identified as lemons. But all is not lost \u2013 no matter if you\u2019ve bought or leased a motor vehicle, if the vehicle does not perform as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2659,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[695],"tags":[188,410],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2650"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}