What Is A Lemon Law?What happens when new cars go bad? It is a question that many new car owners have had to deal with firsthand. Typically, the answer to this question and more can be found in lemon law. Okay, but what is lemon law? Briefly defined, a lemon law is a statute or statutes governing consumer relations with manufacturers on both the federal and state level and may include other types of warranty laws as well. This article is meant to define further what lemon law is and how it is used to assist car owners who have a lemon on their hands. What is a lemon law? It may be more accurate to say what are lemon laws for the term "lemon law" is a general one that represents a body of state laws that are designed to protect consumers from purchasing or being stuck with vehicles that are persistently defective. The origin of lemon law is found in the need for proper consumer protection against the defects of manufactured products, particularly automobiles. But, this is only one aspect of lemon law. The other purpose behind lemon law is to keep the manufacturer and car dealership accountable to clearly defined laws governing warrantees and "lemon" claims. Manufacturers need to be conscious of the possibility of the defective vehicles, and if such defects are found, to be prompt at responding to every claim and have rules in place that guarantee a fair hearing based on lemon law claim guidelines. Though some manufacturers seek to find loopholes around the statutes so they are not liable for so many claims, many others have taken the initiative and established their own in-house lemon law programs. But what happens when a state's lemon law do not adequately account for a specific case? For those instances when establish state lemon law does not completely fit or cover a claim, in many cases there are other applicable warranty laws in place already that could be considered lemon laws unto themselves. The purpose is the same: to provide a means for the consumer to obtain some sort of refund or replacement vehicle based on a relevant breach of the warranty. Another option for those seeking to make a lemon law claim but do not completely meet establish state definitions is to appeal to federal lemon law regulations. Federal lemon law (also called the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act) was established to deal with lemon law issues across the country and cover those areas not expressly covered by state lemon laws. Its main focus is to provide monetary restitution for those who made a purchase of over $25 and who have a warranty. This makes federal lemon law applicable for other products besides automobiles. What is a lemon law? I think the answer is clearer now. For those who have lemons and don't know what to do about, seeking out information on lemon law is the way to get satisfaction for the money lost on a defective vehicle. |