What Coverage Does Motor Home Lemon Law Offer?

Just as lemon law can provide assistance to those whose cars are chronically defective, there is coverage for the owners of motor homes. This is what motor home lemon law is all about. There are restrictions on where motor home lemon law is established and on what parts and types of motor homes covered. Though standard automotive lemon law and motor home lemon law are very similar, the differences may mean gaps in coverage and that other consumer laws might need to be consulted to see if the vehicle qualifies. The purpose at this time is to explain how state motor home lemon law provides coverage to motor homes and RVs.

Thirty-three states in the United States currently have some sort of motor home lemon law on the books. This leaves seventeen states with absolutely no lemon law coverage whatsoever for RVs or motor homes. The same goes for the District of Columbia. Among those thirty-three states, there are numerous differences in the extent of lemon law protection that is afforded to motor homes. In some cases, only the motor home chassis has coverage while in other places the drive train is included as well. Weight restrictions can also be factors-in many places 10,000 pounds is the cutoff point. In fact, the parameters for coverage can be very precise handling only portions of the motor home.

Motor home lemon law will provide coverage for the necessary mechanical functions of the unit while typically leaving other areas such as those used for living and storing equipment are not covered under most of the current lemon law statutes. This distinction is even clearer when the motor home is motorized rather than the pull-behind type. In this case, the differences between what makes a lemon with a car and RV are very narrow. The same rules apply for both types.

What this means is that the basic guidelines for declaring a vehicle a lemon are identical for cars and motor homes. Factors like vehicle warranty stipulations, the number of repair attempts made by manufacturer, even the timeframe for action will be the same. Mileage too is accounted for by dealerships and manufacturers in order to determine the refund that is available for the defective motor home component or if there is some replacement option available. This leads to the last point, which is that there are gaps in the system. As has already been stated, motor home lemon law does have distinct and limiting features that distinguish it from common lemon law.

Lemon law limitations can be supplemented by other federal and states consumer protection legislation to provide a broader range of coverage for motor homes. For example, the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act and the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act both provide warranty assistance to protect other elements of the motor home not currently protected.

If you have a motor home, it is a wise idea to have all of the facts readily available. It may also mean consulting a lawyer to get a better grasp of the particular areas of coverage that your state provide under its motor home lemon law.

Lemon Law