State Lemon Laws: - Choose a State - Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut D.C. Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Lemon Law Basics

State and federal statutes offer a wide array of relief for consumers saddled with a bad car or truck. At the same time, these statutes provide for recovery of costs and attorney fees - a strong incentive for attorneys who would like to take up the cause on behalf of unhappy lemon owners.

Lemon laws outline procedures to settle these sorts of new car problems. Again, laws differ from one state to another, but lemon laws in general are designed to provide the owner with a refund or replacement. For instance, some states mandate a refund or a new car if a significant problem cannot be repaired in four tries or if the car has been out of service for roughly a month within the first year or 12,000 miles driven. However, there are exceptions-for instance, some states only provide for one attempt for significant safety related issues such as the brakes or steering.

Some states don't stop with just providing lemon owners with either a refund or a new car. Some, in fact, also let you recover any sort of attorney's fees that you rack up during your pursuit of lemon law satisfaction.

Lemon Law Facts

Every state now has a Lemon Law to protect consumers. It allows the car buyer to exchange the flawed vehicle for a new one or have the manufacturer buy it back.

In most states, the Lemon Law applies to problems that arise during the first year or 12,000 miles of ownership.

You can obtain the rules and procedures to make a claim under the Lemon Law in your state by calling the administrator of the state's Lemon Law.

Once you've established the manufacturer is going to buy back your car, the battle will be over the vehicle's value. You want the per-mile charge to be as little as possible.

The best way to guard against getting a lemon in the first place is to buy a car that has a good repair record.

Magnuson-Moss Warranty act

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty act is a Federal Law that protects the buyer of any product that costs more than $25 and comes with an express written warranty. Nearly all state Lemon Law Statutes are similar to the Federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. All states have enacted their own Warranty Acts and many have enacted specific statutes that cover automobile warranties. If your vehicle is not considered a "lemon" in your state, you may have another recourse. To find out more about the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, click on the link below.

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