Lemon law cases made easier when the dealer helps you

Auto lemon laws are there to help the consumer with perpetually defective cars that simply refuse to be repaired. Relief is available, but obtaining it can be problematic and the owner needs to keep track of a lot of documentation. Help is available though, and it may come from a source you least expect - your dealer.

More below.

Defective car? Get the dealer to help with the documentation

Several decades ago, auto manufacturers held all of the cards when it came to cars that were defective right off of the assembly line. Unlike merchandise purchased at a department store, cars just can’t be returned to the dealer for a refund if they don’t work right. And in the past, consumers were pretty much at the mercy of dealers and manufacturers when it came to getting their problems fixed. Perhaps the manufacturer would help, or perhaps not. It was rare, indeed, for a manufacturer to offer to replace a car that had habitual problems.

That changed in the 1980’s when every state passed a lemon law. These laws were designed to give consumers specific recourse regarding recurring mechanical or safety problems with new vehicles. The laws stated specifically what relief was available and how the owner might go about obtaining such relief. These laws forever changed the dynamics between owner and manufacturer; the owner now had some leverage.

These laws help, but the burden of proof still falls on the owner. He or she has to demonstrate, in writing, that the problem is a serious one, that it has been offered to the dealer and/or manufacturer for repair in a timely manner, and that the dealer and/ or manufacturer has failed to fix the problem despite repeated attempts to do so. Keeping track of repair records in such cases can be difficult for the average consumer.

There is a solution to this problem, and the source of this help comes from the source you would least suspect - your auto dealer.

Thanks to modern computerization, most, if not all dealers now keep computerized records of all the vehicles they service. If you bring your car in for a repair, they will have a record of it in their database. They can, and if necessary, must, provide those records to you if you request them for a lemon law inquiry. Even better than that, however, is your opportunity to contribute to those records as necessary during your repairs.

If you are bringing a car in for a problem that has been repaired before, ask the service manager to make a note in the computer that this is a second repair attempt for this problem. If you had the vehicle towed in because the problem made it impossible to drive, ask that a notation that the vehicle was towed be entered into your service record.

It is much more difficult for a manufacturer to dispute a lemon law claim if the details were kept in their own records as the problem occurred. While you should still make a point of keeping documentation yourself, adding notes to the dealers own records as the problems occur can only help your case should you need to go to arbitration or trial.

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