Buying a new car is stressful enough – and expensive. It is one of the biggest purchases many Americans make in their lifetimes, behind only purchasing a home. Things like taxes, titling and licensing fees can add up for major unforeseen costs. Full coverage insurance can also push your costs higher, sometimes depending on what kind of vehicle you buy.
If your new vehicle is a lemon, it just got a lot more expensive. Now that your new car isn’t working properly, you must add lost work, towing expenses, and alternative transportation on top of all the previous expenses of buying a vehicle.
For what it’s worth, you aren’t alone on this. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates Americans, through no fault of their own, purchase 150,000 defective vehicles each year. These vehicles contain repeating, unfixable problems ranging from minor cosmetic issues (paint job errors, strange smells or unexplained rattling noises) to major problems endangering the vehicle’s operation, safety or resale value (brake failures, engine issues, transmission problems). Whether innocuous or potentially deadly, one thing remains the same in all manufacturer defects: the company must make the consumer whole one way or another. When the manufacturer fails to uphold their end of the deal, lemon law attorneys can help you navigate the legal system and get you the compensation you deserve.
The extra costs can begin when the lemon vehicle first starts exhibiting problems. If the problems are severe enough to keep the vehicle from running at all, the consumer is on the hook for alternative transportation costs. Even with a lemon car, you still must go to work, take your kids to school, go grocery shopping and make your doctor’s visits. Getting rideshares, renting a vehicle or taking public transit can add up fast. If the vehicle is entirely immobile, or fails away from home and leaves you stranded, towing fees can rack up hundreds of dollars in unexpected expenses.
For more information on arbitration and other frequently asked lemon law questions, click here.
One way a lemon can cost you money is when it comes time to resell the vehicle. Defective cars develop a reputation in the market and any buyer doing their due diligence will stay away, or at least attempt to buy the vehicle at a much lower price than you want. Lemon cars must be “branded” with a special title telling any future buyers it was defective. Granted, if the manufacturer buys the vehicle back, repairs it and attempts to resell it the vehicle will still have a branded title. While that can pose a problem for the next person who buys the car, that’s the manufacturer’s problem—not yours.
Speaking to a lemon law attorney about your lemon car is the single best step you can take when dealing with a defective vehicle. However, you should always make sure the attorney you speak with takes no money up front.
Lemon laws make manufacturers pay consumers’ legal fees when the consumers prevail in court. This means that reputable lemon law attorneys work “on contingency,” meaning they take their fees from the judgements or settlements after the case. Any lemon law attorney worth talking to operates this way, without requiring any fees up front. Knowing this before you begin your search will not only help you save cash and additional costs, but help you find a reputable lemon law lawyer.
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Lemon law attorneys exhort consumers to act quickly when faced with a lemon car and to reach out as soon as possible. This isn’t just marketing palaver. The faster you report a potential defect to the manufacturer, and the faster you reach out to a lemon law attorney, the better chance you have of your claim ending positively for you.
The two remedies for lemon cars are usually repurchase (also known as buyback) or replacement. A repurchase is when the manufacturer buys the car back from you, plus all associated fees. The manufacturer can withhold a certain amount depending on how much you drove the vehicle before reporting the problem. The other solution, replacement, is when the dealer provides you with a new, functioning vehicle, ideally one of the same make and model.
Lemon laws, like every other law in America, operate on “statutes of limitation.” This means consumers have a limited amount of time to file a claim before they are no longer eligible for lemon law protections. The sooner you reach out, the better your chances are.
Andrew Ross, a lemon law attorney with Allen Stewart P.C., said lawyers know how to deal with each manufacturer, including how quickly they respond to claims, the tactics they use and how they like to respond to claimants. A consumer representing themselves without an attorney’s support would lack that knowledge including lemon law requirements and deadlines.
“If you’re missing some of those things, or if you don’t follow certain rules, your claim can be completely tossed out,” Ross said. “You run the risk of having your case thrown out or getting a judgement that prevents you from trying to present your case again.”
Lemon laws are confusing. Read our guide to the lemon law complaint process.
Once you reach out to a qualified lemon law firm, an attorney or paralegal will ask you several questions about your vehicle. They’ll ask you from where you are calling, as each state lemon law varies in specific ways. They’ll ask you about the issues you’ are facing with the vehicle and how many times you’ve tried to get it repaired; most law firms require a certain number of unsuccessful repair attempts (or total days in the shop for repairs) before they will agree to help pursue your claim.
Once they’ve decided they can represent you, they will ask for all appropriate documentation as well as official records of all the repair attempts made on your vehicle. These documents establish the foundation of your claim; the more documents you can promptly provide, the better your chances are of a swift, successful resolution.
Lemon laws can cost consumers thousands of dollars if they don’t act quickly and decisively. The single best thing you can do when faced with a lemon car is contacting Allen Stewart P.C. They have a long, storied history of defending regular people against the neglect and malfeasance of big corporations. They ask for no money up front and will help you determine the best way forward with your claim. The sooner you reach out, the better your chances of success: contact Allen Stewart P.C. today.