
Dealing with a malfunctioning vehicle is full of uncertainty. You never know when it’s going to stall out, or break down, or otherwise put you in an inconvenient or dangerous situation. When it’s time to talk to a lemon law attorney, you’ll experience just the opposite: a skilled lemon law lawyer offers a free consultation that can answer your questions and provide some clarity for your situation.
Why bother going for a free case review? You know your car is likely a lemon; what can a free evaluation tell you that you already don’t know?
Free, in some settings, may mean an introduction or look inside a service or product. With a lemon law consultation, it is a valuable preliminary step in the lemon law process. Your initial case review with an attorney can be your lead-in to receiving the compensation you deserve for your faulty vehicle. Put simply, a lemon law consultation is one of the most informative free offers you can take advantage of. Here’s what to expect and how to take advantage of this important first step towards resolving your lemon law case.
Determining if Your Vehicle is a Lemon
You may know that your car or truck is unreliable, but does it qualify as a lemon? During your consultation, you’ll get the opportunity to explain to the lawyer everything that has been happening and the severity of the problem. The attorney will explain your state’s lemon law. Each state’s laws are different, and they are based on one main premise: the vehicle, to qualify as a lemon, must exhibit a substantial defect that severely impacts its use, value or safety.
The attorney will advise you if your claim fits your state’s definition of a lemon. This definition is the core of the entire lemon law process. Once your vehicle is determined to be a lemon, then the process can go forward.
Important Questions to Ask
Taking advantage of your free consultation means being proactive. Have a list of questions ready for your meeting with the attorney. Check out our post with questions you can ask. In addition to case-specific questions, one you’ll likely want the answer to, is: “How much does a lemon law attorney charge to represent me?” The good news is that there is no cost out of pocket. We’ll get to that in detail, in a moment.
For more information on arbitration and other frequently asked lemon law questions, click here.
While you’re asking questions, the attorney is going to ask you: “What evidence do you have that supports your claim?”
Next comes your chance to back up your assertions.
Share Your Evidence
Key point: Don’t worry if you don’t have all your records together, yet. Get what you can before your meeting with the attorney, and the lawyer will advise you on anything else that might be needed to build your case.
Tip: Before you share your documentation, provide your warranty to the attorney, so they can become familiar with its provisions.
Repair Records
Most people who have an initial meeting with a lemon law attorney will have a set of repair records to back up their claim. Definitely bring all of these records with you (or email them) for the attorney to review. If you can arrange them chronologically, that will help the attorney to quickly get a grasp of the situation.
If you can write up a one-page summary of everything that has happened so far, to use as a cover sheet for your documents, that not only will help the attorney, it will give you a good tool to use as a starter for when you speak to the lawyer. You don’t have to do this, but it can come in handy as a quick reference for yourself, too.

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Also have handy your scheduled maintenance records that will prove you took care of the vehicle, thereby preventing the manufacturer from accusing you of neglect.
Correspondence
All letters, emails, texts, notes and other details that show your correspondence with the dealer and the manufacturer (including any replies they made to you) are a vital part of the documentation you can use as evidence.
Phone Logs
As with repair records and correspondence, any notes you have taken regarding phone conversations about your vehicle’s problem are important to document. Keep track of these regarding what was discussed, and any next steps referred to.
Think you have a lemon, click here to fill out a 30 second form.
The Way Forward: The Lemon Law Process
After some preliminary discussion and review of your evidence, the attorney will lay out the lemon law process (the procedure the attorney follows as they pursue your claim). Some manufacturers operate buyback programs; if yours does, the attorney can walk you through what to expect. The manufacturer must be contacted in writing to alert them about your claim. State laws will determine a specific number of repair attempts the manufacturer is allowed. Various other stipulations may be required by your state regarding reporting times, mileage considerations, and more.
How long do you have to file a claim? It literally pays to be proactive. Check our post on statutes of limitations to learn more about timing and your case.
So, if your vehicle is found to be a lemon, and you want to make a claim, please note that most cases are settled out of court. It’s important to ask the attorney their success rate with settlements and for them to give examples on how they have settled lemon law cases like yours.
In other instances, arbitration or a lawsuit becomes necessary, should a settlement not occur. Again, ask the attorney to point to case studies on how they have succeeded with these paths to gaining clients compensation.
You Pay Nothing Out of Pocket
One of the top takeaways from your consultation with the lemon law attorney is discovering that you won’t have to pay legal fees. Prevailing against the manufacturer means the manufacturer must not only provide the buyback or replacement vehicle, but it must also pay your attorney costs. State law and the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act provide for this.
You pay nothing out of pocket, so there are no cost-related barriers to keep you from pursuing your claim, should your car qualify as a lemon.
Lemon laws are confusing. Read our guide to the lemon law complaint process.
Lemon laws are confusing. Read our guide to the lemon law complaint process.
As we’ve seen, a free consultation with a lemon law attorney is a crucial first step towards getting the compensation you deserve for your malfunctioning vehicle. If your car can be classified as a lemon according to state law, then there is a definite lemon law process that protects your rights and potentially can provide you with just compensation. A lemon law attorney’s skill and experience can provide you with the best opportunity for a positive resolution to your case.
Allen Stewart, P.C. provides years of experience winning lemon law cases across the country. We are well-known lemon law attorneys in California, New York, Texas and many more states. Your free initial consultation with our lawyers can lay the groundwork for your successful lemon law settlement, arbitration or court decision. Plus, since you pay no legal fees, you have a clear path in our consultation, to discover if your vehicle qualifies as a lemon, which is the crux of a lemon law claim.
Is your vehicle exhibiting a substantial defect? Discover if your claim is lemon law worthy. Take advantage of our free case review. Call Allen Stewart, P.C. (866-440-2460) to schedule your free consultation, or contact us online.