Illinois lemon laws

Many times new cars will be as annoying as old cars. They will break down, not start, or just give out. They are called lemons. Many times manufacturing defects make cars that aren't what they should be. It happens every once in a while. Most cars have some sort of problem, it is usually minor, but it takes a while to break them in. For those cars that never really work, or give out way too soon, there are lemon laws. Let's take a look at the state of Illinois' lemon laws.

Illinois lemon laws cover if a vehicle isn't working for 30 or more days or there is something wrong with the car that makes it unsafe, drops the market value of the vehicle, or makes it so you can't really use the vehicle and you have tried to fix the problem at least four times.

The Illinois lemon laws cover new cars (can be leased or purchased), recreational vehicles like ATV's but not trailers, and trucks and vans that are no more than 8,000 pounds. They have to all be no more than 12 months and 12,000 miles from the day you purchased them. The lemon laws for Illinois don't cover used cars, motorcycles, vehicles that have been changed, and boats.

To file for the lemon law you can't go through your dealer. Any problems that you resolve or don't resolve through your dealer are completely different from the lemon laws. Even if you have been dealing with your dealership all the time, you won't be covered under the lemon laws. To use the lemon laws you have to go through the manufacturer. They are the only ones that you can go through. This is very important! There is information in your owners manual for finding out about how to contact the manufacturer if you think you have a lemon. They are the only ones who can help you! Do not go through the dealer unless they tell you to. They are the ones who you will go through for everything concerning the lemon laws.

A board will decide what the manufacturer's must do to correct the problem the new car caused. You can dispute their decision by a civil action suit against the manufacturer, but the manufacturer's can't dispute what the board says. The manufacturer will either have to give you a new car, either the same model or equal in value, or will buy the lemon back minus an amount for the usage of the car.

Make sure you keep records and track of everything related to your car. You need to keep track of the dates, keep track of the date you send things to the manufacturers and everything with it. Also, remember that you can't do anything with the lemon laws through your dealer. If they tell you they are, you need to double check. They are losing money if the car actually is a lemon and would much rather not have to have to go through the manufacturer.