Tips for making sure lemon laws apply

Lemon laws are in place in each state to ensure customer rights are protected when they purchase a new (and sometimes used) vehicle. But lemon laws do not always apply. There are some situations when a bad car is not considered a lemon under the lemon laws. This article offers many tips such as understanding a specific state's lemons laws, keeping track of the number of repairs, knowing how long the warranty period for the lemon laws lasts, and finding someone who knows a state's lemon laws, for making sure lemon laws apply.

Probably the most important tip for a person to make sure lemon laws apply is for the person to know what the lemon laws are in their state. Lemon laws vary widely from state to state and can be pretty specific and confusing. While it is not essential to completely understand everything about a state's lemon laws, it is a good idea for a person to be familiar with them.

Understanding with a particular state's lemon laws is best done before a person even purchases a car. Knowing the lemon laws for the state may help a person decide whether to buy a new or used car. Some states do not include used cars in their lemon laws, only new cars, and it is very important for a person to know this before they buy a used car.

The number of repairs is an essential part of lemon laws. A tip for making sure that lemon laws apply in a specific case is for a person to keep the paper work from the repairs that had to be done so that there is proof of the defect in the car.

For some states, even one repair which is done on the brake or steering system qualifies the car for their lemon law. Other states also allow one or two repairs if it was done on a part of a car which, if not repaired, could have caused death or serious injury. For most states, the number of repairs is around four to six during the warranty period for the lemon law to apply. The lemon law could also apply if the car has been out of service for a total of 30 days in the warranty period.

If a person has purchased a lemon, a good tip to make sure that the lemon laws apply is for them to check if all of the problems occurred within the warranty period. If the car did have to be repaired for the same problem four or more times it is possible that the person does have a lemon. But if the repairs happened over a span of three years (which exceeds the warranty period) the lemon laws most likely will not apply.

Most state's warranty periods for lemon laws are one to two years. Some states go by miles or years, whichever comes first. If a person does a lot of driving and exceeds the mileage before the year is up, their car is most likely not covered in the lemon law.

Another very important tip for making sure that lemon laws apply is for a person to check with someone who knows. There are consumer groups and types of government agencies that can help a person know if lemon laws apply in their car's case. Information for how to contact these groups can be found online. A person could also find a lemon law attorney to find out if they have a good case. Lemon law attorneys can also be found online or through the phone book.