How Do I File a Lemon Law Claim?

Lemon law is a federal and state law that will help you obtain justice for a defective motor vehicle that is under the warranty period. This law protects you from any vehicle defect when you buy a used or new car and, in some cases, leased vehicles.

Filing a Lemon law claim is challenging, but when you file a claim against the manufacturer for a defective vehicle, you must meet all the criteria to obtain a favorable outcome.

The Lemon law process will depend on your state’s law; however, there’s a federal law, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2301 et seq., which will cover most of the cases only for new motor vehicles or used ones under an active warranty period.

Before you can proceed, you must take all the information related to the vehicle’s problems and begin your journey of seeking justice under your state’s Lemon law.

At Easy Lemon, our attorneys focus on Lemon law claims. We will help you and support you during the entire legal journey and file a detailed Lemon law complaint without missing a single piece of evidence. Our lemon law attorneys can walk you through what your state’s statute requires. Contact us today for a free consultation, and let us know your case.

In this post, we will help you understand the essentials of Lemon law and how to know if your vehicle meets the criteria for being a lemon. Moreover, we will cover the process of how to file a Lemon law claim for new or used cars that are under the warranty period, and help you resolve disputes.

How Your State’s Lemon Laws Protects You

In general, Lemon law will help you face the issues some vehicles come with after they are out of the manufacturer’s assembly plant. This law is a way to protect customers from getting stuck with a faulty vehicle and losing their money.

Sadly, it’s not that simple since every state in the United States has some variations of the Lemon law; despite the fact there’s one that covers all our territory, the consideration of each state law can change the outcome.

The process you will go through to obtain a refund or replacement vehicle can take some time, and certain documents to support your case. Moreover, not all cars can use Lemon law for all the variations, but here are the most commonly covered vehicles:

• Vehicles for personal, family, or household purposes
• Cars, Pickup Trucks, Vans, and SUVs
• Chassis, Chassis cab, and drive train of a motor home.
• Vehicles for business use, such as those required for a business fleet of less than five vehicles and a gross vehicle weight of less than 10,000 lbs.
• Dealer-owned vehicles and demonstrators.

Lemon law varies by state and has different requirements depending on whether you are using a new, used, or leased vehicle. Most states, like Alabama and Colorado, exclude motor home vehicles from the equations.

Iowa and Kentucky, on the other hand, include vehicle weight limits that won’t allow RVs to use the coverage of the Lemon law.

States such as Texas and New York include in their state’s laws used cars within the possibilities of Lemon law. Still, others do not take into consideration leased vehicles or used ones. Although there are continuous variations from state to state, the federal Lemon law is a relief for buyers of any vehicle.

Understanding how the Lemon law has a wide range of variables depending on each state is crucial for filing a claim against manufacturers for a defective vehicle.

Most cases will use state and federal laws to create a completed and robust claim to proceed with legal actions for used, leased or new vehicles.

Under your state’s regulations, you will find out how to continue with the whole process and obtain a successful resolution based on your case and purchase or lease agreement with the manufacturer.

Does Your Defective Vehicle Qualify as a Lemon?

Trying to find out whether your vehicle is a lemon can be a lengthy process and requires several repair orders and records related to the same defect that makes the car stop functioning properly. Here are some of the most common Lemon law issues covered:

• The number of repair attempts can start with only two, but depending on your state’s law, you can have four or more repair attempts at an authorized dealership or directly with the automaker.
• If the vehicle has been out of service for 30 days or more, and you can demonstrate that it is due to a manufacturer’s defect that they aren’t able to fix, you can consider your car a lemon. Some states require less time to take this point into consideration, while others can extend the time for 45 days.
• Your car may be a lemon if, despite all the manufacturers’ efforts to resolve the issue, the vehicle continues to have the defect. This section includes all the attempts made in the authorized dealership but not the ones for a third party or personal actions to try to repair the vehicle.

Despite all the situations where you have to wait for the vehicle or make repeated trips to the repair shop or deal with the manufacturer, it’s essential to document every step you take.

The details in the Lemon law claim are the key to reaching a successful resolution. Keep every receipt with detailed information about the repair attempt that can make a difference in your case.

We recommend keeping track of every visit to authorized dealerships or manufacturers using receipts. Moreover, you can document the car’s before-and-after in video, photos, or similar to complete your files.

Another option is to have a timeline of events starting from the beginning, with the manufacturer’s warranty and the owner’s manual, which explains what to do in case your vehicle is faulty.

When you recognize something is not working as it should, record a detailed video of the issue or take photos of the defect. Likewise, you can ask the repair shop to make a document with all the fixes or changes made to the vehicle.

Everything must have the date and time of the repair attempt or the issue; this way, you can organize all the paperwork together, showing the dealership failed to solve the problem.

How Do I File a Lemon Law Claim?

Filing a claim doesn’t require being extremely knowledgeable, but filing a claim that leads to winning a case is a different story.

Most of the process requires being attentive to details, using chronological order of the events, and understanding if the Lemon law applies to your case. You can check the steps you must follow to file a lemon law claim here:

Gather All Necessary Documentation

Before starting your journey, you must gather all the information and documentation related to your case. This includes documents such as:

Repair Records

You must keep detailed records of all repair attempts and every visit to the dealership workshop. These records must include service invoices, receipts, repair orders, and everything related to the situation in which your defective vehicle is involved.

Warranty Information

It’s crucial to have a copy of the vehicle’s warranty if you want to resolve a dispute over your defective car. Depending on the case, you can use the extended warranty offered by the authorized dealer or the manufacturer in some situations.

Defect Details

Maintain a detailed register about the nature of the defect, which can change the outcome of your case. Note when it occurred and how it impacts the vehicle’s performance.

If you can provide more details about which is the defect or where it is located (motor, brakes, electric, transmission, or others), it will make your case more robust.

Communication Logs

Keep a log of everything you use for communication; save emails, letters, and messages or record calls with the dealer or manufacturer. With this information, you will have a solid base to prove you were invested in solving your vehicle’s issues.

Notify the Manufacturer About the Issue

In some states, Lemon law requires you to send a formal letter to the manufacturer explaining the issues your vehicle has. However, you should also use other methods, such as an email, to describe the defect and the repair history.

It’s essential to keep a copy of the document you sent to the manufacturer. Moreover, you need to use your vehicle identification number (VIN) as identification in this written request.

You should include copies of all relevant documents, repair orders, invoices, receipts, incidental expense reports or your communication with the service department.

In this section, any document that may work as proof of the issues your vehicle has is considered relevant for the manufacturer. You can find an easy communication method on the web pages of different manufacturers. Explain your case and the multiple repair attempts that are related to the issue.

As per Lemon Law, you must ask for a resolution of your case. In other words, your statement must include a request for a resolution of your case before trying to file the claim. You can ask for a refund or replacement for the faulty vehicle.

Depending on whether you receive a negative or no answer from the manufacturer, you must proceed with the next step.

Check the Lemon Law Process in Your State

As we mentioned, every state has its unique Lemon law, which may or may not include certain situations like used or leased cars, or the warranty period can be longer or shorter.

For example, some state’s Lemon laws are more complex and severe than others, with, for example, Indiana’s window of 18 months or 18,000 miles (IC 24-5-13-7). Other states use a similar time or mile count, such as Iowa, with a warranty for new vehicles that is 2 years or 24,000 miles.

You must check if your state’s Lemon law covers your vehicle. If you buy a pre-owned, refurbished, or leased car with an extended warranty, the warranty is often shorter than that of a new car. Moreover, knowing if your vehicle meets the requirement to be a lemon in your state can save a lot of time.

Typically, the deadline for submitting a claim under Lemon law is the one you must be familiar with. In most cases, you can present your claim within a year after the warranty has expired; however, this will depend on your state’s limitations and regulations for Lemon law.

Consult an Experienced Lemon Law Attorney

If, after doing everything, the manufacturer denies your request, doesn’t reply or offers a compensation offer, you can continue the process by filing the claim.

At this point, contacting a Lemon law attorney is a wise decision since most demand letters sent by attorneys yield better results compared to those sent by consumers. At Easy Lemon, we will help you strengthen your claim with our expertise and years of experience working with Lemon law. Contact us now for a free consultation.

An attorney can help you negotiate with the manufacturer and avoid the long process of presenting the evidence to them. If your case reaches the court, an attorney can present the repair history and argue the statutory basis for the remedy you are seeking.

Several lemon law statutes shift reasonable attorney fees onto the manufacturer, though the rules differ sharply. Louisiana makes an award mandatory where judgment is rendered in whole or in part for the consumer (La. R.S. 51:1947), and Alabama does the same on a finding of breach (Ala. Code 8-20A-3(c)).

New York leaves it to the court, which “may” award fees under GBL 198-a(l). The Texas lemon law contains no fee provision at all. In complex cases that require more attention, lawyers will be the best option to seek justice and pursue the remedy the statute actually provides.

File Your Lemon Law Claim

If all your efforts of trying to fix the problem of your vehicle with the manufacturer or the authorized dealership won’t work, you can escalate the situation directly to two different institutions:

1. File a formal complaint directly with your state’s consumer protection agency.
2. Submit a Lemon law claim to your state’s Lemon law program.

During this process, we recommend working with a qualified attorney, such as Easy Lemon, to present the necessary documentation in order to avoid any delays in your paperwork.

If you’re not using a Lemon law attorney, you may experience some problems presented by organizations that will drop your case if you don’t follow the Lemon law process correctly.

Thankfully, in most states, you won’t need to pay any extra fee to present a Lemon law claim. However, if you need to pay to file the claim, the manufacturers will be responsible for reimbursing all related costs of your case once the trial is finished.

These reimbursements will include attorney fees, vehicle storage costs and any extra cost the faulty vehicle makes you pay.

Negotiate or Go to Trial

There are some complicated cases where you won’t reach a settlement, and you need to go to court. However, it’s an unusual situation because most manufacturers prefer settlement negotiations with you instead of burning resources into a court.

If you go to court, the estimated time for a resolution increases significantly. If this happens to you, finding legal representation for an experienced Lemon law attorney is a must.

At this point, a jury or a judge will determine the final result of your case, which can include a repurchase of your vehicle, a reimbursement or paying an extra fee for the damage caused. Whether that route is open to you, and what it produces, depends on the statute in your state and on what your repair history shows.

Who Has to Receive Your Notice, and How Must It Be Sent?

The recipient and the mailing method are written into the statutes, and the statutes disagree.

Alabama points you straight at the automaker: certified United States mail to the manufacturer, and the letter must itemize every previous repair attempt, naming who made each one and when (Ala. Code Sections 8-20A-3(a) and 8-20A-1(7)).

Alaska widens that to two recipients, requiring certified mail to the manufacturer and to its dealer or repairing agent (AS 45.45.310).

New York inverts it. Under N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law Section 198-a(b)(1) the consumer reports the defect to the dealer, and the dealer must forward written notice to the manufacturer by certified mail within 7 days.

Idaho does the same on the forwarding side (Idaho Code Section 48-903(5)). Texas requires written notice but prescribes no mailing method at all (Tex. Occ. Code Section 2301.606(c)), and Washington routes the written request to the manufacturer’s corporate, dispute-resolution, zone or regional office (RCW 19.118.041(1)).

How Long Does the Manufacturer Then Have to Act?

These clocks bind the manufacturer, not you.

Alabama gives it 7 calendar days to name a reasonably accessible repair facility, then no more than 14 calendar days after you deliver the vehicle to cure the defect (Ala. Code Section 8-20A-3(a)).

Alaska allows 30 days from receipt for a single final repair attempt (AS 45.45.310). Washington sets 40 calendar days from the written request to replace or repurchase (RCW 19.118.041(1)).

Louisiana times it from the back end: once the consumer tenders title, the manufacturer has 30 days to deliver the replacement or refund (La. R.S. 51:1945).

Do You Have to Go Through Arbitration Before Suing?

In several states, skipping arbitration is fatal to the claim rather than merely unwise.

Idaho requires a dispute settlement mechanism that complies with 16 C.F.R. Part 703 and sits in Idaho, unless the manufacturer waives it; the decision is nonbinding, and a manufacturer that wants a district court trial instead must apply within 30 days (Idaho Code Sections 48-906(1) and 48-907).

In Alaska the refund and replacement remedies do not apply at all to an owner who has not first used a process approved by the Attorney General (AS 45.45.355). Louisiana attaches the same condition to its replacement, refund and lease remedies (La. R.S. 51:1944(D)).

Federally, where the written warranty names a qualifying informal dispute settlement procedure, Magnuson-Moss makes the consumer complete it before filing (15 U.S.C. Section 2310(a)(3)).

What to Expect if You Win a Lemon Law Case?

Congratulations! When you win your Lemon law case, you will have a resolution that will include certain things such as:

• A full refund for the purchase price and associated costs, such as incidental expenses.
• A replacement vehicle or the obligation of the manufacturer to repurchase the defective vehicle.
• A partial or complete compensation for legal fees and damages the vehicle caused.
• Possibility of extra compensation depending on the complexity of the case.

How Long Does the Lemon Law Process Take?

The usual timelines for resolving a Lemon law claim will vary because you need to meet the criteria before being able to file the claim. However, the process will take a few months and up to a year if your case reaches the court.

In some instances, it even took longer, extending the process up to 18 or 24 months until the final resolution. The factors that may delay the process are not having the correct documentation or if your case reaches the court.

Why Seeking Legal Support on Easy Lemon?

If you have a lemon car, we understand how discouraging it can be. We recommend you follow the steps, from gathering all the documentation possible to establishing communication with the manufacturer or contacting a Lemon law attorney to help you with the process.

Succeeding with a Lemon law claim is tricky, but the faster you act, the more room you have to work with before the filing deadline closes.

At Easy Lemon, our priority is to help you throughout the entire process, be your companion, support you with your Lemon law claim, and obtain a successful resolution for your case.

Our law firm will assist you and present evidence tailored to prove you have issues with your vehicle. Schedule a free consultation today, and let us help you reach the favorable outcome you deserve from your sour lemon.