Jul 26 2009
What are the legal requirements of the lemon law?
The correct standard is defined when the consumer has given the manufacturer a reasonable opportunity to repair the vehicle within the warranty period. We have seen few cases succeed with two repair attempts unless it’s a very serious defect which threatens the safety of the occupants of the car. “Within the warranty period” means exactly what it says: if your car has a drive train warranty for 70,000 miles and the drive train is defective, then you have 70,000 miles to have the manufacturer make the necessary repairs effectively. If they don’t fix the drive train, and if you have given the manufacturer a reasonable number of repair attempts, then you have a lemon law claim.
If the manufacturer also cannot fix the problem within the warranty period, and you notify the manufacturer or its dealership representative in writing within 60 days after the last failure to repair the problem, then the warranty does not expire as to that defect. If the consumer notified the manufacturer of its failure to repair the vehicle within 60 days after the last unsuccessful repair attempt, then the warranty does not expire as to that drive train defect.
There is something called the “lemon law presumption”, and this is the only part of the lemon law where there is a requirement of 4 repair attempts within the first 18,000 miles. This is a legal presumption that is affecting a lemon law lawsuit burden of proof. The plaintiff, normally, bears the burden of proving that he or she has given the manufacturer a reasonable number of repair attempts to fix the vehicle. If, however, the consumer proves that he or she brought the vehicle in for repairs for the same defect four times within the first 18,000 miles, or if he or she proves that the vehicle was out of service 30 or more days within the first 18,000 miles, then the law shifts the burden of proof to the manufacturer to prove that it was not given a reasonable opportunity to fix the vehicle.
The consumer gets the presumption benefit in case he or she has two or more repair attempts for a serious safety issue within the first 18 months or 18,000 miles.
Plenty of lemon law cases, as a practical matter, go forward without the lemon law presumption. The only requirement upon the consumer is that he or she give the manufacturer a reasonable number of repair attempts within the warranty period. If this is done, and the vehicle still is not repaired, the consumer has a lemon law case.