Aug 12 2009
The “Trade Assist” to “help” customers “get out” of their “lemon” vehicles
A lot of car buyers who are not informed about the Lemon Law will often turn to their selling car dealer and ask them for help in resolving their lemon vehicle situation. These individuals expect car dealers to take back the defective vehicles. And this is when the car dealer can try to take potential advantage of the customer, as the customer is frustrated.
The so-called “trade assist” by the car dealer is, in fact, another vehicle purchase. What happens is the car dealer helps you trade-in your lemon vehicle and sells you another vehicle. After this the car dealer resells the lemon vehicle and ends up making profit for selling two cars. It turns out that the only way the selling dealer “assisted” the customer was to help him/her to another sale.
This “assistance” by the car dealer may often be financially straining or fatal to the consumer. In this case the practice of “over allowance” often comes into play. This happens when the consumer is “informed” that their vehicle loan is being “paid off” when being traded in. However, the dealer do not inform the consumer about the loss of the down payment, taxes, licensing fees, and monthly payments already made towards the purchase of the car being traded-in. The “over allowance” usually shows up in the price of the new vehicle, when the payment for the car go up.
According to the state Lemon Laws the dealer is not the responsible party for your “lemon” vehicle. If your vehicle is a lemon you should contact the manufacturer and consult with a qualified Lemon Law attorney in your state. An attorney will be able to evaluate your case and explain your potential rights under the state’s Lemon law and other consumer protection laws.