Consumer Protection In The Form Of A Used Car Lemon Law

Lemon law was created to protect consumers from faulty and defective automobiles. Used car lemon law refers to legal support to consumers from buying used cars that turn out to be lemons. According the used car lemon law, the dealer needs to provide a written warranty. The written warranty as per used car lemon law ensures that the dealer shall repair, free of charge, any defects in covered parts or, at the dealer's option, provide reimbursement for the reasonable costs of such repairs. If the dealer is unable to repair the car after a reasonable number of attempts, then according to the used car lemon law consumer is entitled to a full refund of the purchase price.

Several norms govern the enactment of the used car lemon law. Different states have different used car lemon law. Some states in United States do not enforce used car lemon law. Various norms for used car lemon law are that the vehicle should have been purchased, leased or transferred after eighteen thousand miles of operation or two years from the date of original delivery, whichever occurs earlier.

The vehicle under used car lemon law should also have been leased from the same state where the law is enforced. The purchase price of the vehicle under used car lemon law should have been purchased or leased at least at a price of $1500. The vehicle should be primarily for personal use and should have been driven 100,000 miles or less at the time of purchase or lease.

According the used car lemon law it should be primarily for personal use or for the use of family or household purpose. Used car lemon law is not applicable to cars purchased from individuals or independent sellers.

Under the used car lemon law, a dealer is any person or business which sells or leases a used car after selling or leasing three or more used cars in the previous twelve month period. Banks or other financial institutions, except in the case of a lease, are not included. Similarly, a car purchased from a retail auto auction is also covered. In such a case the auction company should be registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles. During any sales by an auction company or the dealer, the seller must provide the lemon law warranty at the time or before the sale. In cases where a dealer fails to give you the written lemon law warranty, the dealer is nevertheless considered to have given the warranty and you are entitled to all the protections under the law.

The used car lemon law sets only the minimum obligation for the dealers. However, a dealer may choose to provide additional warranty or may limit the coverage of the vehicle under warranty. The exclusion may include service or repair asked for due to consumer negligence, vandalism negligence, collision, abuse or theft, etc. Exclusion can also be for motor tune-up or repairs asked if the odometer has been tampered. There can be other several exclusions depending upon the dealers warranty provided.

Different states have different contact points or toll free numbers where the consumer can obtain free information about used car lemon law. One needs to check out the contact numbers for a particular state where the used car lemon law needs to be enforced.