6 Signs Your New Vehicle Is a Lemon and What to Do Next

The term “lemon” is typically used so loosely by consumers that they usually call any vehicle that has caused them too much trouble a lemon. But in reality and according to law, most of these vehicles are not lemons.

A vehicle is a lemon if it has a “substantial defect or series of defects” covered by the warranty that “is not repaired after a reasonable number of attempts.” If your new vehicle has a defect covered by the warranty that affects its use, value, or safety, you may be entitled to a refund or replacement vehicle. The following six types of evidence can be used to show such a defect:

Sign 1: The Same Defect Keeps Coming Back

Fixing a problem in one visit doesn’t mean the issue wasn’t significant, or warrant legal remedy. It immediately rationalizes the “Well, they tried to fix it!” objection. Lemon laws are designed to protect customers from problematic products, often with an implicit, secondary goal of prompting affected manufacturers to attain higher quality standards. A single attempt could well indeed mean the repair effort failed to eke out a full fix, but the manufacturer nonetheless gets to chalk up the repair on the tally sheet.

Sign 2: The Car Has Been in the Shop For 30 Cumulative Days

This provision is designed with buses in mind. If a small fleet gets persistent shoddy components, it needs to be pulled off the road, and the manufacturer still needs to produce fixes. The legislative intent isn’t to penalize manufacturers over regular preventative maintenance downtime, but to ensure that warranty coverage is actually serving its intended safety net purpose.

Sign 3: The Defect Substantially Impairs Use, Value, or Safety

Not all imperfections make the cut. For example, a loose molding or a crooked dash panel likely won’t be enough to make your case in court or arbitration. What matters is substantial impairment: Issues that substantially hinder the use, value, or safety of the vehicle. Sadly, a lot of these problems are open to interpretation. A flat tire could leave you stranded, but that doesn’t mean the car is defective. Brakes that fail two days out of three do. A paint job won’t last more than a decade, but that doesn’t necessarily make the car defective, either. If the transmission dies in year one, it might.

Sign 4: You Only Have the Dealer’s Notes, Not Your Own

Many times, the dealer will claim ignorance. They cannot use ignorance as a defense if you have the paper trail showing they should have known. As you build your case, continue not to rely on oral responses. Confirmation of the conversation in the form of an email or letter will add to your paper trail. Document every visit, every call, every name.

Hopefully, a few visits and the realization you’re not going away will get the issue resolved. If not, you’ll find yourself frustrated, standing outside a courthouse with a pocket full of TSBs and repair orders wondering what went wrong despite doing everything right.

Sign 5: You Haven’t Notified the Manufacturer Directly

Having a conversation with the dealer may not be sufficient. Several state lemon laws specifically require written notification to the manufacturer, not the dealer, before you can demand a final repair attempt or ask for a refund. The dealer and the manufacturer are not the same. If you’ve been in and out of the dealer’s office and never notified the manufacturer in writing, you might have given them a longer grace period than necessary. Send a letter by regular and certified mail to the “consumer assistance” or “customer service” address of the manufacturer as found in your owner’s manual. Sign and retain a copy for your records.

Sign 6: You’re Still Inside the Coverage Window But Losing Ground Fast

Protection under the lemon law may not be permanent. The lemon law assumption, the timeframe when your case is legally the strongest, is usually associated with the number of miles (frequently the first 18,000 miles) or a set time following the purchase of the vehicle. After that timeframe, it becomes more difficult to prove your case, even if defects exist. The NHTSA reports that there are about 150,000 new vehicles every year that are considered lemons due to recurring issues that cannot be repaired. The majority of their owners simply fail to take action in time.

What to do When You’ve Identified the Signs

First, get all your records together: repair orders, dealer correspondence, manufacturer communications, any receipts for out-of-pocket expenses, and a running list of everything that’s gone wrong with dates and mileage. If your claim meets the eligibility criteria in your state or under the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, which is the lemon law for the whole country, you’re entitled to a refund, a new car, and the manufacturer has to pay your legal fees.

You can take a shot at getting it yourself, and the manufacturer or dealer may try to help, but finding local assistance for car claims can be your best bet to get in and out of the process as quickly and lucratively as possible. Look for one with experience, be prepared to share what you’ve saved, and make sure they don’t cut into your settlement with fees or expenses.