Dos and Don’ts of Filing a Lemon Law Claim
Buying a car is a painstaking process which involves huge investments and hard slog. More botheration add up if you end up buying a lemon car. Visualize that you have applied all the precautionary measures so as to avoid buying a lemon but you still feel that you are chiseled. What you can do to get out of this unpleasant situation is to file a lemon law claim. Listed below are some dos and don’ts that you should take into account before filing a complaint.
Lemon Law Claim - Dos
- Write a letter to the manufacturer or dealer and ask for a refund or replacement of the vehicle. In case of a claim for a refund, you must write complete amount at which you have bought the car including sales tax, finance charge, repair costs, minus a reasonable amount for mileage. If you ask for replacement, you have the right to ask for repair costs without paying anything for mileage.
- Try to describe your problem as briefly as you can, so that the reader directly looks at your issue.
- In case of ignorance at manufacturer’s side, use manufacturer's complaint arbitration program in which the panel decides how to settle down your lemon issue. You can also consult a lemon attorney if you want. Some states do not bind the arbitrator’s decision and gives the consumer a right to sue. If you win, then you could get double the vehicle’s price and repair costs plus other costs and attorney fees.
- Do include facts about the problem chronically.
- Attach copies of the repair receipts mentioning the problem, the date and the time it took.
- If the dealer fixed your problem the way you desired, be civil and give him a warm note of thanks. This will help you in future and you’ll be remembered by him the next time.
Lemon Law Claim - Don’ts
- Don’t threaten the manufacturer or dealer of a law suit. This will result in less cooperation from the manufacturer’s side.
- If you think something is going wrong or your problem is not being handled properly, do not give ultimatums. Instead ask the dealer, he’ll pass the information along on your behalf.
- Don’t compare your car with foreign cars because every country has its own laws. So this argument won’t work.
- Don’t always think that the dealer is trying to cheat you. If the dealer is telling you the same things about a variety of cars, don’t think that he is portraying a false picture. Because most of the cars have same characteristics.
- In case the dealer is unable to understand the problem you are facing. Do not get harsh and impolite. Be patient and explain the problems and its exact circumstances in which it occurred.
- Never go to private mechanics or sellers because they don’t feel comfortable taking on other dealers’ problems.