Used Car Lemon Laws

The Used Car Lemon Law: The Used Car Buyer's Best Friend

You've just bought yourself a used car. The car was cheap and you left the used car lot with the feeling that you managed to come out reasonably well. Then the car conks out - what happens now?

Under other circumstances, you would probably have no choice but live with your choice. Fortunately, there is a law that would help you. The used car lemon law is the most useful law for any person who buys a used car. The law provides a legal remedy for those buy or lease used cars that turn out to have outstanding mechanical difficulties, those which are better known as "lemons".

The law has used car dealers give their buyers a written warranty. The warrant requires dealers to repair any defects found in the car, free of charge. The dealer can also choose to reimburse the repair costs of the repairs to the buyer. It also notes that if the car isn't repaired after a number of attempts, the buyer is supposed to receive a full refund of the purchase. 

For the law to cover your purchase, check your local state laws. Usually, these four conditions should be met for the lemon law to be invoked:

1) The car was purchased, transferred or leased after either a) eighteen thousand miles of use or b) two years from the original release; and

2) The purchase or lease price has the value of at least one thousand five hundred dollars; and

3) The car has been driven less than or equal to a hundred thousand miles at the time of lease or purchase; and 

4) The car was used for non-commercial purposes i.e. personal use. This means the car should have been used for household or family purposes. This includes personal transportation to and from work and household errands. The car could have been used for a mix of business and personal use but it still should have been used predominantly for personal use.

The law can also be used to cover motorcycles; however some states exempt other vehicles from the used car law. Note that the transfer of ownership of a used car is also covered by the law; however a private purchase from a private individual is not protected by the law. You can choose to consult a lawyer to see what sort of action you may take. 

Remember the law and check with your state before you buy a used car. If your state has such a law, you should feel safe about your purchase when you leave the used car lot.