Lemon Law Basics

It is estimated that 1% of all new cars driven off the lot turn out to be lemons. That amounts to around 150,000 cars annually. When a car has unfixable problems, it is usually considered a "lemon," and there are laws in every state that protect consumers against these types of problems. If your car qualifies as a lemon, then you are entitled to a refund or a replacement vehicle.

In most states, lemon laws apply only to new vehicles purchased less than two years previously and driven less than 24,000 miles. Those numbers differ from state to state, but this is a reasonable estimate. In order to qualify as a lemon, a car must not have been abused, and inadequate parts must not have been installed (except by the dealership under which the warranty is written). The car must have an obvious and substantial defect that prevents its normal use, and it must be deemed unfixable after a specific number of repair attempts.

Depending on the state, different defects are used as guidelines for "significant problems". In some cases, a faulty paint job might qualify a car as a lemon, while in other instances the problem must be mechanical in nature.

There are three basic reasons why a car might be considered a lemon:

1. There is a serious safety defect with the car that could not be fixed after one repair attempt.

2. There is a non-safety related defect that could not be fixed after 3-4 repair attempts.

3. The car has been in the shop for the same repair for more than thirty days out of a year, which yielded no results.

Again these numbers vary by state, but the laws are fairly similar. In some cases, an extraneous problem will occur that does not fall under one of these guidelines, and the car will still be considered a lemon. Refer to your particular state laws for accurate definitions of a lemon.