Lemon Cars: Refund or Replacement?

Even an experienced consumer can manage to fall into a “dealer” trap and find himself driving a lemon car, but this is not a reason to panic, if you know your rights and can make use of them. Hopefully US government has provided us with something that is commonly called “lemon law” and is there to protect our consumer rights, our safety and , why not, our wallet!

The threats and consequences of buying a defective vehicle are obvious and none of us would take the risk of driving alemon car. But having your brand new dream car repaired over and over again without finally fixing the problem isn’t that much fun is it? So it’s time to contact a professional lemon law attorney, find out whether your case is covered by the state law and start solving your problems! But before turning to a lawyer, let’s firstly figure out which type of restitution you really need.

According to CA Civil Code, in lemon law cases the manufacturer must provide one of the following restitution types;

·         Repurchase or refund

·         Replacement

California lemon law assumes that a vehicle consumer is free to choose between refund or replacement of the purchase; the manufacturer has no right to oblige the buyer to choose any of the available options. So let’s see what we have!

Repurchase or Refund

In case you choose to get restitution in the form of refunding your purchase, the manufacturer will have to buyback the lemon car and pay you the following amounts;

·         actual purchase price of the vehicle, including any transportation expenses and fees charged by the manufacturer;

·         official fees associated with your purchase registration;

·         incidental damages, including prepayment charges, another car rental costs etc.

Note that this amount may be deducted for the use of the car (miles driven by the consumer) before its actual delivery to manufacturer’s office. You can easily calculate the use deduction using the official formula.

Replacement

If you choose vehicle replacement, the manufacturer has to provide you with a brand new vehicle substantially identical to the lemon one and accompanied with standard warranties that usually accompany normal vehicle purchases. Moreover, the manufacturer pays the official registration fees and reimburses you for any incidental damages. In this case note that you may be charged the use deduction amount, discussed above.

You see, lemon law cases can even be beneficial if you can handle them! Take a time and carefully consider each of the options you have and make an educated decision!