Q: We have a Jeep that is less than 2 years old that we have now sunk about $6,000 in repairs. What is our recourse?
There was a recall on the clutch and we fixed that issue before the recall and are trying to get reimbursed. The same issue has happened though on top of other issues. The car is used to and from work and normal use. It is only about 18 months old and we have sunk about $6,000 repairs on a brand new vehicle. We are done with it and feel like we've been taken advantage of.
A:
I assume you purchased the vehicle new. If you purchased a used vehicle, the lemon law does not apply. Here are the basic lemon law details for a few vehicle.
The problem occurs in some part of the vehicle that is covered by the manufacturer’s warranty and you are within the warranty period. It does not need to be something that keeps you from being able to drive the car. For example, faulty air conditioning or peeling paint could be considered defects under the Lemon Law.
You tell the manufacturer about the problem in writing and give them a reasonable period, but not more than 15 days, to fix it.
The manufacturer makes “a reasonable number of attempts” to fix the vehicle. This means that the car has been repaired for the same problem four or more times, or that it has been out of service a cumulative total of 20 or more business days during a 12 month period of the warranty.
The manufacturers’ efforts to fix the vehicle fail. Under the law, they must either replace your car or buy it back. You get to decide between a comparable new car and a refund.
It sounds like you have a warranty issue rather than a lemon law issue because it wasn't the same problem repaired 4 or more times. There have just been multiple issues with the vehicle. Or, if you purchased a used vehicle, the warranty has not been satisfied.
Unfortunately, this is going to require a personal consultation with an experienced consumer law attorney to get to the bottom of the problem, because the details are too much to be answered in an online forum like this.
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