Q: Law regarding waiting on a part for a car out of warranty
I have a car that has been sitting on a dealer lot for 4 months now waiting for a part. It is out of warranty. The car happens to be a Chevy volt which stopped being produced in 2019 and may be related.
Since the beginning I have been in contact with both the dealership and GM. At this point, GM and the dealer combined are offering to cover half or all of the nearly 5,000 repair cost. While the dealer assured me they would look into options to assist me, they haven't done anything. About a month ago I inquired if I might be able to trade in the car at the dealer for a car on their lot and they offered me far below trade-in value accounting for this car being repaired.
GM has no ETA on when the part will be available still. From my reading, I believe I have no recourse whatsoever other than to wait for the part since this car is beyond warranty and outside of lemon laws. Is there any limit to the amount of time they can make me wait?
A:
You are correct that there is no specific time limit. A part may never become available. Theoretically, a US car manufacturer must provide parts for their cars for at least ten years from the date of manufacture. The Chevy Volt was a spectacular failure, selling fewer than 70,000 units. Many of its parts were manufactured outside the United States. Many of its parts are unique to the Volt.
You might consider suing GM for failing to provide parts for your care, asserting that you have given GM a reasonable time to provide the necessary part, and seek damages for loss of use (fair rental value) up to whatever the fair market value of your used Volt is.
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