I think my sister got a lemon of a car. She has had her car for a little over a year and she constantly has had to have repairs. She keeps paying out of pocket because these issues aren’t covered with her warranty. The last issue was about $500 and it would’ve been more, but she couldn’t afford the other repair.

A friend mentioned to me the other day about the lemon law for this state and I passed it on to my sister to checkout. I’m including some information for others who may be in the same predicament.

What are lemon laws?

Wikipedia describes lemon laws as

Lemon laws are American state laws that provide a remedy for purchasers of cars that repeatedly fail to meet standards of quality and performance. These cars are called lemons. The federal lemon law (the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act) protects citizens of all states. State lemon laws vary by state and may not necessarily cover used or leased cars. The rights afforded to consumers by lemon laws may exceed the warranties expressed in purchase contracts. Lemon law is the common nickname for these laws, but each state has different names for the laws and acts.

What are my state’s car lemon laws?

I found a site with links to all 50 states’ lemon laws, so you can find the appropriate resource. I know that I have international readers and I’m still looking for some resources. If you find anything, please leave it in the comments and I’ll update the posts and give credit to you for the link.

How much is this going to cost me?

From what I gathered it’s free to ask if your car qualifies as a lemon. Each state has its own rules and it involves proving that several repairs have to be made.

Here’s an example sent by someone who has gone through the lemon law process (Thanks Paul!):

In Virginia, within the first 18 months of delivery, the manufacturer has three attempts to fix a significant problem with the vehicle, and one attempt to correct a life-threatening condition of the defective vehicle. If the problem isn’t fixed after these attempts, the consumer, with a seasoned attorney’s guidance, can invoke his or her rights under Virginia Lemon Laws to quickly obtain either a full refund or another vehicle of equal value.

• What do you have to lose? A small bit of your time.
• What can you gain? A chance to get a better mode of transportation.

If you know someone with a lemon, pass the links on and hopefully, it will point them in the right direction.

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