Lemon Law

Michigan Lemon Law

If your new vehicle continues to have a significant defect that impairs its use, value or safety and cannot be repaired even after repeated attempts by the manufacturer or authorized dealer, or which prevents it from conforming the manufacturer's written warranty, you may have a lemon.

The Michigan's Lemon Law protects the consumer's right who bought a new car with significant problem that the manufacturer or its authorized dealer can not fix. The law defines a lemon car as a motor vehicle that has a substantial defect that impairs its use, value or which may cause severe safety hazard and can not be repaired after a reasonable attempt by the manufacturer. And if this is the case, the law entitles the consumer a replacement vehicle or a full refund of the purchase price.

The law covers any new car, van or truck that is bought for personal or family use by a resident of Michigan and requires the defect to occur during the first 12 months of its ownership or during the written warranty period of the manufacturer.

Under the lemon law, the manufacturer is entitled to 1. Four failed repair attempts for the same problem or defect, the first attempt being made during the first 12 months of ownership or during the written warranty period. 2. The repair attempts, in number of days, should be less than 30 calendar days.

In order to succeed under the lemon law you should 1. Get repair orders of each of your visits that detail the problems you reported and the dates. 2. Have the purchase contract, warranty statement and repair orders to prove to court that you possess a lemon. 3. Provide the manufacturer a notice, to the address available in the owner's manual, stating the problem of the car and that you would like a replacement or refund. The notice give the manufacturer 30 days to respond. 4. If the manufacturer has an informal dispute settlement program that complies with Magnuson-Moss warranty--federal trade commission improvement act, you are required to use it before you can serve your right to the court. However, under no condition are you obligated to accept the decision of the program. If the decision is not to your liking you can reject it and serve your right to the court.

The manufacturer dispute settlement program is a program initiated by the manufacturer to settle your disputes without going to the court. Such an informal program should comply with the Magnuson-Moss warranty act, obligates the manufacturer to comply by any decision reached if the consumer agrees to it, does not obligate the consumer to abide by the decision reached, and requires the manufacturer to initiate the process necessary to implement the final settlement no more than 30 days from when the settlement was reached. 5. If you decide to serve your right to the court, consult a Lemon Law attorney for help. If you win in court the manufacturer may have to pay you double the vehicle purchase price plus your attorney fee.

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