It's best to know what the Michigan lemon lay says before you buy your car, but how many are that detail oriented and cautious? The sooner you know what the details of our lemon law are, the better you'll be able to avoid a lot of hassle and frustration and protect your interests. Whether you think you've got a lemon and are just trying to be preemptive, we have the main points of the lemon law and also include advice on how to act if the manufacturer is giving you a hard time.
To start, we want to make clear that we aren't attorneys. We don't even play one on tv; please don't mistake this for legal advice. But we still hope it's helpful.
Michigan's lemon law applies to all new and leased cars. It's one of the more consumer-friendly laws in the country in that you have two years from the time of your car's first problem to have it qualify for a lemon. (Most states only give the buyer 12 months from the day they buy the car.) Your car can also qualify as a lemon if it's at the repair shop for 30 or more days or if it's got a problem that you consider makes it a lemon. Michigan's lemon law really is one of the better ones in the country.
If you're having problems that you think makes your car a lemon, see what your owners manual tells you to do. A lot of manufacturers are still playing fast and loose with what they tell consumers to do (and when they're challenged in court, their case falls right to pieces).
We read of a case in California that illustrates this point. The regional customer service manager for the car manufacturer interpreted the company's training material to provide that an "occasion" in which the customer brought the vehicle in with a complaint, but the staff was unable to find the problem, was not counted as a repair attempt. A former policy manager for the company said that, "If the technician does not replace a part or make an adjustment to the vehicle, and it's properly documented as no problem found, then I would not count it as a repair."
The California Supreme Court didn't buy this for a second. They said that, "[The manufacturer]'s narrow understanding of a repair attempt has been rejected."
To make your case as strong as possible, it's best to do what the manufacturer tells you to do, but not stop there.
There's something else you can right out of the gate too: Every time your car breaks down, get an itemized statement of everything the dealer did to fix it. Keep this handy. Make sure the statement includes the date of the repair was done and the mileage. At the same time, make notes of what happened to you as a result of the break down (were you left stranded? did you have to take time off work?) Also record any conversations you have, and the names of the people you have them with, about the problem.
You'll probably either have to take your car to a dealer to get fixed or, if you live too far away, you must given written notice to the car maker of the problem. They will either arrange to get the car transported to a certified repair facility or tell you what to do.
Still have questions? You can get more help online at http://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,1607,7-164-17278-47386--,00.html. Or you can call the hotline our attorney general has set up, at 1 877 SOLVE 88.
The main thing you can do to protect yourself with a lemon is to document every problem your car has, when it had the problem, what you did and what the dealer and manufacturer did. The more records you have, the stronger a case you'll generally have. The Michigan lemon law gives you more protection than a lot of other state's. Good luck.
-James
For more information about protecting yourself before you buy or lease your next car, go to www.carbuyingforidiots.com.
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