SolveYourProblem eLearning Series:
Got Shafted?
Fight Back if Your Car is a Lemon!
( 27 pages )
How
Lemon Car Cases are Handled
Basically,
lawyers go through an extreme investigation in order to
learn everything that they can about your car. Only by
investigation can a lawyer know how the concerns, which
are typically referred to as non-conformities, have affected
the use, value or safety of your car. At least if they
specialize.
When
the investigation is absolutely finished, a lawyer will
confront the manufacturer of the car, present a very thorough
statement about your case and then they can demand a full
recovery for you. If the manufacturer agrees with your
position, and you are satisfied with the offer, the case
can generally be resolved very quickly.
It
is entirely your own choice as to whether or not to accept
or reject any offer. If you choose not to accept the offers
made, the case next moves on to litigation which happens
by your lawyers filing a lawsuit on your behalf in court.
No
matter what you may think, it is not your word against
the dealers either. Though this is what the manufacturers
want you to feel, it just isn’t the case. Lawyers have
the means to be able to obtain all documents, repair records,
service bulletins and names of witnesses to prove the case
in court.
Good
lawyers frequently take advantage of the services of
Master ASE certified mechanics and appraisers who
are can be convinced to act as an impartial aid in understanding
the nature of the non-conformities. If it is necessary,
the things that they find are then used for purposes
of testimony at trial to prove your case in the event
it cannot be settled.
Lawyers
can often prove a claim by using a large number of tools,
so it is never your word against theirs. In this sense
at least, you should feel at ease. You might be wondering
how you can win a case when the repair records given to
me by the dealer state that the problem was never found.
Well good lawyers are ready for this too.
Manipulation
and/or poor preparation of repair records is one of the
biggest concerns these days in regards to lemon law cases.
When a car is taken to a dealer for a warranty repair,
what most people don’t know is that several copies of the
repair order are made within the service department, most
of these the customer never sees, even if asked.
Each
repair that is performed contains the following copies:
customer; warranty payment; accounting and even a hard
copy that shows all of the mechanics notes that were made
for each repair. Most of the time these notes are not available
to the customer; however, the customer copy will list a
problem that is the most often complained about but the
dealer’s actions might read “could not duplicate customer
concerns.”
For
that matter, it’s not entirely common for the hard copy
to show you that the mechanic found the problem but has
also been instructed not to try to do any repairs because
no simple procedure can actually fix it.
When
this happens, you, the customer gets left with the very
wrong idea that the car is operating properly and will
unknowingly drive it anyway; with a potentially dangerous
defect.
You
may be wondering why this is seen so often. It could be
that a certain make or model in specific may suffer from
a uniform problem such as a defective door latch which
the manufacturer still hasn’t corrected.
Since
there isn’t a factory authorized repair that was completed
at the time, the dealer is told to either write “could
not duplicate” or maybe “vehicle operating as designed”
and next thing that you know the dealer sends you, the
customer, home with repairs still needed, but not performed.
Another
reason that always seems to pop up is time. This is particularly
the dealer’s time. Many dealers simply don’t have the resources
anymore and the mechanics that they need are not around
in order to properly diagnose and address a concern. Under
warranty procedures that are utilized by manufacturers,
which is a problem that goes undiagnosed by a mechanic,
will not be paid.
Other
times, the manufacturer may limit the amount of time used
to diagnose the cars for repairs and in many other cases,
having to use unskilled mechanics lack the knowledge to
perform their function in an effective manner.
The
bottom line here is that while repair records are always
helpful to a case, they are not the only thing that will
determine the outcome. If you feel you are not getting
what you paid for in your car in regards to quality and
reliability, then no amount of misrepresentations on a
repair invoice should convince you of anything else.
Here
is a list of some of the things that you need to pay
attention to:
•
How the vehicle is represented by the dealer at the time
of sale.
•
The repair history of the car and the repair orders that
are not given to the customer.
•
Accurate statement of customer concern per each invoice.
•
Whether an effort of good faith was made to diagnose the
problem already.
•
Whether the model has a history of problems or not.
•
Whether the customer was told the problem would disappear
on its own.
•
Whether the dealer noted on any invoice that there was
a problem that could not be repeated.
•
Whether the invoices make a reference to an accident that
may have occurred before the sale and if so, whether the
damage was mentioned.
•
If the dealer told any lies about a customer's legal rights
and most importantly: Whether the customer got what he
paid for.
When
it comes to your individual case, the lawyer that you choose
is very important and what they can do for you rests a
great deal on what resources they have available to them
and how much information they can gather on your behalf.
If you think that you could use a lawyer to help you with
your lemon case, there are many online resources that you
can visit in order to find the right one.
 
> Home > Lemon Cars Main Page
|
