Any lemon law atty's here?

Orange_R

Orange_R

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Or anyone that can answer basic questions? Today marks 31 days I've been without my truck and Ford is giving me grief. Need to know my options.

TIA!

 
What is the customer's complaint?  Is the concern able to be duplicated? Has the dealer been able to duplicate it? How many times has it been back to the dealer for the same concern? How many repair attempts have been made to try and resolve the concern? How many days total has it been at the dealer while trying to repair the same concern on all visits? Has it been determined that the concern is not something that can be duplicated in another like vehicle? Is the vehicle still under the manufactures warranty? Are you the original owner? Has the dealer opened a technical assistance case with the manufacturer yet? How much diagnostic time has been logged on the repair order so far, and on how many occasions?  Is it an issue with parts availability? Were you offered alternate transportation while your vehicle is in the dealer's service department? 

I've been in the bus for 35 years I've seen a thing or two. I can tell you that if you go into the dealer and start off the conversation with "Lemon Law" or "I want a buyback" you will almost be guaranteed to be referred to someone at the other end of an 800 number, just sayin'. Dealers typically aren't able to handle that type of request and require the vehicle owner to contact the manufacturer directly. From there, a manufacturer's liaison will contact you to gather the details and determine a course of action, this can take up to a few weeks or more it's not something they will do in one phone call. When a vehicle is repurchased by the manufacturer, they don't just give you a refund of the purchase price, but rather fair market value. If you do get the manufacturer to repurchase your vehicle and you have a loan on it, you may or may not get enough to cover repayment of the loan. You can mofo all you want but that's the reality of it. Sometimes it's better to be patient and allow the dealer to try and fix it. 

Fwiw when I worked as a tech for a "Brand X" dealer I was the chosen one who got to play with the "broken" cars that people wanted out of. In some instances, the root cause of the problem could be identified rather easily and at times a field engineer would come to the dealer to take a peek at it. The field engineer was not at my beck and call though and sometimes it would take a few weeks for him to show up, after going through proper channels. I always requested a road test and sit down with the customer to discuss what we had found and a possible resolution. There were some that were hell bent on getting their vehicles repurchased though, and as soon as they mentioned "lawsuit" or "Lemon Law" we had to end the meeting and refer them to the manufacturer's help line. 

Needless to say, a vehicle repurchase is a complicated process. California has the most consumer friendly repurchase criteria.

Read the warranty information provided for your vehicle, it will detail what you are entitled to depending on your state of residence.  

 
I have had two friends that have been successful returning their vehicles on lemon law. It was all based on length of time at dealership and repetition of the same issue. In both cases it took them a year or more from start to finish. Also in both cases they received back 100% of their purchase price and NOT fair market value. They did not spend a dime for the time they had the vehicles. They received down payment, and refund of all of the money they had paid. Both vehicles had been already paid off by the time the manufacturer had repurchased their vehicles which meant they had pretty sizable down payments for their shiny new cars. Like stated, not an easy task to get it approved, but not out of the realms of possibility. Both were in Commifornia. Good luck!

 
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KLC said:
What is the customer's complaint?  Is the concern able to be duplicated? Has the dealer been able to duplicate it? How many times has it been back to the dealer for the same concern? How many repair attempts have been made to try and resolve the concern? How many days total has it been at the dealer while trying to repair the same concern on all visits? Has it been determined that the concern is not something that can be duplicated in another like vehicle? Is the vehicle still under the manufactures warranty? Are you the original owner? Has the dealer opened a technical assistance case with the manufacturer yet? How much diagnostic time has been logged on the repair order so far, and on how many occasions?  Is it an issue with parts availability? Were you offered alternate transportation while your vehicle is in the dealer's service department? 

I've been in the bus for 35 years I've seen a thing or two. I can tell you that if you go into the dealer and start off the conversation with "Lemon Law" or "I want a buyback" you will almost be guaranteed to be referred to someone at the other end of an 800 number, just sayin'. Dealers typically aren't able to handle that type of request and require the vehicle owner to contact the manufacturer directly. From there, a manufacturer's liaison will contact you to gather the details and determine a course of action, this can take up to a few weeks or more it's not something they will do in one phone call. When a vehicle is repurchased by the manufacturer, they don't just give you a refund of the purchase price, but rather fair market value. If you do get the manufacturer to repurchase your vehicle and you have a loan on it, you may or may not get enough to cover repayment of the loan. You can mofo all you want but that's the reality of it. Sometimes it's better to be patient and allow the dealer to try and fix it. 

Fwiw when I worked as a tech for a "Brand X" dealer I was the chosen one who got to play with the "broken" cars that people wanted out of. In some instances, the root cause of the problem could be identified rather easily and at times a field engineer would come to the dealer to take a peek at it. The field engineer was not at my beck and call though and sometimes it would take a few weeks for him to show up, after going through proper channels. I always requested a road test and sit down with the customer to discuss what we had found and a possible resolution. There were some that were hell bent on getting their vehicles repurchased though, and as soon as they mentioned "lawsuit" or "Lemon Law" we had to end the meeting and refer them to the manufacturer's help line. 

Needless to say, a vehicle repurchase is a complicated process. California has the most consumer friendly repurchase criteria.

Read the warranty information provided for your vehicle, it will detail what you are entitled to depending on your state of residence.  
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Multiple issues... The truck has been back to 3 different dealerships no less than 10 times for alignment and steering issues since new, it's 2 years old now and has 34k miles on it. It's now been in the shop 32 days because the transmission failed, they rebuilt the valve body and that didn't fix it so still it sits. It's not safe to drive, period. Between wandering due to alignment and steering column(known issues) problems and almost getting hit on I-10 by a semi because the truck shut down at 65mph on the freeway while towing my 14' enclosed I no longer trust it to 1) get from pint a-b and 2) keep myself or my family safe while trying 1. It's a complete POS

 
Bummer news Joe, hope you guys get it sorted out.

 
Orange_R said:
Multiple issues... The truck has been back to 3 different dealerships no less than 10 times for alignment and steering issues since new, it's 2 years old now and has 34k miles on it. It's now been in the shop 32 days because the transmission failed, they rebuilt the valve body and that didn't fix it so still it sits. It's not safe to drive, period. Between wandering due to alignment and steering column(known issues) problems and almost getting hit on I-10 by a semi because the truck shut down at 65mph on the freeway while towing my 14' enclosed I no longer trust it to 1) get from pint a-b and 2) keep myself or my family safe while trying 1. It's a complete POS
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Start looking for a new vehicle not a lawyer. Wait till you get it back then trade it in or sell it outright, it is probably worth more now then when you bought it. You go after getting it lemoned and fail you might miss the over inflated used car market.  Get it back and get it DTR.

 
When I did my Lemon Law, it took about 6 months from start to finish.  They paid me for what I purchased it for, all registration fees i paid, and any upgrades I did to the truck (Airbags, off road lights, fifth wheel hitch mounting).  Sorry, I don't remember the website I went thru, I never talked to a person live until the payout.

 
in my early years i worked for Chryslers corp as a lemon law arbitrator.  it was an interesting relationship as Chrysler had to pay for us through a third party, we would hear the customers case and we would decide if customer was unreasonable or if they deserved a new car 

the main criteria is days at dealership and number of repair attempts.  super important to get the documentation of days. insist on your receipts reflecting that.  often a dealer would give back the car and say we found nothing/etc and not want to give the customer a receipt.  its Chrysler that really is taking the hit and i dont think the dealer does.  they have high tech field reps that would fly from dealership to dealership fixing super hard issues.  i remember one case where the trip meter didnt work. they replaced the dash cluster and ecu, etc but couldnt get it to work.  the issue must be a substantial issue or devalue the vehicle.  we were not going to lemon law it even though they couldnt get it to work, because it was not a substantial issue until the customer noted he's a traveling salesman and relies on this function all the time.  he got a new car

 
John@Outfront said:
in my early years i worked for Chryslers corp as a lemon law arbitrator.  it was an interesting relationship as Chrysler had to pay for us through a third party, we would hear the customers case and we would decide if customer was unreasonable or if they deserved a new car 

the main criteria is days at dealership and number of repair attempts.  super important to get the documentation of days. insist on your receipts reflecting that.  often a dealer would give back the car and say we found nothing/etc and not want to give the customer a receipt.  its Chrysler that really is taking the hit and i dont think the dealer does.  they have high tech field reps that would fly from dealership to dealership fixing super hard issues.  i remember one case where the trip meter didnt work. they replaced the dash cluster and ecu, etc but couldnt get it to work.  the issue must be a substantial issue or devalue the vehicle.  we were not going to lemon law it even though they couldnt get it to work, because it was not a substantial issue until the customer noted he's a traveling salesman and relies on this function all the time.  he got a new car
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I always got my service receipts, have a stack on a new truck. It's pathetic 

 
MWB said:
Start looking for a new vehicle not a lawyer. Wait till you get it back then trade it in or sell it outright, it is probably worth more now then when you bought it. You go after getting it lemoned and fail you might miss the over inflated used car market.  Get it back and get it DTR.
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I don't want a new one at this point. I just want it to be done and gone. I'll keep driving my 330k mile paid for diesel

 
Orange_R,

From my experience.

This has been about 7 or so years ago so there may have been changes to the laws.

First step, talk to a Lawyer that specializes in Lemon Law cases. This was the best thing I did. They did all the work, I just supplied them the info. In my case their fees were paid by the manufacturer(Jeep/Chrysler)(Brand new Grand Cherokee, less than 6 months old).

If you need a referral phone number DM me.

The important deciding factor for us was that it was in the dealer for more than a "total" of 30 days not consecutive. That did not have to be for the "same" repair in our case.

Hope this helps.

Kevin

 
kev4dez said:
Orange_R,

From my experience.

This has been about 7 or so years ago so there may have been changes to the laws.

First step, talk to a Lawyer that specializes in Lemon Law cases. This was the best thing I did. They did all the work, I just supplied them the info. In my case their fees were paid by the manufacturer(Jeep/Chrysler)(Brand new Grand Cherokee, less than 6 months old).

If you need a referral phone number DM me.

The important deciding factor for us was that it was in the dealer for more than a "total" of 30 days not consecutive. That did not have to be for the "same" repair in our case.

Hope this helps.

Kevin
Click to expand...
In my case, talking to the Lemon Law attorneys, multiple visits are really all that's needed, even if for a different item.  I had 1 repair that took 2 months, but since that was the only repair, my case wasn't as strong.  Since I actually liked the car, I ended up not pursuing it since covid pricing makes buying a replacement difficult at best.

 
kev4dez said:
Orange_R,

From my experience.

This has been about 7 or so years ago so there may have been changes to the laws.

First step, talk to a Lawyer that specializes in Lemon Law cases. This was the best thing I did. They did all the work, I just supplied them the info. In my case their fees were paid by the manufacturer(Jeep/Chrysler)(Brand new Grand Cherokee, less than 6 months old).

If you need a referral phone number DM me.

The important deciding factor for us was that it was in the dealer for more than a "total" of 30 days not consecutive. That did not have to be for the "same" repair in our case.

Hope this helps.

Kevin
Click to expand...


Rockwood said:
In my case, talking to the Lemon Law attorneys, multiple visits are really all that's needed, even if for a different item.  I had 1 repair that took 2 months, but since that was the only repair, my case wasn't as strong.  Since I actually liked the car, I ended up not pursuing it since covid pricing makes buying a replacement difficult at best.
Click to expand...
Thanks Gents,

Ford called at 11:30 am and told me the buyback is approved since we're now at 33 days gone. Now for the buyback team to call me and work out the details and reimbursement plan. :cheers:  

 
Apparently the drama isn't over... more to follow

 
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Ocotillo Boy said:
What happened now?
Click to expand...
Apparently because I didn't lawyer up 1st, they decided it was ok to devalue and depreciate everything(they only want to pay about half of what I'm out). The trucks had various issues since new and I have a stack of service records an inch thick, but the ultimate kicker was the trans giving up and almost getting hit on I-10 by a truck. Since they deem the other issues non-safety related they think it's ok to go this route. 

 
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