Is My Car A Lemon?
Pennsylvania law provides a lot of protections for people who buy new and used cars. We provide more specific information in our Lemon Law and Auto Fraud page, but here we wanted to provide a quick reference guide to determine whether you have a Lemon.
- Is your vehicle new or used?
If it is used, it isn’t a Lemon. The Lemon Law requires your vehicle to the less than a year old and have less than 12,000 miles. Even if someone sells you are car within the first year and 12,000 miles, it likely isn’t going to qualify as a Lemon because you were not the first purchaser. If you buy a car from a dealership that suffers from defects that would otherwise qualify it as a Lemon, you may have another violation of Pennsylvania Law.
- How many times have you had the same issue repaired?
The Lemon Law requires multiple repair attempts to the same or similar defect. If you take your car in once for a bad transmission, it isn’t a Lemon unless it was out of service for more than 30 days. However, if you take your car in for a bad transmission 3 times, then there is a serious problem and the Lemon Law may provide you some help.
If you bought a new car and it has been in the shop more than 3 times, then you might have a Lemon. There are a couple of other factors that apply, and we need to see your service records. But, those are the first two hurdles to jump over.
If you bought a used car that has been in the shop more than 3 times, you don’t have a Lemon, but there are other laws that apply, like the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act or the Pennsylvania Auto Industry Trade Practices Act. Both Acts protects buyers of used cars.