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Lemon Law

2K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  gnavar10 
#1 ·
Does anyone know anything about the lemon law? There's this insight that I was thinking of buying but the car fax reported a manufacturer buy back. The salesman pulled the title and it did state that honda purchased the car back and serviced it. The title is clean, no accidents and it is not a salvage or rebuilt. I was looking over the records and the new buyer reported a lemon about a month later and honda bought the vehicle back. Honda serviced the vehicle and sold it at auction to the dealership. The salesman stated it looks like the previous owner took advantage of the lemon law because the car was still under warranty and the part was on backorder. He stated that if a vehicle is still under manufacturer warranty and the car is not inservice in 10 days that the owner can declare a lemon and get a brand new car. The car is a 2003 insight and was declared a lemon in 2006 within the manufacturer's warranty. He is faxing me the buy back papers so I can look it over before making a decission. I just wanted to know if I he is correct about the lemon law and the 10 day policy if parts can not be obtained. I contacted Honda and they checked the VIN # and said the battery is still under warranty. The Honda representative stated that the car goes through a 150 point inspection and serviced before a car is sent back out in the market. What do you guys think? Thank you in advance for your help. Gina :shock:
 
#3 ·
update

I spoke to the California New Motor Vehicle Board. The representative stated that in order to consider a car a lemon the car would have to be out of service for 30 days (the manufacturer could not fix the car within 30 days). It could possibly be because the parts were not available in the 30 day timeframe. The car was titled in with a new owner on 09/27/06 and on 10/31/06 it was reported as a munufacturer buy back (lemon) and reaquired by the manufacturer. Tilted buy Honda 11/08/06. Is supposed it went through the 150 point inspection and serviced. 12/01/06 sold at auction to a dealer and finally 05/09/07 up for sale at the current dealrship. I'll try calling Honda again in a little bit. :roll:
 
#4 ·
Lemon law - I have used this in the past on a new Porsche. The bottom line is that you cannot trust ANYTHING the dealership is telling you, not that they are intentionally trying to deceive you but they really likely do not know any of the true history. They have NO idea the reasons why this car was repurchased by Honda so you will be going into the purchase totally blind. think of this particular car as an Auction car with a bad history, that is all.

Another factor to consider is that the value will be significantly impaired should you decide to resell it. Legally you MUST disclose this to a buyer otherwise they can come back to you - there is no such thing as "buyer beware", especially in California.

Any and all warranties are also likely to be voided being a "Lemon".

Good luck
 
#5 ·
update

Spoke to Honda and the battery is still under warranty.

This is what I found out from the Honda Representative:
-Engine Replacement
-Transmission Valve replaced
-Window Regulator for the Door replaced
-Control Unit for the battery replaced
The representative stated that it looks all the issues were addressed.

Spoke to the Sales representative and he said that I could get an extended warranty 4 years/ 100k miles.

Spoke to the warranty company and the representative checked with her supervisors and they said they would not cover the car. Not just because it was a lemon but it was reported with 4 owners. She said if it was a lemon they may consider but it had too many owners.

Unless the saleman can give me a very low price to take the lemon I am going to look for another car. It seems like Honda serviced the car pretty thoroughly (they did replace the engine) and the battery warranty is still in effect. I can't commit too much money if it's going to cost me in repairs in the future. I guess it's a gamble I may not be willing to take.

Any opinions? It's a 2003 red automatic with about 46,000 miles.

Thanks.... :shock:
 
#7 ·
update

I contacted the warranty company that the dealer uses. Initially they stated that they might be able to cover a car that was reported as a lemon and then reaquired by the manufacturer. Just as long as it's serviced by the manufacturer. Gave them the VIN # and they said no because there were too many owners. I can try to haggle for a really low price and state because no company will extend it's warranty to a lemon with too many owners. I can tell him it's because I may have future repairs pretaining to the preoblems just as before. I wasn't going to buy the extended warranty before I found out it was a lemon. I guess once it's labeled as a lemon it is hard to get rid of that stigma no matter how well the car if fixed. I would run that risk of it actually still being a lemon. :? I'm not worried about reselling the car in the future. I was going to keep it as my daily driver to work until it stopped working. The only part that bothers me is that it may still have it's problems after Honda's repairs. :cry:
 
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