Tuesday, September 29, 2009

North Carolina Lemon Law Can Help You Get Relief Form Defective Vehicle

By Jim Johnson

To understand why the North Carolina lemon law was created, you must understand how the law worked before its inception. Before the lemon law was enacted, auto owners with auto problems were forced to seek redress of their claims with large automobile manufacturers. Seeing a problem with the disparity of the parties, the North Carolina Legislature developed the lemon law, which created the right for an automobile purchaser to bring a lemon law case against an automobile maker.

The North Carolina Lemon Law applies to cars that were purchased or leased in North Carolina. The lemon law covers new cars, which ironically are cars that are sold as new. The types of cars the lemon law covers are new passenger cars, pick-ups and motorcycles purchased in North Carolina. The lemon law covers most vans as well.

The North Carolina Lemon Law, states that a manufacturer must repair defects that affect the use, value, or safety of a new motor vehicle within the first 24 months or 24,000 miles of ownership. To make it easier for car owners to prove their case, the North Carolina legislature created a presumption that a vehicle is a lemon. The lemon law creates a presumption that a car is a lemon states if:

The same defect or nonconformity has been presented for repair to the manufacturer, its agent, or its authorized dealer four or more times but the same nonconformity continues to exist; or

The purchaser did not have use of the automobile while repairs were attempted or while the automobile was awaiting a repair attempt. The impairment of use of the automobile must be for twenty or more days in the warranty period. There is a catch though, to get the presumption the purchaser send correspondence to the manufacturer putting it on notice of the concerns with the vehicle.

Under the North Carolina lemon law, a purchaser can get relief from a lemon vehicle in two ways. And the legislature has given the purchaser the option of which way they wish to be compensated. The lemon law requires the automobile manufacturer to give the purchaser a replacement auto of the same type or accept return of the purchasers automobile and give the purchaser their money back.

The lemon law states that the refund to the car owner can be reduced by a usage allowance for the owners use of the car. The usage allowance is the amount use by the owner before the first report of the problem to the dealer or manufacturer. The allowance also includes any mileage when the vehicle is not out of service. The usage allowance is calculated by dividing the mileage by one hundred thousand and then multiplying that percentage by the original price.

It is advisable that if you think your car is a lemon under the North Carolina lemon law, you should seek out a lemon law attorney now. The North Carolina lemon law is favorable to consumers but still has several requirements that must be met or your case could be damaged. The best news is, the lemon law requires the carmaker to pay the owners attorney fees if they win the case. - 2368

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