Texas Lemon Law Blog

I often joke about how the Texas Lemon Law should be better known as the car manufacturer's lemon law because of its bias in favor of the manufacturers and its dealers, rather than favoring or protecting automobile consumers. Today, I am happy to report that at least the Texas Lemon Law is better than Missouri's newly proposed lemon law against fraudulent, deceptive, and misrepresentation cases.

The newly proposed Missouri Lemon Law will increase its restrictions by disallowing consumers to go after car wholesalers in court. With the new law, consumers can only pursue car dealerships and possibly the car manufacturers. The law is intended to reverse the recent Missouri Supreme Court decision that found in favor of consumers by allowing victims who are sold lemon cars to go after both the car dealer and its wholesalers. The law has not passed yet and will go to the governor of Missouri for signage.

For more information, go here.

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Posted In: General Lemon Laws

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Dave, a consumer internet blogger, recently wrote about his experience with his Ford lemon vehicle (click here for his post). Like most other consumers, Dave provided Ford with ample opportunity to do the right thing. Ford not only failed to do the right thing, but it seems that Ford has lost another loyal customer.

I wrote to Dave offering assistance and here is his response, "I appreciate your concern, but I have conceded defeat in this matter. As the 'little guy', I cannot compete with Ford Motor Company under the law. My belief that I was 'doing the right thing' by giving them the chance to repair the vehicle, 'bit' me, as FMC is unconcerned with 'doing the right thing."

If you have a Texas lemon vehicle, please make sure that you document everything. Regardless of whether you go with my law firm or my competitor, it is important that you do something to make sure that Ford or other manufacturers such as Chrysler or Mazda does not win for selling you a lemon.

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Consumer Reports recently announced its top 10 cars for 2008. What I find interesting is that I have had represented clients under the Texas lemon law and Texas DTPA claims for most of the cars listed below.

So, this begs the question, does Consumer Report's prize for best car lower your probability of being stuck with a new lemon car? My short answer is no. All make and models of cars have a certain percentage that are built defective -- it is part of the quality control process. Interestingly, Chrysler vehicles are not included in this list.

Starting in the small sedan category is the Hyundai Elantra. The Hyundai Santa Fe wins for midsize SUVs. Best pickup truck goes to the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Crew Cab. Nods go to the Lexus LS460L for luxury cars, starting at $77,000. Unfortunately for Toyota, the Honda Accord gets the win for family sedan. Upscale sedan goes to Infiniti G35 while the Mazda MX-5 gets the "fun to drive" prize. My current car, the Toyota Rav4 is appointed the best small SUV. The Toyota minivan award goes to the Sienna. Last but not least, the best green car goes to the Toyota Prius.

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The state of Hawaii recently released it's Lemon Law results for 2007. In total, there were about $490,000 worth of replacements and refunds. The program requires that consumer participate in SCAP, also known as the State certified Arbitration Program.

Of the vehicles that were replaced under the state lemon law, Ford and General Motors ranked the highest while Toyota and Honda ranks the lowest. Nissan is still in the middle, improving in 9th place, compared to 2006's 14th place.

Personally, I feel that $490,000 worth of lemon car repurchase or replacement for a relatively sizable state like Hawaii is a small amount. If an average car is $20,000, then only 24.5 cars won a lemon law case in Hawaii. This leads me to believe that perhaps many lemon claims may have been rejected because of Hawaii's strict lemon law requirements...or perhaps because the requirements are implemented irregularly.

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Posted In: Ford Motor Company , Toyota Lemon Law

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In Missouri, the House recently approved a lemon law bill that limits consumer's right to only sue the car dealer and no one else. That's right, no one else, including the car manufacturer or others who were involved in selling the consumer the lemon vehicle.

The bill was sponsored by Republican Jay Wasson and harshly opposed by Kansas City representative John Burnett, who is a Democrat. The lemon law bill is called HB1970 and has been sent to the Senate. There is currently no calendar date for it and the proposed effective date for it is 08/28/2008.

I personally would oppose this bill because it is written too narrow. There are many situations where it is important for the consumer to have the right to sue other parties besides the car dealers in lemon law related claims, especially in resale situations.

I urge folks who reside in Missouri to please write to your state representative and voice your opposition to this bill. For more information about the bill, go here and here.

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Ever wonder what happens to life after death? Of course, I will not be analyzing such a complex issue, but in a similar line of thought,... have you ever wondered what happens to lemon cars that have been repurchased or bought back from car manufacturers? Or, ever wonder what happens to wrecked or salvaged cars?

Last week, fellow Lemon Law attorney and blogger, Jonathan Rudnick, wrote a short article that might have partially answered this hypothetical question. His article focuses on how there exists an entire market for buying and selling damaged cars.

This makes sense, because it is impractical and unprofitable for car manufacturers to simply dismantle and take lemon cars out of commission when it is so much easier to possibly sell it to another uninformed buyer who is in the market of buying a preown car. The Texas Lemon Law covers used car cases in very LIMITED situations. As a general rule, the law is intended to protect new car buyers.

I challenge car manufacturers such as Ford, Chrysler, and Mazda to re-consider their practices of lemon laundering and think about how unethical it is to pass along their problems to consumers. If there has been a lemon law buyback on a car with airbag or seat belt defects, does it make sense to put it back into the market used car market?

Lemon car recycling is bad.

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Dave, a fellow internet blogger, recently wrote about his experience of how a consumer can be put in a disadvantaged position for being a nice person. I must say, I do agree and hear about these situations more often then not.

In a nutshell, Dave experienced defects on his Ford truck early on during his ownership of the vehicle. He brought the vehicle in at least 7 times to the Ford service center. Each time, they repaired something, but the problems keep coming back. Now that Dave's warranty is about to expire, he finds himself with limited options.

The reason why his options are limited is because the Texas Lemon Law hates nice guys. Well, maybe it does not really hate nice guys, but it is certainly unfriendly to consumers who have a legitimate reasons for not pursing their claim early.

The law requires that you file a claim with the Texas Department of Transportation (DOT) within the first 24,000 miles or 24 months, whichever occurs first. After you miss that deadline, you have a 6 months grace period. After that, your options may be significantly more limited.

Some lessons to learn from Dave's experience includes,... file your lemon law claim early! If you do not file early, at least speak to a lemon lawyer like myself as early as possible to know your rights and what to look out for. My parents always tell me, "the worse thing you could do is wait until after you've broken the dish to find out the ceramics are fragile -- ask first and ask early."

To read more about Dave's experience and article, go here.

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Posted In: Ford Motor Company , General Lemon Laws

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Renee Walsh, a fellow blogger and attorney, recently wrote a very informative blog article regarding the Michigan Lemon Law and the Michigan Consumer Protection Act.

Ms. Walsh's article mentions the lack of coverage that current Michigan Lemon Law has on used or preowned cars. Thereafter, she explores alternative remedies that a consumer may have against sellers of used and defective cars. The article also outlines the the exact language of the Michigan consumer protection statute.

Similar to Michigan, Texas has a Texas Lemon Law that aims to protect buyers of new cars. Further, Texas also has a consumer protection law, entitled Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA). The DTPA has been successfully used to sue car car dealers for deceptive and dishonest practices.

For more about the article, please go here.

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Posted In: General Lemon Laws , Texas Lemon Law Information

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Although my Texas lemon law office tries to take on as many cases against the car manufacturers as possible, we can not accept every potential client's case that goes through our door. In the event that you can not find a lemon law attorney to represent you on your lemon car, then I would recommend you not give up.

Juliet Bickford, WSLS Anchor for Channel 10 in Roanoke, Virginia, offers the following suggestions on how to complain effectively and successfully. After reading through her recommendations, I would have to say that I agree with her suggestions in light of lemon law car cases.

Some highlights of her suggestions include ... addressing your concern with a manager or supervisor on duty. If that fails, then go straight to top management (company president, vice president, and etc). If that does not work, then try reporting the company to the Better Business Bureau (BBB). If all else fails, consider taking the company to small claims court.

In addition to Ms. Bickford's list of helpful tips, I would also add: 1) keep good written records and notes of everything so that you can substantiate your position, 2) send all your correspondences as soon as possible -- do not wait until the statute of limitations (deadline or warranty) runs out, and 3) be persistent.

To read more on Ms. Bickford's article, go here.

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When you buy a new car or other consumer product, you expect to get what you pay for...you expect to not have to sue the car manufacturer under a Texas Lemon Law claim. You make your decision based on specifications and advertisements produced by the manufacturers and distributors. You evaluate your options and consider what features are important to you and how much you are willing to spend. All of this is pretty well known and standard when you are buying a car or a blender or a couch, but what happens when you are paying for entertainment?

One fan of the New York Yankees is suing the team after evidence of steroid use by several of their players came to light in the Mitchell report on drugs in sports. Specifically, Matthew Mitchell, a long time fan, is seeking $221 in repayment for tickets he purchased claiming that the behavior of the team is akin to consumer fraud.

Similar to a typical Texas Lemon Law related case, Mr. Mitchell is seeking refund of his ticket price for five games in which pitcher Andy Pettitte was involved. Mr. Pettitte was named in the Mitchell report and has admitted to using human growth hormones, though he claimed that this was used to hasten healing after an injury – not to enhance on field performance.

Mr. Mitchell believed that he was buying tickets to baseball games during which his favorite players would be competing naturally – without chemical enhancement. He feels that this is the position that was put forth by the team, and that, given the widespread steroid use, this was a misrepresentation on the part of the team. The case was filed in small claims court in Brooklyn.

We will keep you posted as to the outcome. So far as we know, no such case has been put forward against our local Dallas team, the Texas Rangers.

Consumer fraud can take all forms and may be present in many different types of consumer transactions. If you believe that you have been the victim of consumer fraud with respect to your new car, we may be able to help you. For more information, visit our web site at www.texaslemon.com

This article was written by C. Fischer. Mr. Fischer is a consultant to my office.

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Posted In: General/MISC

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When you read or hear the description of a new car,...the amenities and features flow by almost lyrically. Everything is couched in glowing terms that are designed by car marketing executives to sell you not just a means of transportation, but on an idea – a fantasy. You should expect your new car to function as advertised and to have all the amenities that are described, but what if the description does not match with the actual performance of the vehicle, thereby making it a lemon car?...and what if the description include terms made up by the automobile manufacturer?

In the first case, you should most likely contact a properly licensed Texas Lemon Lawyer as soon as possible. If the second case applies, then continue reading...

One phrase that you have perhaps heard in this context is “rich Corinthian leather”. The term “Corinthian leather” has been used by Chrysler in describing leather in some of its luxury cars since the 1970’s. It was first used in ads for the Chrysler Cordoba, The name Cordoba came from the Argentine Cordoba coin which was used as part of the logo for the car.

In keeping with a somewhat Hispanic theme, the spokesperson for the Cordoba was Ricardo Montalban, Montalban is a Mexican born actor with a very lengthy career (going back to the 1940’s) and a smooth accented voice. One plausible story goes that during the filming of the commercials for the new Cordoba, Montalban improvised a bit and came out with the phrase “soft Corinthian leather”.

Continue reading "What the Texas Lemon Law, descriptions of Chrysler cars, and fine Corinthian Leather has in common" »

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Posted In: Chrysler Lemon Law , General/MISC

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The article below is written by J. Jones. Ms. Jones is a law clerk at my office.

Ms. Jones summarizes ConsumerAffair.com’s recent article on Saturn’s recent recall on faulty timing belts. For the purpose of protecting your Texas Lemon Law interests and rights, it is important that you insist that the dealership or service center provide you a repair invoice for the recall repair.

In this article from Consumeraffairs.com by Joe Benton, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has recalled a handful of Saturn cars and SUVs due to faulty timing belts. The NHTSA has reported that 20,514 Saturn vehicles are included in the recall.

Although dealers are willing to replace the timing chain free of charge, many consumers have already “fixed” the problem and can’t be compensated or helped by the Saturn dealers. One consumer, Terry, in Indiana, had to spend $1,200 to repair a broken time chain and the valves that bent. Because he had already “fixed” the “problem” (defect), he wasn’t able to take his car to the dealer to be properly corrected.

The North Carolina Consumers Council (NCCC) brought the timing chain failures to the attention of NHTSA after the consumers in the state complained that the timing failures led to a sudden loss of power in the Saturn. The NCCC reports that an improper oil flow in the timing chain lubricating mechanism, contributed to the failure.

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Posted In: Automobile Recalls

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