Mazda plans to do this by refining the design of its existing gasoline vehicles to be more fuel efficient. When asked how this will be done, Mazda's chief executive officer, Takashi Yamanouchi, states that consumers should expect to see vehicles that are lighter in weight and with improved aerodynamics. Mr. Yamanouchi also mentions that
it is likely that Mazda's new lineup of hybrid and electric cars will debut on or near 2015.

So, what does this mean in terms of litigation for Mazda lemon electric or hybrid cars? It simply means that we will have to wait until the electric or hybrid cars will actually be manufactured.

Currently, Texas lemon law is silent and does not contain any language regarding hybrid or electric cars. However, Texas car owners with lemon hybrid cars will most likely be able to open a complaint with the Texas Department of Transportation under the Texas Lemon Law and seek a potential repurchase or replacement remedy.

After months of frustration in dealing with the Chrysler service centers, the couple called my office and I took on their case. I am happy to report that the the case settled in favor of my clients and they are now happy with the results of their lemon law claim. This is the link to their testimonial. (Look for this testimonial entry: T. and D. B., Lampasas, Texas, April 13, 2009).

I have previously written an article about how the Texas Lemon Law treats used car cases (go here for the article). Here's a paraphrase on the limitations of Texas Lemon Law for used cars on TXDOT's website:

A used vehicle may be covered under the Lemon Law. However, the coverage applies if your used vehicle is still covered by the manufacturer's original warranty. Keep in mind that extended service contracts do not apply. Coverage also applies if the problem started while under warranty and it continues to exist, but the remedies are limited to repair assistance of the warranty-related problem,...and not a repurchase or replacement.

Since buying a vehicle is arguably the second most expensive purchase that most consumers make, it is necessary to do your homework and to be observant of potential red flags that indicates that the used car is a lemon. See this blog post for some personal nonlegal tips on how to avoid buying a used lemon car.

Because of this recent growth in purchasing more used cars due to the economy, my lemon law practice also notices an exponential growth in potential clients calling to seek information about their lemon used cars. PLEASE NOTE that my office rarely accepts pre-owned car cases. However, we do accept some Chrysler car cases -- if you have used lemon Chrysler car that is at least a 2005 model, then please call my office.

It was then discovered that my friend relied on the incorrect information provided by TexasDOT's representative (he called (800) 622-8682) and did not send the car manufacturer a notice letter by certified mail. The case was dismissed due to this reason alone.

My friend then asked me about what could be done at that point. Once a case has been referred by the administrative judge to be dismissed, the claimant has the option of appealing the decision, provided that he or she does so in writing and within the specified period of time. Alternatively, the consumer may elect to forgo the appeal process and hire a lemon law attorney to file a lawsuit under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices and Federal Magnusson Moss Act.

My friend elected to hire my office to represent him. As of last week, the case was successfully settled for a monetary cash settlement. The lesson to be learned here is that you do have second chances if you are unsuccessful with your original lemon law hearing with TxDot. Having a lemon law attorney represent you could help you attempt to get a repurchase or replacement the second time around, or help you get a cash settlement in damages.

Ms. Phillip's answer to this dilemma is to have the consumer evaluate two factors before buying deciding on whether to buy extended warranty or not. First, the consumer should determine the specific services and coverages of the extended warranty terms, and second, the cost and value of the consumer's peace of mind. Ms. Phillips pointed to a recent Consumer Report article that pointed out that the cost of extended warranties may be as much as the actual repair work itself.

Speaking of peace of mind, having extended warranty on a product such as a car does not guarantee that you will be worry-free. For example, if you bought a new car and have taken it in 4 or more times under the Texas lemon law and the service center is unable to properly diagnose the defect and fix it, then having additional extended warranty beyond the standard manufacturer warranty period is virtually useless.

Tip #4: Get a mechanic's inspection. Purchasing a vehicle is arguably the second most costliest item that most consumers buy in their lifetime. As a consumer, you do not purchase vegetables at your local grocery with blindfolds on,...the same logic applies in purchasing lemon cars. Without a mechanic's expert opinion, it is difficult to determine the condition of the vehicle underneath the hood. My lemon law office gets at least one call a day of unsuspecting car owners who subsequently learn that their 2007 Dodge Caravan has a 2005 engine or component on it.

Tip #5: Bring a friend during your visit to the dealership. During my pre-lasik surgery days, my friends always advise that four eyes are usually better than two. Buying a vehicle can be stressful and it is a good idea to have your friend look for potential red flags and defect cover-ups while you talk to the used car salesman.

All in all, good luck!

From that experience, I proffer some tips that I've learned on ways to avoid a potentially problematic vehicle, aka, the lemon car. Please keep in mind that these tips are merely my personal bias opinion and not legal advice, by any means. Also, please DO NOT call my office if you are a victim of a pre-owned or used lemon car, as my office only handles new lemon cars.

Tip #1: If you have an Iphone, G1, or any smartphone with data or internet capabilities, then bring it along (make sure you enroll in autocheck.com before you go car shopping).

* We did so and I was able to pull up the vehicle's history report while my friend was test driving the vehicle. All I had to do was enter the car's VIN number into my Iphone and was able to determine if the vehicle was a lemon-designated or previously auctioned vehicle. Why do I recommend autocheck?...well, because most used car dealers will probably offer to provide you with a free carfax.com report, you'll need to cross reference the information on both reports to get a more complete picture of the car's history. Some information not found on carfax.com may be discovered on autocheck.com, as these companies obtain their information from different sources.

Tip #2: I don't care what the car salesperson say, if the vehicle has been purchased from an auction, then it may potentially have more problems than meets the eye. Cars that have been subjected to auctions may have been a pre-litigation lemon car buyback (where the manufacturer settles or voluntarily repurchases the car before the final adjudication of a state's lemon law decision). Auctioned cars are generally bad news, as the disclosure requirements found in the process of an auction are minimal, if not non-existent.

* We found a car that checked out clean on carfax.com, but showed "auction" on the autocheck.com report. We asked the salesperson about it, and he changed his story about this vehicle being traded in last week by a senior citizen to "oh yeah, it may have been purchased at an auction of retired rental cars." We left that dealership quickly.

Tip #3: Check for mildew or signs of previous water damage inside and underneath the vehicle. Pull the front and back seat belts out all the way and see if there are stains on it. It is very difficult to stain the ends of a seat belt and if there are stains there, then it could have resulted from a vehicle that was trying to swim underwater during a flood. Check the rims and behind the wheels, does it seem corroded?

For example, in Texas, a consumer can file a claim with the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDot) so long as it has been within 24,000 miles or 24 months from the date of ownership, whichever occurs first. Georgia at that time, only protects a consumer when the vehicle is within 12,000 miles or 12 months from ownership (whichever occurs first).

As of January 1, 2009, cars and most other vehicles purchased in the state of Georgia will be protected for 24,000 miles/24 month. Further, the Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs of Georgia promises that its state lemon law process will be more "stream-lined" and consumer friendly (I guess they weren't very consumer friendly previously).

Under this new revision of Georgia Lemon Law, vehicles intended for use in small businesses are also covered, along with larger cars or trucks that are heavier (up to 12,000 pounds, ie: the gas guzzler Ford 350).

Upon receiving the documents, I noticed that my friend's file did not include a copy of the notice letter to the car manufacturer. I asked my friend about this and he told me that when he called the 1 800 lemon law number to the Texas Department of Transportation, he spoke with a representative from the department and the person on the phone told him that he did not need to mail the manufacturer any.

I ended up attending the hearing with my friend anyways. At the hearing, the administrative judge focused on the fact my friend failed to provide written notice to the manufacturer. Further, the administrative judge stated that because of the failure to provide the manufacturer with a 30 day notice, that my friend also did not provide the manufacturer with a final opportunity to cure.

Several days ago, my friend told me that he received the proposed decision from the administrative judge in the mail. It looks like the proposed decision is to dismiss the case simply due to my friend's failure to send a written notice demand letter. At the end of the day, the lesson to be learned by this is that all consumers who plan on filing a case with the DOT should send a written notice letter to the manufacturer as soon as possible. I recommend making a copy of the notice letter and sending is USPS certified mail with return receipt requested (RRR).

When the consumer brings the vehicle into the service center, the service representative is always cooperative and cordial, but at the end of the day, the car still has problems after the 3rd or 4th visit. When the consumer contacts the car manufacturer, they are assigned a case manager who provides no solution to the consumer -- a lot of times, the consumer is led to run around in circles.

This is the situation that my recent client from Alpine, Texas found himself in. At first when I spoke with this client, he was very frustrated with the predicament that Chrysler put him through. I started working on this client's case after he submitted documents to my office, after we discussed his options, and after he signed the representation agreement with my office in early May 2008.

When I first accepted this client's case, I was confident that he had a lemon and I was focused on helping him get out of his lemon truck. After jumping through various hurdles with the opposing side, we were able to get this client a repurchase on his vehicle. All in all, a success in my book... here is the client's testimonial.

Typically, lemon cars get transported into states with weak lemon law disclosure requirements. Why?...because car manufacturers know that they can do so and because it is legal.

For example, prior to August 1, many car manufacturers may have potentially targeted Minnesota as a state where it can dump many of its lemon inventory because Minnesota Lemon Law, in the past, did not require a lemon "stamp" on the vehicle's title. An unsuspecting car buyer in Minnesota, prior to August 1st, may never know that his or her used vehicle that was purchased at a local car lot has been subject to repeated repair attempts or may have serious safety defects....until the vehicle manifests a defect several days or weeks after owning the vehicle.

Now, similar to the Texas Lemon Law disclosure requirement, all vehicles that has been repurchased or replaced via Minnesota's lemon law will now have a "Lemon Law Vehicle" stamp on its title, similar to a flood damaged, prior salvage, or rebuilt stamps. This new provision of the law is aimed at providing consumer awareness and disclosure. However, just because a pre-owned vehicle doesn't have this lemon law stamp does not mean that it is lemon-free. For example, if a vehicle was repurchased or replaced prior to an official adjudication of the lemon law program, then it may still be a lemon and will not have any stamps attached to its title.

Please keep in mind that although my office handles lemon law related claims in Texas, we DO NOT handle pre-own are cases. For more information about Minnesota's lemon law stamp requirements, go here.

Quiz: in the event that both vehicles are defective lemon cars, which consumer is better off and more likely to get a repurchase or replacement?

Answer: the California car owner is more likely to win their lemon law case. Why, you ask?

The reasoning is because each state has its own version of the "lemon law." The California Lemon Law has provisions that are much more consumer friendly than Texas Lemon Law. As to why California law is better than Texas law?...my suspicion is that car manufacturers have been more successful in effectuating lemon law legislation by utilizing lobbyists and special interest groups in Texas than in California.

Here are some significant differences between Texas and California lemon law:

1) California lemon law has an automatic attorney fee shifting provision that forces the car manufacturer to pay the consumer's attorney fee if the consumer wins. Texas only allows consumer attorneys to become involved only if the car manufacturer is represented by an attorney first (otherwise, the consumer will have to pay for their own attorney fee).

2) The mileage deduction for a vehicle repurchase or replacement in Texas assumes that the average lifespan of a vehicle is 120,000, which is an extremely heavy deduction against the consumer, as compared to California.

3) California law covers small business vehicles, while Texas law focuses on personal consumer use.

4) Texas has a "30 day" repair presumption similar to California, but the only way the rebuttable presumption is triggered is only if the dealer or manufacturer failed to provide the consumer with a comparable loaner vehicle.

Please note that this is not an exhaustive list. For further comparisons, please contact your state's lemon law lawyer. For more information about the California Lemon Law, go here.

Recognizing a Lemon

How do you know if your car fits the description of a lemon according to the Texas Lemon Law? There are several different criteria that need to be looked into before considering filing a complaint regarding your vehicle.

• You must be the original owner of the vehicle.
• The vehicle must be under warranty, not an extended service contract.
• The problems you are experiencing must be covered by the vehicle warranty
• You must notify the dealer regarding the problem.
• You must let the dealer attempt to remedy the problem.
• You have repeatedly experienced the same problem (four or more times).
• You must notify the manufacturer’s regional office of the problem.
• Your vehicle is no longer safe to drive as a result, and is depreciating in value as a result of the problem.

If you are experiencing any of these problems, it is certainly time to file a Lemon Law complaint. This is where things can become tricky for some consumers.

Remedying the Problem

If your vehicle meets the above criteria, time is of the essence when filing a Lemon Law complaint. You must fill out the Lemon Law Complaint Form as soon as possible and pay the filing fee. After this, there are many different things that you will need to make sure are in order if you seek to have the problem alleviated. Find a good lawyer who specializes in this particular type of cases and consult with them regarding your case. The money and time you end up saving will be well worth it, especially if your car problems are taken care of in a timely fashion.

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This post was contributed by Kelly Kilpatrick, who writes on the subject of the criminal justice programs. She invites your feedback at kellykilpatrick24 at gmail dot com.

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Recently, McCann Motors of Fife, Washington reached a settlement agreement with the Washington Attorney's Office over a controversy where the car dealership failed to provide the disclosure to seventy-nine customer who purchased luxury cars from the dealership.

Texas lemon law also requires similar disclosures as Washington's lemon law. However, the law only requires such special disclosures only if the vehicle was repurchased or reacquired through the state's formal lemon law program -- that leaves out a lot of vehicle that has been repurchased informally without going through the lemon law arbitration/administrative program.

For example, if a consumer hires a lemon law attorney and is able to negotiate a repurchase without going through the lemon law program or filing a lawsuit, then that vehicle arguably does not require any special disclosures, but may potentially be a problematic lemon vehicle for subsequent owners.