leasing a lemon

The Jeep brand ranks fourth from the bottom in reported “lemon” vehicles, averaging one reported lemon per 131,574 vehicles produced (AutoGuide).

Welcome to Contributors’ Column, where we feature content authored by Leasehackr members. Today’s article is by sinarez. Leasehackr did not receive compensation for this article.

If you frequent Leasehackr, chances are you’re leasing a car. You probably also want to make sure you get the most bang for your buck, and you hate leaving money on the table. So, what happens when your leased vehicle is spending more time in the service department than you’d like?

Regardless of whether you buy or lease, there is always the risk that your car might be defective. Perhaps that it’s a first model year, maybe there’s some new tech that needs fine tuning, or it could just be some bad luck. Thankfully, that’s where lemon law comes in. While lemon law is a little different in each state, in California (and most, if not all, other states), lemon law applies to both leased and purchased vehicles. This article will be catered towards California’s lemon law, but the general concepts will apply in most other states.

If your leased vehicle is giving you some problems, or you just want to know your rights, read more on how lemon law can apply.

The Standard: Substantially Impaired Use, Value, or Safety

The standard for determining whether your leased car is a lemon, is whether the vehicle’s use, value, or safety was substantially impaired by the defect. These could be problems as serious as transmission issues, or more minor like a glitchy infotainment system. We’ll explore the practical differences of the severity of your issues immediately below.

Repair Attempts: Do You Have Enough?

For lemon law to apply, it’s not enough to simply have problems with your car. You have to give the manufacturer (through its dealership service centers) the opportunity to fix the defects. The number of repair attempts you have to give the manufacturer depends on the severity of the issues. There is also a third catch-all category that depends on days in service, rather than service attempts.

Safety-Related Issues: If your issue is safety related, like the transmission defect described above, you must have at least 2 documented service attempts for the same issue.
Non-Safety Issues: If your issue is not safety related, like the infotainment defect described above, you must have at least 4 documented service attempts for the same issue.
Too Many Days: Alternatively, if your issues, safety-related or not, cause your car to be in service for 30 days or more, cumulatively.

An experienced lemon law lawyer may still convince the manufacturer that your car is a lemon, even if it doesn’t fall neatly into one the categories above.

Exceptions: Accidents, Aftermarket Parts & More

If your car fits into one of the categories above (or is close), make sure that none of the exceptions below apply:

The defect is not “substantial.” For example, if your car’s analog clock runs slow, chances are the manufacturer won’t have much sympathy for you.
The vehicle is too old. There isn’t a clear rule on what’s “too old,” but if your car is a lease or it’s still covered under the original or extended warranty, you should be fine.
The defect is caused by an aftermarket part.
The defect is caused by damage from an accident.
The defect is not covered by the express warranty of the leased vehicle.
The defect was caused by driver abuse or neglect.

Your Rights: What Do You Get if You Leased a Lemon?

If you leased a lemon, you can force the manufacturer to buy back your leased vehicle. That means your lease will likely terminate early, and you will get back nearly all of your payments, plus your legal fees. In most cases, an early surrender is scheduled through a third-party company who trades you a check for your car at a local dealership. If your case is weaker, you may still qualify for a “cash” settlement, where the manufacturer pays you for the inconvenience due to your defects despite your car not being an official lemon.

The manufacturer is allowed to withhold a usage deduction for the miles you drove before your problems began. Thankfully, the lemon law sets out a precise calculation on how much the manufacturer can withhold.

Business Vehicles: Does Lemon Law Still Apply?

Yes — as long as the vehicle your business leased is under 10,000 pounds, and the business does not lease more than five vehicles.

Do I Need a Lawyer?

Technically, you can try to handle your lemon law claim without a lemon law attorney. However, there’s an important reason why you probably shouldn’t. The California and Federal lemon law both allow you to recovery your attorney’s fees and costs from the manufacturer if you have a lemon. The legislature added this provision to balance out the playing field between huge corporate manufacturers and your average person.

A lawyer is more likely to convince the manufacturer to buy your car back and you won’t have to pay them for their time thanks to the lemon law.

Most Commonly Leased Lemons

No manufacturer is an exception to producing defective cars on occasion. Jaguar, Land Rover, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, Audi and Volkswagen are just a few of the brands that are commonly the subject of lemon law claims.

Final Thoughts

Always remember, if your leased vehicle has issues, make sure to take it in for service. Your service records become the evidence used in your lemon law claim. Even if you don’t qualify quite yet, it’s never too early to speak with a lemon lawyer for free advice on how to best proceed.

Author: Sina Rezvanpour, Esq. California Lemon Lawyer

What to Do When You're Leasing A Lemon