Selection Sunday for Motor Vehicles?
Selection Sunday may be one of the most exciting days in college basketball every year. Teams nationwide hold their breath to see if they have been chosen to fill a slot on our March Madness Brackets. As I paged through the photographs and articles tonight looking to see if my alma mater had made the cut, I had a thought. Wouldn't it be nice if there were a Selection Sunday every year for motor vehicles? Maybe name it Lemon Sunday?
Instead of the NCAA Selection Committee making the decisions on what teams make the cut, we would have the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ("NHTSA") basing their decisions on their national database of Recalls, Defect Investigations, Technical Service Bulletins, and Consumer Complaints.
Instead of stories about the top teams and the Cinderella team of the year, we would have stories about motor vehicles that had the best crash test results, had the best fuel economy, had the best "gadgets", had the best reviews, were the most reliable, or were the best "bang for the buck".
Instead of the heartbreaking stories about the teams that didn't make the cut, we would have stories about Recalls, Defect Investigations, Technical Service Bulletins, and Consumer Complaints, or vehicles involved in a high volume of "Lemon Law" lawsuits.
For the average American, Lemon Sunday just wouldn't draw the attention and hysteria of Selection Sunday or March Madness. But for those of you that have purchased a lemon motor vehicle in the bast, Lemon Sunday would no doubt have you glued to your seats. Maybe, just maybe, Lemon Sunday would help you avoid the headache that a lemon motor vehicle inevitably brings you. Or maybe you would make the mistake of choosing the #1 pick only to be let down by the hype.
Did my alma mater make the cut this year? No. Will Lemon Sunday ever become a reality? Not likely. But in the meantime, we have the next best thing-- NHTSA.
So, if you are thinking of buying a motor vehicle, save yourself the heartache of purchasing a lemon and take a look at the NHTSA website first. While there, you can search the Recalls, Defect Investigations, Technical Service Bulletins, and Consumer Complaints for the vehicle that you are planning on purchasing. Just go to and enter in the year, make, and model of your vehicle. While researching your vehicle on NHTSA may not be full proof, it is certainly the next best thing to Lemon Sunday.
Beth Wells
Helping Consumers Get Rid of Lemons, 9 Years Running
