Got a New Vehicle? Make Sure to Document Any Problems!

Do you have a new vehicle?  If so, hopefully your first few years will be problem free.  But, if you have any problems with your new vehicle in the first year, make sure to document everything.  You never know if you will need it in the future.

Most consumers think that if they have a problem with their vehicle that the dealer cannot find or cannot fix, then the manufacturer will stand behind their warranty.  Unfortunately, for most motor vehicle manufacturers, this is not the case. In fact, many manufacturers will try to attach the consumer, claiming that the consumer is lying about the defect, is causing the defect because they are driving the vehicle wrong, is imagining the defect, or simply wants out of the vehicle because they cannot afford it.  For most manufacturers, customer loyalty goes out the window and the only thing that becomes important is the bottom line.  One way to make sure you have the best case possible, if you end up with a lemon vehicle and no way out but a lawsuit, is to build your evidence early on.

 

Keep a notepad and pen in your car.  When the vehicle malfunctions, write down what occurred, when and where the malfunction occurred, and under what circumstances it occurred, such as the temperature, speed of the vehicle, and length of time driving before the occurrence.  Of course, wait to make your diary notes in the notepad until you are in a safe location and off the road.  Or, if you prefer to keep the diary on your mobile device, you can do that too.  The key is to write it down as soon as possible after you experience the malfunction.
If the defect is something that can be safely recorded on video or in photographs, then take photographs and make videos.  Find some way of documenting the date and/or time in each photograph or video.

Keep your phone records and a list of the phone numbers you call related to the vehicle defects such as the local dealer's service center or the manufacturer's consumer hotline.  This way you can prove the contacts that you have had with the dealership and/or the manufacturer if they later deny it.

Make sure that you get repair invoices for each visit, and that the repair orders accurately describe the dates the vehicle was in the shop and the problems that your vehicle is experiencing.  It is alarming the number of repair orders that I see that do not properly document the dates that the vehicle was in the shop, do not properly describe the problem, or do not even include problems that the consumer brought the vehicle into the shop for. When the repairs are not properly documented, this can hurt even the best lemon law case.

If the dealer fixes the problem, then you won't need the evidence you have compiled.  But, if they do not, and the problem is a substantial problem, then you will.  And, it is certainly better to be safe than sorry when it comes to an expensive item like a motor vehicle that you need to get to work, to the grocery, or to the doctor's office.

Beth Wells

www.BurdgeLaw.com

www.OhioLemonLaw.com

www.KentuckyLemonLaw.com

Helping Consumers Get Rid of Lemons, 9 Years Running

How Manufacturers Are Trying to Avoid the Lemon Law

Instead of standing behind their warranties, and the vehicles that they build, most motor vehicle manufacturers have taken the easy way out.  What is the easy way out?  The easy way out for most motor vehicle manufacturers is "no problem found" or "operating as designed".  In reality, and in practice, it's just another way of saying we're not going to fix the problem that you're having with your car of truck; we're not going to stand behind your warranty and we are going to refuse to make any repairs.  

In fact, many motor vehicle manufacturers actually have a written agreement with their authorized dealers on how to handle intermittent problems or model wide problems that they do not know how to fix-- don't handle them at all.  And, under these agreements, the manufacturer typically can "cancel" the dealer's franchise agreement if they fail to follow the rules set by the manufacturer in performing warranty repairs.  

So, if you take your vehicle into the shop for repairs under warranty for an intermittent problem, it is highly unlikely that the dealership will even attempt a repair under warranty.  This is because most car dealers are required by manufacturers to verify or witness the defect occur before they can do any repairs under warranty.  And, if they do not verify the defect in a short test drive, then the vehicle will likely be returned to you unrepaired with "no problem found" written on the repair invoice.  This can be anywhere from frustrating to frightening for a consumer, depending on the severity of the defect.

Or, if you take your vehicle into the shop for repairs under warranty for a defect that is a model wide problem that the manufacturer does not know how to fix, then you will likely be told that the vehicle is "operating as designed" because another vehicle of the same year, make, and model on the dealership's lot exhibits the same known defect.  Again, this can be anywhere from frustrating to frightening for a consumer, depending on the severity of the defect.     

From where I sit as a lemon law attorney, the stance is puzzling to me.  What many motor vehicle manufacturers don't seem to realize is that if they actually let their dealers try to repair that "hard to find" or "hard to repair" defect, most consumers would be more forgiving, slower to file a lawsuit, and grateful for the help and the effort.  Instead, I routinely see many lifelong, brand loyal consumers refuse to ever buy that brand of vehicle ever again.  They are upset, angry, and looking for an explanation.  All they want is their vehicle to be fixed.  Instead, what they hear, the manufacturer telling them that they are imagining the problem or that the problem is simply normal when they know full well that it is not.

If you have been given the run around by your dealership and told "no problem found" or "operating as designed", and the problem is not fixed, consider talking to a lemon law attorney in your state.  You may be able to get out of that "lemon" vehicle yet.  Click here for a free online 50 state list of consumer law attorneys.  

Beth Wells

www.BurdgeLaw.com

Helping Consumers Get Rid of Lemons, 9 Years Running

Car Repair for the Female Consumer - Part 2: Making the Appointment

Step 1: Making the Appointment

Most dealers won’t accept your vehicle for repair if you just stop by the shop expecting to drop your vehicle off. Instead, you will need to call your local dealer beforehand in order to set up an appointment. When you call, have your diary with you so that you can best explain the symptoms that you are experiencing and the circumstances under which the defect or defects most often occur. And, if you have any photographs or videos, then mention those to the individual that you speak with at the dealer. 

Some manufacturers will not allow dealers to make repairs under warranty unless they can verify the defect, so providing a photograph or video to the mechanic will help to verify the defect for the mechanic and for that reason should be noted on the repair order.

Beth Wells

www.BurdgeLaw.com

Helping Consumers Get Rid of Lemons, 9 Years Running

Car Repair for the Female Consumer - Part 1: Documenting the Defect

Are you a female consumer sick and tired of how you are being treated when you take your car into the shop for repairs?  Then follow my 8 part blog!  I'll give you some helpful hints for getting your car repaired and getting the respect that you deserve at the dealership.

Step 1: Documenting the Defect

The keys to identifying the cause of a motor vehicle defect are to be able to describe the defect to the mechanic in a way that he will understand, and to be able to identify under what circumstances the defect most often occurs. The best way to do this is to keep a notepad and pen in the vehicle. When you experience the defect, note the time, the mileage, the temperature, how long the engine has been running, what speed you are going, whether you are accelerating, at idle, or turning, and how long the defect occurs.


Additionally, if the defect is something that can be seen visually, then you may also want to take a video or photograph of the defect which you can present to the service adviser when you take the vehicle into the shop for repairs.

Your defect diary, photograph, and/or video should arm you with the information that you need for a successful repair, and make it much more likely that you will be taken seriously when you take your vehicle into the shop for repairs.

Beth Wells

www.BurdgeLaw.com

Helping Consumers Get Rid of Lemons, 9 Years Running