Life Gives You Lemons

A popular quote states that the only guarantees in life are death and taxes. Let’s add cars to the equation. Not only do we need them, we LOVE them! A lady I know was driving down the road when suddenly the car of her dreams appeared. It must have had her name on it because within the hour the dealer handed over the keys to her brand, new, car. It can be just that quick, or you can spend months searching, researching, carfaxing, comparing, etc. Lots of people have lots of money to spend on the new or used car of their dreams. Nevertheless, the dream may become a nightmare. WORKING TOWARDS LEMONADE If you have purchased or leased a NEW vehicle from a dealer, you are covered by the State’s Lemon Law for two years or 24,000 miles. Dealer-use miles do not - count towards the total. Can you sit on a lemon for - 22,000 miles and then demand a new car? Absolutely not. You must give the dealer or the manufacturer a reasonable number of attempts to correct the defect, and then a final attempt. The dealer must replace or repurchase the car. If that fails, there is an arbitration process set forth in the statute. The Georgia Department of Law’s Consumer Protection Unit has many answers relating to this issue. If you have purchased a USED vehicle from a dealer, your recourse lies in proving fraud on the dealer’s part. Common examples are failure to disclose prior uses, accident history, expired warranty, etc. Affirmative misrepresentation occurs when a dealer uses “bait and switch” advertising, claims a vehicle is “Certified PreOwned” when it is not, tampers with the odometer, or engages in yo-yo financing. Curbstoning is masquerading as a private seller to avoid the Federal and State Consumer Protection laws. Buyer Beware!