Law expands which vehicles are covered, lowers the requirements for a vehicle to be considered a lemon, extends the amount of time to file a lemon claim, and more
Denver—Attorney General Phil Weiser is informing consumers about their new rights under the law if they purchase a new motor vehicle that turns out to be defective. Weiser issued a public advisory, designed to help consumers understand their rights and provide guidance to dealers to understand their responsibilities.
The updated law, which goes into effect Aug. 7, expands which vehicles are covered by the law, increases the duration of lemon law protections, lowers the requirements for a vehicle to be considered a lemon, extends the amount of time for consumers to file a lemon claim, and clarifies the amount consumers can receive in a refund. Additionally, the law now affords consumers protections if they are considering purchasing used “lemon buyback” vehicles.
The updated law:
Expands the vehicles included under the lemon law to include motor vehicles used by small businesses for both business and personal purposes.
Extends the duration of lemon law protections to two years after purchase or within the first 24,000 miles of the vehicle’s operation, whichever is earlier.
Lowers the requirements for a vehicle to be presumed a lemon from four to three failed repair attempts of the same defect or after the vehicle has been out of service for repair for 24 or more business days. Also, if a defect significantly impacts the safety of a vehicle, it will be presumed a lemon after two failed repair attempts of the defect.
Extends the amount of time for consumers to file a lemon law claim to 30 months following the date the vehicle was delivered to the consumer, and any time that a vehicle is under repair and unusable does not count towards this limit. Prior law limited this to six months following the expiration date of the manufacturer’s warranty or within one year of delivery to the consumer.
Clarifies the amount that may be deducted from a consumer’s refund by providing a formula that the manufacturer can use to calculate an allowance for any use of the vehicle by the consumer, thereby ensuring a fair and predictable refund process.
Gives consumers more information when buying used “lemon buyback” vehicles by
requiring that a decal be affixed to them indicating “Lemon Law Buyback,” as well as a notation in the vehicle’s title.
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