Auto Lemon Law: also known as the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty act (known as Lemow Law) is a Federal Law that protects the buyer of any product which costs more than $25 and comes with an express written warranty.This law applies to any product that you buy that does not perform as it should.

The Magnuson-Moss law is a federal law gives consumers considerable rights in dealing with manufacturers of lemon cars. This Lemon Law guarantees a car buyer that certain minimum requirements of warranties must be met, and provides for disclosure of warranties before purchase.

Regarding "lemon cars", this law greatly affects the rights of car buyers. For any product which has a written warranty if any part of the product, or the product itself is considered defective, the warrantor must permit the buyer the choice of either a refund or replacement of the product (lemon).

Law firms have argued successfully to juries that the lemon car manufacturers should be given three attempts to fix the defect. Continued attempts to repair beyond the initial three should not be allowed. This is called the "three strikes and you're out" principle.

A consumer may pursue legal action in any court of general jurisdiction in the United States to enforce his rights under the Magnuson-Moss Law (Lemon Car Law). Attorney's fees based on actual time spent will be covered if the consumer does prevail.

Because of this, there is quite a bit of financial pressure on the manufacturer to settle consumers disputes before going to court about their lemon car, as this would keep their expenses down.

The Lemon Car Laws differ slightly from state to state, so we have provided some links to more complete information by state. If you believe you have a "Lemon Car" you can find more information about Lemon Car Laws and procedures at the following by state websites.

These are links to the Attorney General for your state.