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Lemon Laws
for Used Cars are Just Around the Corner
By
Charles Essmeier
In 1982, California became the first state to
pass an automobile “lemon law” which gave owners
of defective cars the opportunity to seek a
replacement or a refund for a new car that had a
defect that could not be repaired in a
reasonable amount of time. This law proved so
popular that other states soon followed suit.
Less than twenty five years later, all fifty
states have some sort of lemon law on their
books. California may take the lead again in the
protection of auto buyers as the state Assembly
recently passed a “bill of rights” designed to
protect buyers of used cars.
This bill, which has not been signed into law,
would protect buyers of used cars from deceptive
lending practices, sales of lemon-law buyback
vehicles, and vehicles with frame damage. Buyers
would also be allowed three days in which to
cancel the deal if they changed their mind after
the purchase.
This bill may or may not become law, but it
outlines the need for laws that cover sales of
used cars as well as new
ones. While all states have a lemon law that
covers the sale of defective new vehicles, few
states have laws that protect buyers of used
vehicles. As a result, many buyers have become
victims of deceptive practices such as rolling
back a vehicle’s odometer to show fewer miles,
reselling cars that have previously been bought
back by manufacturers as lemons and selling
wrecked cars that have been repaired without
noting their accident history. In addition, many
used car dealers sell cars using deceptive
financing terms that can add hundreds or
thousands of dollars to the cost of the vehicle,
often without the buyer’s knowledge.
If this bill does become law in California,
expect other states to follow, just as they did
with lemon laws. Consumer protection benefits
everyone, and laws protecting buyers of used
cars are just around the corner.
©Copyright 2005 by Retro Marketing.
Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro
Marketing. Retro Marketing, established in 1978,
is a firm devoted to informational Websites,
including LemonLawHelp.net, a site devoted to
automobile lemon laws and End-Your-Debt.com, a
Website devoted to information about debt
consolidation and credit counseling.
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