Learn more about Arizona Lemon Law

Posted by admin on August 22, 2009 Leave a comment (0) Go to comments

Lemon laws are different in every state and Arizona is no different, the arizona lemon law is found in Section 44-1261 to 44-1267 of the Arizona revised statutes. The statutes state that if a newly purchased automobile doesn’t conform to all expressed and applicable warranties, then the auto maker, dealer or agent or issuer of the warranty is liable to make those repairs so that the vehicle conforms to the expressed warranties.

The possible solutions to the statute breach is:

If the vehicle manufacturer, authorized agents, or dealer fails to conform the vehicle to the expressed service warranty through either repair or fixing of defects that significantly weakens the vehicle value or use, the dealer, manufacturer, or agent must:

Accept the vehicles return from the user or consumer and give a full refund of the original cost; this must be inclusive of all guarantee charges less of a reasonable mileage allowance as stated in section 44-1261 to 44-1267 of the Arizona lemon law.

In the extreme case of a violation, the manufacturer must replace the automobile with a completely new one. Should the consumer choose to seek legal redress of the matter and prevail in the process, then the court will award the consumer modest costs and legal fees.

The above doesn’t mean that vehicle manufacturer, dealers or agents are a losing party in a claim. The vehicle dealer, manufacturer or agent has the option of filing a defense under the law citing possible reasons as stated below.

One possible defense that the manufacturer can use under the statute is the case where the supposed non-conformity doesn’t completely impair the vehicles market value, or usability.

Second defense point is a scenario where the alleged non-conformity occurs as a result of neglect, non-authorized modifications or abuse on the side of the consumer.

Under the Arizona lemon law, it usually assumed that adequate time has been given to the manufacturer; agent or authorized dealer of a motor vehicle to make sure that it conforms to the expressed warranties if either:

The vehicle has been out of service due to non-repair for a total of 30 or more days during the active phase of the expressed warranty term or in duration of two subsequent years or 24,000 miles whichever comes first.

It has to be noted that this assumption doesn’t apply to the auto-maker except in a case where the automaker has been notified in writing by the consumer or his representative for the alleged defects and has been given sufficient time to address the problem. Otherwise he becomes liable to penalties under the Arizona lemon law.