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Wisconsin lemon law statutes

The Wisconsin lemon law statute 218.015 became effective in Nov. 1983 as a remedial assistance to owners of defective autos or lemons.

The law is reputable for keeping auto makers in check, and has been largely attributed to the Mercedes recall, jaguar recall, land rover recall, Porsche recall, audi recall, Mitsubishi recall and Hyundai recall in Wisconsin.

Majority of these reputable auto makers have had to play by the rules of Wisconsin lemon law or get driven out of business after some of their products failed to comply with the federal motor vehicle safety standard.

Most of the reported problems with the above vehicles, and which the manufacturers took long to rectify and that have prompted recall have been tire pressure monitoring system problems, noise vibration, malfunctioning locking cable, fuel tank leaks, vehicle stalling as a result of fuel injection problems.

The statute stipulates that if a new motor vehicle fails to conform to the expressed service warranty, then the non-conformity has to be rectified prior to the expiry to of the service warranty or 12 months following delivery of the motor vehicle to the consumer.

According to section 218.015 (2A) of Wisconsin lemon law, if the manufacturer fails to meet the conformity requirements even after various attempt at repair, then manufacturer must be ready to accept the return of the defective vehicle, and as the consumer directs either offer a full replacement or a refund.

The law further states that the above has to be inclusive of any tax, finance charge, and any other costs minus a sensible usage allowance. Attempts at repair according to the non-conformity statute, is pegged at four attempts after which the motor vehicle continues to be unusable for a maximum of 30 calendar days.

The statute is said to be breached when the auto maker or his authorized dealer fails or refuses to repurchase or replace the defective vehicle at will within a period of 30 days after receiving the consumer’s notification. The failure to comply with the lemon law at will amounts to a breach of the law and this act invokes the punitive statute of the law.

Wisconsin lemon law was enacted as a way of safeguarding the rights of motor vehicle owners by improving manufacturers’ quality controls and also reduce the emotional trauma, frustration, and unnecessary expenditure, suffered by owners of defective vehicles.  Statue 218.015 has undergone several amendments.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, August 22nd, 2009 at 12:36 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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