Lemon law lease
Leasing is an increasingly popular way for consumers to drive a new car, and so it’s lamentable some states have yet to wake up to this fact. Pennsylvania was among the first states to pass an automobile lemon law to protect new car buyers from getting stuck with a piece of junk, but was late to respond to the growing trend of extending the same protection for leased vehicles.
Actually, having laws protecting leased vehicles is not universally known throughout the country, and even some dealers and manufacturers have been misleading customers of leased vehicles that they do not enjoy the same lemon law rights as those who own the vehicles they drive. The fact is, a lease does have implications for customer’s lemon law rights. The leased customer essentially has the same lemon law rights as the car buyers. Here are some key things one should remember about leased vehicles.
In a leased car, it can’t be said that enjoy any form of ownership in the car and so the damages will be usually limited to the inception payment and the payments into the vehicle. If for some reason the manufacturer is agreeable to having your lease unwounded, ensure that the lease is actually paid off in a manner that will not be detrimental to your financial standing.
There are manufacturers who will insist on a mileage offset for leases, apparently because the mileage is a greater percentage of the more limited period of the lease, as opposed to the otherwise lengthier period of permanent ownership in case the vehicle is eventually sold. However, this is really a negotiation point and it’s worked on a case by case basis. But the consumer should ensure that the manufacturer does not take advantage of him.
It’s advisable to use the earliest opportunity to bring up the issue of any defect found on the vehicle. Dithering will not help. Late claims are unlikely to be responded to because the manufacturer will reason out that the lease period is coming to an end. Thus if toy have a four year lease and the claim is brought within the first two years, its more likely that the claim will be attended to than if you had waited until the third year to bring your claim.
Most if not all leases will envisage a residual value which is calculated after the expiration of the lease. When the total residual value happens to be less than the lease payoff, the manufacturer might try to convince the consumer that the consumer is entitled to the residual value rather than the lease payoff. This should be ignored completely, and if there is need to file a lawsuit arises and you end up winning the case, it’s likely that the lease payoff will be reinstated.
If the mileage allotment is exceeded significantly, this will also have a negative effect on any lemon law claim that you might raise. Conversely, limiting the driving of the vehicle will improve your chances of having your claims entertained.
References
- http://www.blogger.socallemonlaw.com/?p=42
- http://www.lemonlaw.com/leasealemon.html
- http://www.californialemonlawlawyers.com/