|
|
"Historically we’ve said, ‘Quality costs money,’
while our competition overseas has been saying, ‘Quality makes money.’
And they’ve been proving it." -Harrington
What Is a Lemon?
The term lemon is not defined in California’s lemon law, the federal Magnuson-Moss Act, or in any other state’s lemon law. It is slang, pure and simple. It has taken on the meaning of a bad vehicle or product that makes you feel bitter because it is so substandard in performance and cannot be fixed.
The term originally derives from gambling. On the old slot machines, the lemon symbol had no match. Thus, if a lemon appeared, there could be no possible winning combination and the player was guaranteed to lose. Without lemon laws, consumers stuck with defective vehicles were also guaranteed to lose. |
The laws of the various states define a vehicle that qualifies for a refund or return, which we refer to as a lemon. Most define a lemon as a vehicle that the manufacturer has not successfully repaired after a certain number of attempts, or after the vehicle has been out of service for a particular number of days.
Throughout this book, I use the term manufacturer, because the warranty typically comes from the manufacturer. However, the same principles apply to anyone else, such as a distributor or dealership, who gives a written warranty at the time of sale.
|
