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What About Business Use?
Lemon laws also limit their application to vehicles purchased or leased for personal use, but not all do. The Magnuson-Moss Act, for example, applies to all products that are normally used for personal use. If you use your pickup truck primarily for your business, the federal lemon law should still cover it if it is the kind of truck that is normally used for personal, family, or household purposes.
Remember, if you have a truck, the weight of the vehicle may be significant. Check the lemon laws for your state.
California’s lemon law was recently amended to expand its protection to cover vehicles owned by individuals or small businesses, even if used primarily for business purposes. As I have mentioned, California has one of the country’s strongest lemon laws. If you live in another state and you wish your lemon law had greater protection, write your legislators! |
What Is a Defect?
A defect is something the vehicle does (for example, pulls to the left) or does not do (for example, won’t start) that falls below the standard set forth in the warranty. Some states, like California, use the term nonconformity in their lemon laws. A nonconformity is essentially the same as a defect.
Some states use the word condition in their lemon laws. If a vehicle continues to have the same condition after a number of repair attempts, then it doesn’t matter what specific defect was causing it. This prevents manufacturers and dealers from arguing that they have not had enough attempts to repair any individual defect because the parts replaced or repairs performed were different on each repair visit.
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