Ask the Attorney Columnist James Irby
In keeping with James Irby P.C.’s commitment to service and justice, this week’s article is about another consumer protection available to people in Alabama, the Alabama Lemon Law. Alabama has enacted a series of laws which can help you when your new vehicle purchase just isn’t right.
The Alabama Lemon Law protects new car buyer for 24 months or 24,000 miles, whichever comes first. If you are having recurring problems with your new vehicle we can help.
There are few things worse than dealing with a bad car and yet its something we have all dealt with or had friends, family, or loved ones’ deal with. It often times goes unresolved and many consumers simply learn to deal with the headache that they just bought or, even worse, take a financial hit and get out of that vehicle.
There is another option, thanks to the Great State of Alabama. That option is to invoke your protections under our lemon law. Here’s what you need to know about it;
- You have 24 months or 24,000 miles—whichever occurs first. You must inform the dealer or manufacturer before this point but it must not be resolved in order to take advantage.
- The vehicle must “conform to any applicable express warranty.” That is to say it must be working as the manufacturer intended it to during its normal warranty, generally 3 years/36,000 miles.
- The dealer/manufacturer is going to get “reasonable attempts” to fix it. That’s often times case specific and is determined by the kind of problem your new car is having. It’s generally three attempts during the law period or if your car has been at the dealers for a cumulative 30 calendar days.
- The law gives you two options at that point. You can either accept a brand new comparable vehicle or you can get your money back including things like finance charges, rental car fees, sales tax, and of course the full contract price.
Don’t suffer in silence or get run over by a dealer or a car maker because they didn’t do the right thing. Give James Irby P.C. a call because we can help.
On a personal note, this column has developed into quite a fun weekly event for myself and my staff. We’d love to hear from you so please give us a shout and let us know if you have questions about the law. We’d love to answer. We love to serve.
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