Lemon Law?

RunnerUp

RunnerUp

New member
okay, so about a year ago my mom decided to try a FORD product instead of sticking to the imports like she has for the past 10 years. so she picked up her 2005 Lincoln Aviator in February of 05.

so far the truck has 15k on it, and the transmission completly dropped at 11k. they had to remove it, overhaul it, replace the cat. converter and basically try to figure out why it dropped so fast.

after that episode (which left my mom on the side of the road in a BRAND NEW CAR) i told her that i wanted to drive it and see if i could feel anything wrong with the vehicle

as soon as i shifted from park i knew the tranny was on its way out again. i also noticed a steering whine. so at 14500 she put it back in the shop, and this time they replaced the solenoid saying that it caused hard first and second shifts, of course this didnt help the hard shifting between gears, and so i personally believe the transmission will fail again within another 5k.

my questions are... has anyone had to lemon a vehicle of theirs? how difficult was it to do? i read the book that came with her truck, but im not sure i got EVERYTHING out of it... so any help would be appreciated....

oh! and if/when this vehicle gets lemoned, she is heavily considering the 06/07 4runner - GX470. so we might just have a new addition to the toyota family here... i am so pissed at ford right now.... anyone else want to bash ford products?
 
Register to hide this ad
As I understand the lemon law (which varies by state), the vehicle needs to fail 3 times (minimum) for the same problem within the complete warranty period (i.e. 3 years/36k miles). You need to keep details receipts, times of failures, what was done to resolve the problem, etc. I also believe you need to see at least 2 different dealers to rule out dealer incompetence.

Do a search, someone here did a Lemon law for their 4runner last year (MY 2004 I believe)... Ford is not known for the strength of their trannies...
 
Make sure you check by state the laws.

In NY, vehicle needs to be serviced 4 times (doesn't need to be two or more dealer) and you need to keep the documentation. To be considered a lemon, the car needs to be 1. dangerous from a safety standpoint (ie. broken radio serviced 4 times will not qualify) or 2. Hard Start
 
What has been said so far is correct, with the exception of one thing. Most states state that 3 or more attempts to fix the same concern over the course of 12 months/12,000 miles is cause for manufacturer buyback, so you may be out of luck with amount of miles on it. Make sure you keep EVERY piece of paper you have received pertaining to the vehicle (i.e. receipts, everything)

One thing you should know is that if a manufacturer purchases a vehicle back from a consumer (buyback/lemon law), they will deduct usage from the vehicle. So, don't expect that you're going to get your full purchase price back. If the truck has almost 15,000 miles, they are going to ding you pretty well for usage. To give you an example, we had a Sequoia at my store that had some issues (rare, but it happens). Anyway, the vehicle ended up falling under the lemon law and was purchased back by Toyota, with under 10K miles on the clock. I'm not sure the exact amount the customer received, but it was several (more than just 2K or 3K) thousands of dollars away from what they paid. So, just prepare yourself for that. I imagine it would be even more for a truck that has 15K or more miles on it.

Remember, Ford is going to take this vehicle, figure out the best fix for it, and then turn around and send it to an auction to try to recoup some of their money. I'm not sure how much a new 06 Aviator cost, or what your mom's 05 stickered out for (I'm guessing low $40'sK), but average money on an 05 (according to the black book, which is what we use, and in Illinois) is around $25K-$26K. The Lincoln's tend to drop like a rock in value, along with most other domestic vehicles. Harsh consequences for strolling onto the Ford lot, eh?

Anyway, get your "ducks in a row", as they say, and see what you can get done. My guess is you'll get no where with Ford taking the car back, but you never know. Get it fixed one more time, trade it, and then you won't have to worry about it.

Grant
 
In NY, if your car is 12k miles or less you get back full amount. I only had 6k on my miata, so I received full amount.
 
The States that have a Lemon Law have different criteria for a buy back. You need to do some research in your State. In some states the manufacture may be a participant in a program run by the Better Business Bureau with different criteria. I had an arbitration hearing with the Better Business Bureau for a GMC vehicle and they ended up having to buy back for the FULL purchase price, with 18K miles on the vehicle. You need to do some HOMEWORK!

Koz
 
If the manufacturer fails to conform the vehicle to the warranty after a reasonable number of attempts to repair these defects, the law requires the manufacturer to buy back the defective vehicle and give the consumer a purchase price refund or a replacement vehicle.

so... that would mean that we would get back all the money from purchasing it... or am i reading that wrong?
 
Yes --- in Florida, they have to refund the purchase price of the vehicle. They can also choose to give you are comparible replacement.
 
HA! i love florida... we can shoot people in the streets and be cleared of it and we get back all our $$ when the domestics bite the dust, now if we could just find out how to turn down the heat.... jeez... middle of march and im sweating outside, whats wrong with this picture?

i also read that you dont have to take the "comparable" vehicle if you dont want to. considering they dont make an 06 Aviator i think she will take the cash... now to just read a little more and figure out how to finish the job... all the info i had on lemon law came in a little book when we bought the car, glad you sent me to that link
 
I'm not too familiar with FL lemon laws, but I won a lemon law case myself last year when I decided to buy a Ford product (2005 Volvo S40). I actually used this law firm:

http://www.yourlemonlawrights.com/florida/index.html

They were great! They took care of everything, and all I had to do was fax them all of my repair orders. Plus, if they take your case, they don't ask for any money up front, and even if you lose, they don't charge you anything. In the end, they convinced Volvo to purchase my car back, plus pay the attorney $2,000 in legal fees. I would contact them first, and see what they say.
 
UoD said:
Yeah --- It hit 84 up here in Tallahassee on Tuesday ....
Click to expand...

haha, im actually in tallahassee this weekend, it is so much hotter here than in gville... i just want to have this weekend be over with so i can get back home!!! tally is way too hot for me... so UoD... be on the lookout for the black 4runner with a snorkel rolling around FSU this weekend. oh, and one last thing, i hate the towing companies here!!!

and derek, thanks for the link, ill be sure to give them a call and find out what they can do for me in this case. the truck still has to fail one more time... but it is a ford product
 
You guys are right each state is diff. I had 2004 dodge 1500, after three times for the same problem, I went to a lawyer. She said keep bringing it in, becuase the more service tickets the better. I had a total of six service tickets. Outcome, they gave me my 8,000 dollars of notes I paid and bought the truck back. Not one dolllar out of my pocket. Basically drove it for 1 1/2 years for free and now have a 4runner.
 
Well, looks like I am the newest member possibley pursuing the Lemon Law. I contacted a lawyer back in MS, where the truck is registered. He said that it appears my critera meet the requirements. I have had my truck about 1 or 2 days since June 2nd. With electrical nightmares!!

So far replaced:
alternator
Body ECU
Fuse block (not sure which one)
Accelerator assy.
4WD switch
solinoid on 4WD system
actuator on 4WD system
transfer case
4WD computer

All told about $8000 im parts and labor.
This is on a 2004 with 17,000 miles.

So far 30+ days without my truck and still counting.
 
in florida i believe if your truck is in the shop for more than 31 days or some number around that, that it is lemoned. check out your states laws on it, that sucks that you are having all those problems
 
I had big time problems out of a 2005 Ford Mustang GT. At 6000 miles the motor started knocking like it had absolutely no oil in it, when in fact it did. The dealer had it for about a week to replace the lifters, a faulty spark plug, etc. I picked it up and was on my way back to work when it started knocking again. The Ford dealer had it for another 2 weeks and tried several things to fix it...including pulling the entire motor out and replacing the head. I was just before pursuing the lemon law when they called and told me to pick up the car again. I picked it up and drove it for about 75 miles and it never knocked, so before I tested my luck anymore I drove straight to the Toyota dealer. I traded in that hunk of junk for a 2006 4Runner 4wd Sport Edition. I lost a little money, nothing outrageous, but it sure saved my time and frustration dealing with Ford and lawyers. In my opinion, Ford has really been lacking in the quality department for the last few years. So far I do not regret trading it one bit and LOVE my 4Runner.
 
Well, I got my Runner back yesterday and everything appears to be working so far. I am still trying to pursue Lemon Law, as I dont want to have to deal with this when the warranty expires. I go a glipse at the total cost, I don't think they meant for me to see it. It was about $10,300 parts and labor. Rental/Loaner vehicle was about $1,200. The thing about it, was they still don't know what caused the problems. Service manager has worked there for over 20 years, and he said he had never seen anything like it.
 
My mom had two X5's that were lemons. The 2003 had a probelm with the ride height where only one side would drop if the car was parked overnight. After three or four trips to the dealer, BMW bought the vehicle back and gave her a 2004 model comparable to the 2003. Well, the 2004 had a transmission problem that couldn't be fixed. After four trips and a BMW rep riding in the car (it is sad when he said the car is ******* up), they made us pay for mileage racked up on the 2004. After she got the 2005, it was taken directly to the Lexus dealer for an RX400h! I don't think the dealer has to give you money back for the car. They can give you a comparable new vehicle in exchange.

My suggestion is that if they give you a new Aviator, have it flatbedded to your local Toyota or Lexus dealer so you can trade it in and not loose money. Once you drive a new car out of the lot, it loses value.
 
Mark86 said:


My suggestion is that if they give you a new Aviator, have it flatbedded to your local Toyota or Lexus dealer so you can trade it in and not loose money. Once you drive a new car out of the lot, it loses value.
Click to expand...

Once it is titled,even if it has no miles on it, it is considered a used vehicle. A few hundred miles will not make a difference in value....having it flatbedded wouldn't make a difference.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 307 (members: 3, guests: 304)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,306
Messages
3,554,045
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top