Ohio Lemon Law Explained
Ohio’s "Lemon Law" offers consumers of Ohio "lemon" automobiles protection against owning a vehicle with hidden defects that come to light during the warranty period. Our "Lemon Law" is Ohio’s Lemon Law. It is codified in Ohio Revised Code Sections 1345.71 to 1345.77 and entitles an Ohio consumer wronged in the purchase or lease of an automobile to recourse, i.e. the right to force the automobile manufacturer to buy back the bad vehicle. A "lemon" is not a buyer. A "lemon" is a "bad" car.
For example, when you purchase a brand-new car, truck or SUV, no one expects that it is defective. But imagine that you experience repeated unsolved problems and defects with the vehicle.
The Ohio Lemon Law applies to cars, trucks, vans and motorcycles . It is codified in the Ohio Revised Code § 1345.71 et. seq. A good way to explain the law is to look at the basic assumptions under which cars, trucks, vans and motorcycles are purchased in Ohio. Paragraphs 1 through 9 of R.C. §1345.73 list the obligations of manufacturers, the dealer and the consumer with regards to a car which begins having problems within the warranty period. In Ohio, a manufacturer is required to pay for the repair of most problems encountered by a consumer within the express warranty period, and is also required to refund the consumer’s money or property if the manufacturer has been given a reasonable number of repair attempts and the problem(s) remain despite the consumer’s efforts.
When Is a Car a Lemon in Ohio
When determining whether or not a vehicle is a "lemon" in Ohio, the law applies a specific set of criteria to assess the condition of the vehicle. A vehicle is deemed to be a lemon under Ohio law if it possesses a defect or condition that is covered by the manufacturer’s warranty. This defect must substantially impair the vehicle’s use, safety or value. The vehicle must also have been presented to the manufacturer or dealer for repair under the terms of the warranty and the defect must remain uncorrected after three attempts at repair, or for an extended time totaling 30 or more cumulative days out of service. The law defines "substantial impairment" as a defect that significantly affects the use, safety, or value of the vehicle. Additionally, the defect must exist when the owner first presents the vehicle, within the first year or 18,000 miles, whichever date is earlier.
The first consideration is whether or not the defect is eligible. Only defects that are covered by the manufacturer’s warranty and that substantially impair the use, safety, or value of the vehicle are subject to investigation. Although these criteria seem straightforward, simply proving that the vehicle had a defect may not be enough to establish eligibility. The manufacturer must be given the opportunity to correct the defect, and the law limits this opportunity to three attempts at repair, or to 30 or more cumulative days total for which the vehicle is inoperable. What constitutes a "reasonable" number of attempts? How do you calculate "cumulative days"? Again, the applicable law provides some guidance. The law considers a "reasonable number of attempts" to equal four or more attempts for the same defect, or the same defect after a total combined time to repair of 30 or more days. When assessing whether or not a vehicle is a lemon, an assessment of the following factors is of utmost importance: Here, again, the law provides some guidance to assist consumers in determining whether or not their vehicle qualifies as a lemon. First, regarding the number of days the vehicle is "out of service," a plaintiff may seek relief if the defect has caused the car to be "out of service" for at least 30 days. The Out of Service Rule states that if four or more attempts have been made to repair the defect in question, and the vehicle has been "out of service" for a total of 30 or more days, the time the vehicle was "out of service" due to the attempted repairs must be calculated in order to determine if the consumer has met the threshold of 30 or more days "out of service." The Out of Service Rule is designed to prevent manufacturers from dragging out vehicle repairs over an extended period of time in order to avoid the significant expense associated with a Lemon Law claim.
What to Do When Your Car is a Lemon in Ohio?
Lemon Law cases require strict procedural rules that the auto manufacturer or dealership has to follow. However, there are also methods that the consumer must take in order to ensure the car is sold back under the Lemon Law provision. Be sure to make all attempts to obtain a written response from the manufacturer regarding the extended warranty after the dealership has had numerous attempts to fix the vehicle. If that is not obtained, then the communication must be documented with pictures taken and the consumer must be able to prove in Court that the dealer attempted multiple times to repair the vehicle.
Your Rights Under the Ohio Lemon Law
Under Ohio’s Lemon Law, consumers are protected when they purchase or lease a new vehicle that has a substantial defect not repaired by the manufacturer. The law allows consumers to pursue remedies such as a replacement vehicle or a refund of the purchase price, taxes, license and other costs. If the manufacturer is unable to repair the vehicle within a reasonable number of attempts or days, then the consumer may be entitled to what is known as a presumptive remedy under the law.
There are a few different remedies available to Ohio consumers when their lemon vehicle cannot be repaired successfully. An important element to the lemon law is that the manufacturer has 1 final opportunity to repair the vehicle. So what is a reasonable number of attempts? This depends on the severity of the defect.
If the defect is a serious safety defect or without transportation, the law allows the consumer to bring his or her vehicle into the shop for a reasonable number of times in 1 year. The law is more lenient with the time period in these cases, which means that it allows for several more opportunities for the manufacturer to repair the vehicle. In most situations, this means that the manufacturer has the right to repair the lemon a couple of different occasions .
If the defect is less serious, the law provides the consumer with the right to bring the vehicle into the shop for a reasonable number of times in 1 year. Again, the law allows for several more opportunities for the manufacturer to repair the vehicle. With the exception of severe safety defects, however, the law does not set a specific number of days that the vehicle can be out of service for repair.
In either case, once the defect has been unsuccessfully repaired a reasonable number of times or for a combined aggregate of at least 30 days in a 12 month period, the consumer may be eligible for a refund of the original price he or she paid for the vehicle (assuming that it is still being manufactured). The manufacturer must also reimburse the owner for license, title, registration fees, and charges for optional equipment and any modifications not performed after market. If the owner-to-be-lemon-vehicle is no longer being manufactured by the company, the manufacturer can offer another comparable vehicle of the same type to the consumer who owns the lemon.
Ohio’s Lemon Law statute provides for the manufacturer to reimburse all reasonable attorney fees and other costs related to the lemon law claim. The manufacturer has a very short window of time to reimburse the consumer for all reasonable attorney fees and costs associated with the lemon law claim.
Submitting an Ohio Lemon Law Claim
When you suspect or confirm that your car is a lemon, the first step toward recourse is to give the lemon to the manufacturer’s representative (commonly referred to as a "zone representative" or "ZRE") at the manufacturer’s repair facility. With a few exceptions, you must file the lemon law claim in Ohio first with a manufacturer representative, prior to filing a law suit. The UCC deals with sales of goods in Ohio, and effectively makes it the duty of the seller to take back a defective vehicle and refund the consumer in accordance with the terms of the sale. Generally, you would then have to file suit in a court of common pleas (the court in the county wherein you live) against the manufacturer of the vehicle and possibly the dealer. However, Ohio’s Lemon Law only applies to vehicles that are adjusted or repaired by a representative of the manufacturer, so the Lemon Law claims are brought to the Ohio Attorney General, not to Court.
You may also have claims under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act or the UCC, so you could start an action with any or all of the claims listed. However, it is more economical and efficient if the Ohio Lemon Law claim is filed first. In most instances, the manufacturer will send the notice of defect to their representative (typically a dealership that sells its vehicles). You must return the vehicle to the dealership, and they must notify you when the vehicle is ready. The fact that the dealer may entirely fail to perform a repair, or even do a partial repair of the defect, does not alter your rights under the Lemon Law. However, after the second attempt to repair, you are not obligated to give the dealership a third opportunity to repair the defect.
You must retain documentation in support of your Lemon Law claim. This should include the name of the dealer that performed the repair; the date you presented the vehicle for repair, the "check-in" time, the "check-out" time on the invoice, whether a rental vehicle was provided for your use while your vehicle was undergoing repairs, and the time you returned the lemon to the same or another dealer for repairs to the same defect (and which dealer you returned it to). Record any conversations you had with a dealer, a ZRE, or a representative of the manufacturer. Your repair invoice will indicate whether the repairs solved the problem. Make a photocopy of everything you give to the dealer, ZRE, or a representative of the manufacturer (at least for a ZRE, you should contractually be permitted to keep a copy of everything). In addition, keep copies of all documents you might send to the manufacturer or a dealer, and all documents that you receive from them.
When considering what information to write down, be sure to include the date and time. The Lemon Law only requires that you provide notice of the defect, not that you in fact provide this information to anyone. Likewise, for oral communications, if you think it is important that you are providing notice of the defect to the manufacturer, you should indicate the date and time, even if you are speaking to someone at the manufacturer’s repair facility.
Ohio Lemon Law Versus Federal Lemon Law
The Ohio Lemon Law compared with the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, which provides consumers with remedies for breach of written warranties and is enforced through the Ohio Lemon Law, include significant distinctions. The following explanation of these distinctions is included in the Ohio Lemon Law consumer brochure from the Ohio Attorney General: Lemon Laws differ from the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act Ohio Lemon Laws and the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act differ in important ways: A lemon is defective as long as there is a substantial problem . A lemon does not have to have a nonconformity that renders it totally inoperable. For example, a car that frequently fails to start is in the same category as a lemon whose engine suddenly stops while the driver is traveling on the freeway. The Ohio Lemon Law applies only to cars, trucks and motorcycles. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act covers consumer products (e.g., refrigerators, vacuums and lawn mowers) for which manufacturers or sellers offer a written warranty.