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Utah Code Annotated, § 13-20-1 to § 13-20-7

13-20-1 Short title.

This chapter is known as the "New Motor Vehicles Warranties Act."

13-20-2 Definitions.

As used in this chapter:

(1) "Consumer" means an individual who has entered into an agreement or contract for the transfer, lease, or purchase of a new motor vehicle other than for purposes of resale, or sublease, during the duration of the period defined under Section 13-20-5.

(2) "Manufacturer" means manufacturer, importer, distributor, or anyone who is named as the warrantor on an express written warranty on a motor vehicle.

(3) "Motor home" means a self-propelled vehicular unit, primarily designed as a temporary dwelling for travel, recreational, and vacation use.

(4)

(a) "Motor vehicle" includes: (i) a motor home, as defined in this section, but only the self-propelled vehicle and chassis sold in this state; and

(ii) a motor vehicle, as defined in Section 41-1a-102, sold in this state.

(b) "Motor vehicle" does not include:

(i) those portions of a motor home designated, used, or maintained primarily as a mobile dwelling, office, or commercial space;

(ii) farm tractor, motorcycle, road tractor, or truck tractor as defined in Section 41-1a-102;

(iii) mobile home as defined in Section 41-1a-102; or

(iv) any motor vehicle with a gross laden weight of over 12,000 pounds, except a motor home as defined under Subsection (3).

13-20-3 Nonconforming motor vehicles.

Repairs.

If a new motor vehicle does not conform to all applicable express warranties, and the consumer reports the nonconformity to the manufacturer, its agent, or its authorized dealer during the term of the express warranties or during the one-year period following the date of original delivery of the motor vehicle to a consumer, whichever is earlier, the manufacturer, its agent, or its authorized dealer shall make repairs necessary to conform the vehicle to the express warranties, whether or not these repairs are made after the expiration of the warranty term or the one-year period.

13-20-4 Nonconforming motor vehicles.

Replacement; Refund; Criteria; Defenses.

(1) If the manufacturer, its agent, or its authorized dealer is unable to conform the motor vehicle to any applicable express warranty by repairing or correcting any defect or condition that substantially impairs the use, market value, or safety of the motor vehicle after a reasonable number of attempts, the manufacturer shall replace the motor vehicle with a comparable new motor vehicle or accept return of the vehicle from the consumer and refund to the consumer the full purchase price including all collateral charges, less a reasonable allowance for the consumer's use of the vehicle. Refunds shall be made to the consumer, and any lien holder's or lessor's as their interests may appear.

(2) A reasonable allowance for use is that amount directly attributable to use by the consumer prior to his first report of the nonconformity to the manufacturer, its agent, or its authorized dealer, and during any subsequent period when the vehicle is not out of service because of repair.

(3) Upon receipt of any refund or replacement under Subsection (1), the consumer, lien holder, or lessor shall furnish to the manufacturer clear title to and possession of the motor vehicle.

(4) It is an affirmative defense to any claim under this chapter:

(a) that an alleged nonconformity does not substantially impair the consumer's use of the motor vehicle and does not substantially impair the market value or safety of the motor vehicle; or

(b) that an alleged nonconformity is the result of abuse, neglect, or unauthorized modifications or alterations of a motor vehicle by a consumer.

13-20-5 Reasonable number of attempts to conform.

(1) It is presumed that a reasonable number of attempts have been undertaken to conform a motor vehicle to the applicable express warranties, if:

(a) the same nonconformity has been subject to repair four or more times by the manufacturer, its agent, or its authorized dealer within the express warranty term or during the one-year period following the date of original delivery of the motor vehicle to a consumer, whichever is earlier, but the nonconformity continues to exist; or

(b) the vehicle is out of service to the consumer because of repair for a cumulative total of 30 or more business days during the warranty term or during the one-year period, whichever is earlier.

(2) The term of an express warranty, the one-year period, and the 30-day period shall be extended by any period of time during which repair services are not available to the consumer because of a war, invasion, strike, fire, flood, or other natural disaster.

13-20-6 Enforcement.

Limited liability of dealer; No limit on other rights or remedies.

(1) The Division of Consumer Protection shall, or a consumer may, enforce the rights created under this chapter. An action may be commenced by a consumer only after the claim has been investigated and evaluated by the division.

(2) This chapter may not be interpreted as imposing any liability on an authorized dealer or creating a cause of action by a consumer against a dealer under this chapter, except regarding any written express warranties made by the dealer apart from the manufacturer's own warranties.

(3) This chapter does not limit the rights or remedies which are otherwise available to a consumer under any other law.

(4) In an action initiated under this section by the consumer, the court may award attorneys' fees to the prevailing party.

13-20-7 Use of dispute settlement procedure.

If a manufacturer has established an informal dispute settlement procedure which complies with Title 16, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 703, then Section 13-20-4 concerning refunds or replacement does not apply to any consumer who has not first resorted to this procedure.

Although it varies from state to state, the Lemon Laws provide that if you purchase (and in most states, lease) a new or used vehicle or other vehicle with a warranty that proves to be defective, and the manufacturing business cannot rebuild it even with consecutive attempts (within a fixed time limit that varies from state to state), or if the vehicle is not usable for a stipulated time (typically 30 days) due to its shortcomings, you are qualified to a wide number of dismantles, inclusive of:

1. Money damages
2. A repayment of the cost
3. A new automobile
Additionally, almost all the Lemon Laws (and the Federal Warranty Law) contain a fee switching mechanism that provides that if you win your suit, the manufacturing business or dealership that sold you the lemon is obligated to repay court expenses.


Lemon Law Regulations
State-specific Lemon Law Statutes
Each of the 50 states has its own Lemon Law statute. Although the attributes of each state's statute differ, the common state Lemon Law statute offers compensation for consumers with a unsound motor vehicle covered by a warranty if:

1. The dealer or manufacturing business cannot indisputably fix a specific problem in the vehicle after a reasonable number of repair efforts (normally at least three);
2. The car can't be used for at least 30 days due to faults in the car; or
3. The car dealership or manufacturing business just can not repair a deficiency that is a threatening safety risk.

In general, a faulty automobile is a automobile with a defect or condition that largely degrades its drivability, value, or safety to the consumer and doesn't conform to the written warranty. In most instances, the period of time during which the Lemon Laws are applicable are relatively short; the shortcomings and resultant repair efforts (or out-of-service time period) usually will occur during the first 2-years or 24,000 miles the owner has the motor vehicle. However, a number of states have even shorter time periods. Furthermore, virtually all states have notification and trigger requirements, such as wanting the consumer to send out registered post notice to the manufacturer of the troubles and presenting the dealer a chance to repair the automobile. Moreover, several states demand that Lemon Law claims be settled through an arbitration program.

Generally, state Lemon Law statues also are applicable to leased cars and used cars bought while under the manufacturing business* written warranty. A lot of state Lemon Laws also are applicable to automobiles other than passenger automobiles. depending upon the customer's home state, or the state in which the consumer purchased the motor vehicle, Lemon Laws may be applicable to:

-RV's
-Motorcycles
-Pleasure Craft
-Other consumer goods (such as computers)
There are a number of robust remedies available under the Lemon Laws. U.S. Statesently, if the manufacturer can't repair the motor vehicle, the consumer may either expect the manufacturer to replace the car, or obligate the manufacturer to take back the car and payback the original cost plus incidental costs, like all charges, towing charges, repair costs, alternative transportation charges and other charges incurred by the consumer as a result of the faults in the car. Another important remedy available under most Lemon Laws is litigation expenses. In many states, if you win in a Lemon Law case, you won't have to pay any laywers' expenses-the motor vehicle maker that sold you your lemon is forced to pay litigation invoices.

The defendant car original maker can apply several defenses to a Lemon Law claim. The standard regulation extends that the original equipment manufacturer is not liable if it can affirm that the defects at issue happened due to abuse, negligence, or the tampering or modification of a motor vehicle by persons other than the original producer, its agent, or an authorized repair facility. In other words, if the consumer damages his or her own car, or the problems were the fault of modifications or alterations conducted by an unauthorized person, the manufacturer might not be liable.


Federal Lemon Law Statutes
The Magnuson Moss Act
The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act is the federal law that regulates consumer product warranties. Approved by Congress in 1975, the Magnuson Moss Act requires manufacturing business and marketers of consumer goods to provide consumers with detailed information about warranty coverage benefits. In addition, it determines both the rights of consumers and the obligations of warrantors under original warranties.

Even though the Magnuson Moss Act does not call for an auto manufacturing business to furnish buyers with a warranty, if a warranty is provided, the Magnuson Moss Act affords many protections for the consumer. The Magnuson Moss Act makes it more easy for buyers to sue for breach of warranty by making breach of warranty an infraction of federal law, and by allowing purchasers to recoup court costs and reasonable laywers' charges.

The Magnuson Moss Act is typically helpful in a lemon case where, for some reason, a state Lemon Law claim is not available or otherwise unfavorable. For instance, divaricate from the relatively short period offered to public consumers inside almost all Lemon Laws, you can record a claim for breach of warranty after the warranty period has passed as long as the defects happened during the warranty time period. Also, although a few Lemon Laws limit their coverage to a small list of cars, the Magnuson Moss Act is relevant to near all consumer items. The Magnuson Moss Act may also be applicable if you purchased or leased a used vehicle without a manufacturer's warranty, or if the vehicle is covered by a third party service contract or other type of extended warranty.


The Uniform Commercial Code
The Uniform Commercial Code (referred to as "UCC") has been enacted in all states. It is the main authority of law governing consumer warranties, including vehicles and other items. The UCC offers an alternative legal course for customers with lemon problems.

UCC code says that the consumer of a good is entitled to return goods which fail in any regard to the agreement. Thus, if your brand new vehicle does not work as guaranteed by the manufacturing business (your original warranty is a portion of your contract), you can file a claim citing the UCC in addition to whatever additional claims you might have.

The period for taking back a automobile with the UCC is not limitless. If you notice a failing in your motor vehicle inside a sensible inspection period, you can return the car. Unfortunately, brand new motor vehicles can be oftentimes technically enigmatic and you may not recognize if your vehicle conforms to the consumer warranty till after you acquire the vehicle and troubles begin to arise. So, if After this inspection time period you don't reject the vehicle, you will be alleged to have accepted it and will have no claim through the UCC.

The length of the inspection time period is not defined in the statute. Courts decide how long the reasonable inspection period is based on the purchaser's knowledge and experience, the purchaser's difficulty in noticing the problem, and the purchaser's opportunity to identify the failing.

In spite of this limit, the UCC states that in certain instances where a buyer is deemed to have approved of products (i.e. the reasonable inspection time period has passed), a buyer may still abrogate his favorable reception of those products where the non-conformity frequently impairs the economic value of the products to him. Those cases include suits in which it was arduous to observe the nonconformity or the buyer was told that the non-conformity would be remedied. In other words, the local court will excuse the buyer from not rejecting the products where the buyer could not have reasonably done so, or where the manufacturer promised the buyer that the problems would be repaired.
When a vehicle excessively breaks down and you have to keep bringing it back to the car dealership for repair under the warranty, the vehicle lemon law might be your next recourse. The problem must be substantive where it prohibits your driving the item or your safety. A item stalling for no reason is a substantive problem. This is precisely the type of problem that could hamper your driving and your safety. Under the auto lemon law you are not required to establish why the car is stalling, you just have to show clearly that it is stalling. Put simply you need to go over the lemon law in these three situations: the car keeps failing inside the warranty period, the car is a safety risk, the car dealership is unable to repair the car when it is warranted.

If you own a product which is a lemon you can immediately write to the maker and ask for another equivalent product. If this demand is not satisfactory to the maker, you may enter into an arbitration program. A few manufacturers have their own arbitration program. Other manufacturers use third party arbitration program like Autoline by the BBB. The judgment of the arbitrators is binding on the maker but not on the consumer. If unsatisfied with the opinion, the consumer can take the maker to court.

Virtually all ordinances specify that the customer should be returned back to the fiscal position they were in before they purchased the motor vehicle, less the amount of money that the customer profited from by using the motor vehicle. To get the restitution total various elements are considered such as was it a sale or a lease, the purchase price, taxes and license, and mileage etc.
Some virtually new used motor vehicles may qualify under regular lemon laws. For example, a pre-owned car might fall under normal lemon laws if it is less than one year old and has got less than 12,000 miles on the odometer. States that do have a used car lemon law may be extra generous with the age and amount of mileage. Still, the car needs to be sold by a dealership that supplies a written warranty. Individual sales aren't governed, neither are vehicles sold under a specific price paid. There might be other restrictions to a used car lemon law such as the purposes in which the motor vehicle is used or the classification of motor vehicle. Classic automobiles, are normally excluded from pre-owned car lemon laws. Used car lemon laws ordinarily cover a much shorter time period than brand new car laws. They usually range from 30 to 90 days, based on your used car's mileage.
When choosing an attorney for your lemon case, make sure that your lawyer is knowledgeable about the ordinances that apply to your state. Also enquire about the pricing program. Many lemon law attorneys need a rather modest retainer to address a lemon law claim, and thenceforth, the attorney's fees are sent to the original equipment manufacturer. Essentially, lemon law claims are usually very affordable to public consumers. The reimbursement of attorney invoices differs from state to state. About half of the states allow for you to recuperate your Lawyer invoices if you win. The attorney's fee is based upon actual time logged rather than being attached to any other portion of the recovery. In many States, you must pay the manufacturing business* lawyer's bills if you lose.

Consumers ought to register their charges in writing and keep a copy. In every written correspondence, always describe how taxing it is to take the motor vehicle to the dealership for repairs and that the reliability that the owner thought She was buying has been non-existent. Any written correspondence with a car dealership or original equipment manufacturer needs to be sent using certified post. In almost all instances the manufacturers claim that they haven't had the requisite number of efforts to fix the problem. They count on the knowledge that the owner doesn't have repair receipts for each instance they have driven the car into the authorized dealership. They also assume on the possibility that the repair receipts have seperate items repaired every instance establishing that they have not repaired the same problem. Consumers ought to respond by demanding that sellers always present them a warranty repair ticket. Consumers should also debate that these unwritten visits are attempts.

Make sure to be cognisant of your lemon law rights. Upon purchase, immediately review your owner's folder and warranty references completely, and the data pertaining lemon law rights which you should receive when you buy your automobile. Don't rely on your dealer to outline what troubles are covered by warranty. If your dealer states that a problem isn't covered and you think that he is purposely deceiving you, be composed but self-asserting. Don't be frighted to go over the part of the warranty that is relevant, or to call the manufacturer for substantiation applying the contact references included within your owner's folder. You should not be obliged pay for work connected to lemon law complaints. It's also essential to notify the manufacturer of a complaint as soon as possible. If you are suspicious that your automobile has a problem which just can not be repaired, check out your lemon law rights to see when you are able to bring a lemon law complaint.

Lemon Law Tips:

1. Take your car in early - as soon as something appears wrong.
2. Hold onto repair orders - Always obtain a work order when you take the vehicle for repairs, and always obtain a completed repair order when work is completed. Be sure the work order reflects your own thoughts and comments regarding your complaints. If the technician summarizes or changes your complaint too much, have that technician add your corrected comments. Sign and receive a copy of the repair Order before leaving.
3. Be consistent in your complaints. Lemon Laws generally require that a manufacturer's authorized repair facility be provided with a reasonable number of opportunities to repair the same problem(s). Therefore, be as consistent as possible on each repeated repair attempt in describing the problem(s) you are having. This will establish that the problem is the same recurring problem, and will make any potential lemon law claim easier to establish and prove.

4. Look for TSBs: Technical Service Bulletins are issued by manufacturers regarding common defects or repairs in certain automobile models. Your dealer will not seek to tell you about TSBs unless you ask. Ask the dealer to make note of your TSB request on the repair order, even if your dealer tells you that none exist for your problem.
5. Watch for bad advice - Dealers and manufacturers personnel, without intending to, frequently practice law by giving you their version of lemon laws. Typically it is wrong and may be detrimental to your case. It doesn't matter whether the reason for this misinformation is unintentional or not. The effect is similar. So check any advice given by the dealer or manufacturer before making any decision that may harm your case.

6. Beware of arbitration - Manufacturers frequently recommend arbitration or even imply that it is a mandatory prerequisite to resolving your problem. Arbitration is neither desirable nor mandatory! And it is absolutely not a prerequisite for making a lemon law demand!
Leading Misconceptions regarding the Lemon Laws

If my case does not qualify for the lemon law there is nothing I can do.
Attorneys regularly take cases that do not meet the lemon law criteria. All purchasers of defective products have a legal right to compensation. They frequently take cases which do meet the mileage or repair criteria of the lemon law, bring them in court, and secure compensation or other relief for the buyer.

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