Colorado Lemon Law Firms and the Colorado lemon law code.

Colorado Revised Statutes §§42-10-101 to 107

42-10-101 Definitions. As used in this article, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) "Consumer" means the purchaser, other than for purposes of resale, of a motor vehicle normally used for personal, family, or household purposes, any person to whom such motor vehicle is transferred for the same purposes during the duration of a manufacturer's express warranty for such motor vehicle, and any other person entitled by the terms of such warranty to enforce the obligations of the warranty.

(2) "Motor vehicle" means a self-propelled private passenger vehicle, including pickup trucks and vans, designed primarily for travel on the public highways and used to carry not more than ten persons, which is sold to a consumer in this state; except that the term does not include motor homes as defined in section 42-1-102 (57) or vehicles designed to travel on three or fewer wheels in contact with the ground.

(3) "Warranty" means the written warranty, so labeled, of the manufacturer of a new motor vehicle, including any terms or conditions precedent to the enforcement of obligations under that warranty.

42-10-102 Repairs to conform vehicle to warranty

If a motor vehicle does not conform to a warranty and the consumer reports the nonconformity to the manufacturer, its agent, or its authorized dealer during the term of such warranty or during a period of one year following the date of the original delivery of the motor vehicle to a consumer, whichever is the earlier date, the manufacturer, its agent, or its authorized dealer shall make such repairs as are necessary to conform the vehicle to such warranty, notwithstanding the fact that such repairs are made after the expiration of such term or such one-year period.

42-10-103 Failure to conform vehicle to warranty - replacement or return of vehicle

(1) If the manufacturer, its agent, or its authorized dealer is unable to conform the motor vehicle to the warranty by repairing or correcting the defect or condition which substantially impairs the use and market value of such motor vehicle after a reasonable number of attempts, the manufacturer shall, at its option, replace the motor vehicle with a comparable motor vehicle or accept return of the motor vehicle from the consumer and refund to the consumer the full purchase price, including the sales tax, license fees, and registration fees and any similar governmental charges, less a reasonable allowance for the consumer's use of the motor vehicle. Refunds shall be made to the consumer and lienholder, if any, as their interests may appear. A reasonable allowance for use shall be that amount directly attributable to use by the consumer and any previous consumer prior to the consumer's first written report of the nonconformity to the manufacturer, agent, or dealer and during any subsequent period when the vehicle is not out of service by reason of repair.

(2) (a) It shall be presumed that a reasonable number of attempts have been undertaken to conform a motor vehicle to the warranty if:

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

(II) The motor vehicle is out of service by reason of repair for a cumulative total of thirty or more business days of the repairer during the term specified in subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (a) or during the period specified in said subparagraph (I), whichever is the earlier date.

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

(c) In no event shall a presumption under paragraph (a) of this subsection (2) apply against a manufacturer unless the manufacturer has received prior written notification by certified mail from or on behalf of the consumer and has been provided an opportunity to cure the defect alleged. Such defect shall count as one nonconformity subject to repair under subparagraph (I) of paragraph (a) of this subsection (2).

(d) Every authorized motor vehicle dealer shall include a form, containing the manufacturer's name and business address, with each motor vehicle owner's manual on which the consumer may give written notification of any defect, as such notification is required by paragraph (c) of this subsection (2), and the form shall clearly and conspicuously disclose that written notification by certified mail of the nonconformity is required, in order for the consumer to obtain remedies under this article.

(3) The court shall award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing side in any action brought to enforce the provisions of this article.

42-10-104 Affirmative defenses

(1) It shall be an affirmative defense to any claim under this article that:

(a) An alleged nonconformity does not substantially impair the use and market value of a motor vehicle; or

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

42-10-105 Limitations on other rights and remedies

Nothing in this article shall in any way limit the rights or remedies which are otherwise available to a consumer under any other state law or any federal law. Nothing in this article shall affect the other rights and duties between the consumer and a seller, lessor, or lienholder of a motor vehicle or the rights between any of them. Nothing in this article shall be construed as imposing a liability on any authorized dealer with respect to a manufacturer or creating a cause of action by a manufacturer against its authorized dealer; except that failure by an authorized dealer to properly prepare a motor vehicle for sale, to properly install options on a motor vehicle, or to properly make repairs on a motor vehicle, when such preparation, installation, or repairs would have prevented or cured a nonconformity, shall be actionable by the manufacturer.

42-10-106 Applicability of federal procedures

If a manufacturer has established or participates in an informal dispute settlement procedure which substantially complies with the provisions of part 703 of title 16 of the code of federal regulations, as from time to time amended, the provisions of section 42-10-103 (1) concerning refunds or replacement shall not apply to any consumer who has not first resorted to such procedure.

42-10-107 Statute of limitations

Any action brought to enforce the provisions of this article shall be commenced within six months following the expiration date of any warranty term or within one year following the date of the original delivery of a motor vehicle to a consumer, whichever is the earlier date; except that the statute of limitations shall be tolled during the period the consumer has submitted to arbitration under section 42-10-106.

Although it varies from state to state, the Lemon Laws stipulate that if you buy (and in various states, lease) a new or pre-owned car or other car under warranty that does not work consistently, and the original maker can't recondition it despite recurrent attempts (inside a limited time that fluctuates from state to state), or if the motor vehicle is out of service for a designated time (generally 30 days) because of its troubles, you are eligible to a broad range of dismantles, including:

1. Money restitution
2. A repayment of the purchase cost
3. A brand new automobile
Furthermore, almost all the Lemon Laws (and the Federal Warranty Law) incorporate a fee shifting element that stipulates that if you win your case, the manufacturing business or car dealership that sold you the lemon is required to repay legal expenses.


Lemon Law Statutes
State-specific Lemon Law Regulations
Each of the 50 states has its own Lemon Law statute. Although the verbiage of each state's statute are distinct, the general state Lemon Law statute affords compensation for owners with a impared car sold with a warranty if:

1. The dealership or manufacturing business cannot reliably fix a specific flaw in the car after a fair number of repair efforts (generally at least 3);
2. The automobile cannot be driven for at least 30 days due to faults in the automobile; or
3. The car dealership or manufacturing business cannot repair a defect that is a considerable safety hazard.

Most of the time, a bad vehicle is a automobile with a condition or trouble that largely cripples its use, value, or safety to the consumer and does not comply with the warranty. In most instances, the period of time during which the Lemon Laws are applicable are rather short; the problems and ensuing repair attempts (or out-of-service period of time) occasionally must occur during the first two-years or 24,000 miles of consumer ownership of the car. However, a number of states have even shorter periods. Also, almost all states have notice and initiation prerequisites, such as requiring the consumer to send out registered mail notice to the manufacturer of the defects and establishing the car dealership a period to repair the vehicle. Additionally, various states necessitate that Lemon Law lawsuits be settled through an arbitration proceeding.

Generally, state Lemon Law ordinances also apply to leased automobiles and preowned vehicles purchased while under the makers basic warranty. A number of state Lemon Laws also apply to vehicles other than passenger cars. depending on the buyer's home state, or the state in which the consumer bought the motor vehicle, Lemon Laws may be applicable to:

-RV's
-Motorcycles
-Boats
-Other consumer products (such as electronics)
There are many significant remedies possible under the Lemon Laws. In most instances, if the manufacturer just can not correct the motor vehicle, the consumer may either call for the manufacturer to replace the motor vehicle, or obligate the manufacturer to take the motor vehicle and return the original cost along with accompanying costs, like all charges, towing charges, repair charges, related transportation costs and other costs incurred by the consumer as a result of the defects in the motor vehicle. Another important solution possible under most Lemon Laws is litigation expenses. In most states, if you win in a Lemon Law lawsuit, you do not have to pay any legal bills-the car manufacturer that sold you your lemon is expected to pay your legal expenses.

The defendant automobile original producer can apply various defenses to a Lemon Law claim. The common regulation affords that the maker is not guilty if it can establish that the flaws at issue persisted due to exploitation, carelessness, or the tampering or modification of a automobile by somone other than the maker, an agent, or its authorized dealer. In different words, if the consumer breaks his or her own vehicle, or the flaws were a consequence of tampering or adjustments carried out by a third party, the manufacturer could not be liable.


Federal Lemon Law Statutes
The Magnuson Moss Act
The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act is the federal law that governs consumer product warranties. Approved by Congress in 1975, the Magnuson Moss Act requires manufacturing business and sellers of consumer products to give customers itemized info about warranty coverage benefits. In addition, it regulates both the rights of customers and the responsibilities of warrantors under original warranties.

Even though the Magnuson Moss Act doesn't demand an car manufacturer to provide buyers with a warranty, if a warranty is offered, the Magnuson Moss Act affords various protections for the consumer. The Magnuson Moss Act makes it more easy for buyers to sue for violating the warranty by making breach of warranty noncompliance of federal law, and by allowing for customers to recover litigation costs and fair laywers' fees.

The Magnuson Moss Act is frequently relevant in a lemon suit where, for some reason, a state Lemon Law claim is not possible or moreover disadvantageous. For example, unlike the relatively short time period provided to public consumers inside almost all Lemon Laws, you may record a claim for breach of warranty after the warranty period has expired if the problems occurred during the warranty time period. Furthermore, although some Lemon Laws restrict their coverage to a very specific number of vehicles, the Magnuson Moss Act applies to virtually all consumer goods. The Magnuson Moss Act may also be applicable if you purchased or leased a expended vehicle without a manufacturing business warranty, or if the vehicle is covered by a third party service contract or other variety of extended warranty.


The Uniform Commercial Code
The Uniform Commercial Code (referred to as "UCC") has been enacted in all 50 US States. It is the prime basis of law governing product warranties, including automobiles and other items. The UCC offers a legal route for consumers with lemon problems.

UCC code provides that the buyer of a product is entitled to return merchandise that fail in any aspect to the agreement. Fundamentally, if your new automobile doesn't work as warranted by the manufacturing business (your original warranty is a portion of your agreement), you can file a claim citing the UCC in addition to whatever additional claims you might have.

The time for bringing back a vehicle with the UCC is not unlimited. If you expose a problem in your vehicle within a reasonable review period, you can refuse the automobile. Unfortunately, brand new cars can be frequently mechanically complex and you might not know whether your motor vehicle conforms to the agreement until long after you purchase the motor vehicle and problems begin to develop. Fundamentally, if After this review period you don't return the motor vehicle, you will be deemed to have okayed it and may have no claim through the UCC.

The duration of the inspection time period is not delineated in the regulation. Courts determine how long the reasonable inspection period is based on the buyer's understanding and personal experience, the buyer's trouble in observing the fault, and the buyer's opportunity to discover the defect.

In spite of this limit, the UCC provides that in certain examples where a buyer is pronounced to have approved of goods (i.e. the reasonable inspection time period has elapsed), a buyer may still renounce his acceptance of those product where the non-conformity largely cripples the marketability of the product to him. Those examples include examples where it proves challenging to discover the nonconformity or the buyer was ensured that the non-conformity would be remedied. Re-stated, the court will exempt the buyer from not rejecting the product where the buyer could not have sensibly done so, or where the manufacturer promised the buyer that the problems would be repaired.
Once a car excessively gives out and you have to keep bringing it back to the dealership for repair under the written warranty, the automobile lemon law can be your next course. The fault must be significant where it intereferes with your driving the car or your safety. A car stalling often is a significant fault. This is exactly the type of defect that may stymie your driving and your safety. Under the car lemon law you are not expected to prove why the car is stalling, you just have to verify that it is stalling. In essence you need to go over the lemon law in these three instances: the car keeps failing inside the warranty period, the car is a safety hazard, the dealership is incapable to correct the car when it is guaranteed.

If you own a product which is a lemon you can directly write to the original maker and ask for a replacement product. If this demand is not satisfactory to the original maker, you may start into an arbitration arrangement. A few makers incorporate their own arbitration program. Other makers utilise external arbitration program including Autoline by the BBB. The assessment of the arbitrators is binding on the original maker but not on the buyer. If unsatisfied with the assessment, the buyer can take the original maker to court.

Virtually all ordinances provide that the owner must be restored back to the financial position they were in prior to purchasing the automobile, less the sum that the owner profited from by using the automobile. To get the payback amount many elements are considered such as was it a sale or a lease, the purchase price, taxes and license, and mileage etc.
Some nearly new pre-owned vehicles might qualify under basic lemon laws. For example, a pre-owned car might fall under regular lemon laws if it is less than 1 year old and has less than 12,000 miles on the odometer. States which do have a pre-owned car lemon law might be additionally generous with the age and amount of mileage. Still, the car has to be sold by a dealership that extends a warranty. Private party sales are not governed, neither are cars sold under a stated original cost. There may be other restrictions to a used car lemon law such as the functions for which the automobile is utilized or the categorisation of automobile. Older vehicles, are normally excluded from used car lemon laws. Used car lemon laws ordinarily cover a much shorter time period than brand new car regulations. They often range from 30 to 90 days, depending on your used car's mileage.
When choosing a lawyer for your lemon case, make sure that your lawyer is knowledgeable about the ordinances that are applicable to your state. Also enquire about the pricing program. Many lemon law lawyers take a rather modest retainer to manage a lemon law claim, and subsequently, the lawyer's invoices are billed to the manufacturer. Essentially, lemon law claims are ordinarily very inexpensive to public consumers. The reimbursement of lawyer invoices varies from state to state. About half of the states permit you to recover your Attorney charges if you win. The attorney's fee is based upon actual time used instead of being tied to any share of the recovery. In a select few States, you will pay the manufacturer's lawyer's fees if you lose.

Consumers ought to register their concerns in writing and hold a copy. In every written communication, always outline how difficult it is to take the vehicle to the car dealership for work and that the reliableness that the customer thought He or she was purchasing has been non-existent. Any written communication with a dealership or manufacturer should be sent using certified mail service. In most lawsuits the makers claim that they have not had the required number of attempts to correct the problem. They bet on the knowledge that the customer doesn't retain repair orders for each instance they have driven the auto into the repair facility. They also bet on the possibility that the repair orders have different parts fixed each instance proving that they haven't fixed the same problem. Consumers ought to respond by asking that authorized dealerships always give them a warranty repair sheet. Consumers should also contend that these undocumented trips are tries.

Make sure to be aware of your rights under the lemon laws. Upon purchase, immediately page through your owner's booklet and warranty info entirely, along with the data on lemon law rights that you ought to get when you acquire your motor vehicle. Don't depend on your dealer to make clear what troubles are covered by warranty. If your dealer states that a problem is not covered and you think that she is purposely deceiving you, be genteel but self-asserting. Don't be frighted to go over the section of the warranty that applies, or to call the manufacturer for substantiation applying the contact information included within your owner's booklet. You shouldn't be obliged pay for corrections related to lemon law complaints. It's also crucial to give notice the manufacturer of a complaint right away. If you believe that your automobile has a problem what just can't be remedied, check into your lemon law rights to see when you are able to submit 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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