Lemon wash: these clothes are still dirty

Just because the wizard waves his wand and the rabbit disappears, don’t be fooled. The rabbit is not really gone. Wait a bit, it will reappear, only maybe this time it’s pink instead of white. This metaphor is surprisingly apt when describing the lemon car wash.

Lemon Wash is an illegal procedure whereby cars that have been recalled by manufacturers under state lemon laws are then resold to other consumers as quality used cars. Many states require manufacturers and dealers to disclose to subsequent buyback buyers that the vehicle has been repurchased because it was found to have irreparable nonconformities under state lemon law.

These states require disclosure of buyback vehicles, while other states require disclosure only on certain classes of buybacks. Additionally, some states prohibit the in-state resale of any car repurchased with a serious safety defect. Additionally, state laws vary as to how disclosure should be made; some states require that the title be “branded,” a statement on the registration that the vehicle is a “lemon buyback,” while other states require other methods of getting the information to the consumer.

The accidental theory of the universe appeals to astrologers, romantics, and the feeble-minded. They are content to live with the strange and fortuitous nature of it all. The average citizen does not need or want the mystery. They must have a properly functioning vehicle to get to and from work, take children to school, and do the other tasks of a modern, mobile life.

If Mr. and Mrs. Jones buy the car in San Francisco, and the brakes mysteriously fail going down Telegraph Hill, after which they end their journey embedded in the front of a flower shop, they don’t want to know later that the same thing happened to him. to his vehicle in Montgomery, Alabama, with similar results. The consumer certainly does not want to find out that the previous owners sued the manufacturer and that the vehicle was officially declared a lemon.

We heard time and again that previous owners were sincerely worried that someone else might get their lemon car and die. His wish was that if the manufacturer could not fix it, it should be scrapped, eliminating any possibility that the vehicle could endanger the lives of others, demonstrating once again that the individual consumer understands personal responsibility.

Here is the sequence of actions manufacturers use to wash dirty clothes:

– Mr. and Mrs. Jones is struggling with his new car.

Stops unpredictably, sometimes in traffic or on the highway.

They try to get the dealer to fix it.

– The dealer can’t fix it. They do not tell the buyer that the ECU, the electronic control unit, a computer, has a faulty design and cannot be repaired.

– In collusion with the manufacturer, the dealer subjects the consumer to what we call the lemon glove. The glove is months and months of delays, deception, flim flam and lost time without result.

– The manufacturer is not going to ‘confess’ the non-conformity because it could mean a recall, which can be enormously costly.

– The manufacturer uses a variety of deceptive practices to encourage disgruntled consumers not to declare their cars as lemons, including ‘giving’ certificates of appreciation to the consumer, to be used in the purchase of a new vehicle, usually for several thousand of dollars, in the hope that this extraordinary outburst of “generosity” will prevent the consumer from demanding the manufacturer to buy back their defective vehicle.

– If the consumer accepts this ‘gift’, the manufacturer could save $ 10,000, or more in many cases. Good business for the manufacturer and once again the consumer is angry.

– After numerous attempts to repair it, Mr. and Mrs. Jones hires an attorney. The manufacturer, after months and months of stagnation, agrees to reach an agreement.

– The change is made at the Concessionaire. The owner passes the record and the manufacturer passes the rebate check to the consumer.

The manufacturer now has a lemon. To do? To do? They could do the right thing, repair it or destroy it, and sometimes they do. However, they could do the wrong thing. An investigation in North Carolina found that Chrysler washed more than 1,000 cars that were declared lemons and resells them as quality used cars.

In California, the manufacturer must ensure that a stamp is placed on the door frame stating that the vehicle is a lemon. In addition, the Department of Motor Vehicles must be notified of the change in status of automobiles. This information is added to the vehicle registration. Even with all these legal remedies, manufacturers still wash lemon vehicles in California.

The bottom line is that in the absence of these protections, the consumer does not know that they are buying someone else’s lemon, a vehicle purchased by the manufacturer due to multiple unsolved repair attempts, because the dealer has not disclosed the required information. by state law.

What can the consumer do? If there is any suspicion, do a CARFAX check. This will reveal the vehicle’s history with previous owners. Find out if there have been problems similar to the ones currently being experienced. And be sensitive! If you go to the dealership and find a two-year-old vehicle with 8,000 miles and it’s in perfect shape, remember the rabbit. If it sounds too good to be true, it might be.