The Court Of Public Opinion

Lemon laws are laws to protect consumers who purchase defective automobiles. For example, if you buy a new or used car and then find out the car has a serious problem that is not fixable, the manufacturers is requested by lemon law to buy back or replace the defective vehicle if the defect can not be repaired within a certain number o attempts or within a certain time frame.

Generally speaking, cars and trucks are covered by lemon laws in most states, while some states’ lemon laws cover motorcycles and motor homes as well. Also, the exact criteria for what falls under a lemon law differ from state to state. Most lemon laws define a lemon as a new vehicle with condition or defect that substantially impairs the value or use of the vehicle and which has not been repaired after a reasonable number of attempts.

If you are a victim of a lemon law violation, you should first try settling the matter with the manufacturer. Talk to the manufacturer about your situation and see if the manufacture is willing to offer a reasonable settlement. If you can’t reach a satisfying settlement with the manufacturer, you can work with an attorney and take the case to court. Make sure you have enough documents to prove your vehicle falls under the lemon law.

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Lemon laws are regulations enforced by various states that protect customers from defective vehicles. Different states have different rules when it comes to lemon laws, but most of them share some common aspects.

For example, lemon laws require that the problem with the vehicle be taken care of by the manufacturer, not the car dealership. There are certain characteristics a vehicle must meet to be qualified as a lemon. If a car is worked on repeatedly for the same issue and the issue keeps re-occuring, then the car will most likely be designated a lemon. If you purchase a lemon, you are often entitled to some sort of compensation that deals with how much you paid for the vehicle and how many miles are on it. As stated before, different states have different lemon laws.

Some states cover used cars under their lemon laws, while some only cover new vehicles. There are many websites where you can find out your state’s particular policy regarding lemon vehicles. Simply go to the search engine of your choice and type in your state’s name followed by ‘lemon law.’ You will then be presented with multiple websites that can educate you on your particular state’s policies regarding lemon laws.

So…even if your state has a lemon law, do you need an extended warranty? The answer is a definite yes. Cars that are not qualified as lemons can suffer wear, tear, and component failure. If your state does have a lemon law, it’s still quite prudent to purchase an extended warranty. Problems with a vehicle do not necessarily qualify it as a lemon, and that’s a crucial fact you need to understand when considering purchasing a warranty. If you fail to purchase an extended warranty and end up needing repair, it’s unlikely that your state’s lemon laws will cover you, unless of course the vehicle has experienced the same problem multiple times with no record of satisfactory repair after numerous attempts. There are many types of extended auto warranties available. You can purchase one from the dealership where you got your vehicle, or go to the source and deal directly with a company that specializes in extended auto warranties.

What your warranty will cover depends on what kind of policy you choose. Ideally, you will want a policy that covers parts and labor, as well as wear, tear and breakdown. Some plans will require you to pay a deductible, others won’t.

Be sure to do your research and choose a warranty provider and plan that suits your needs and your budget. By being educated, you can save yourself a lot of trouble and avoid being duped into getting a policy that you do not want. Before shopping for a policy, be clear on what you need, and don’t let slick salespeople convince you otherwise.

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To presume is to make an assumption that something will be found true when further examined. It is what one supposes to be true based on the evidence available.

With regard to presumption in legal matters, if the bird looks, walks and quacks like a duck, legally the court says it meets the presumption that it is indeed a duck. To support the presumption, you get a nice textbook on birds (the law on birds), or better yet, ducks. Thats where we find the law about ducks.

If you want to know if your defective vehicle meets the presumption that it is indeed a lemon, in California, you read the appropriate sections of the Song-Beverly Act. This is where the law that defines a lemon vehicle is found. As laws go, it is quite specific.

Here are the essentials of what the Song-Beverly Act says about what makes a car legally a lemon. The presumption (that the vehicle is a lemon) is established if any of the following occurs within the first 18 months or 18,000 miles:

The same defect is subject to repair four or more times; or

The same defect is subject to repair two or more times, and is a serious safety defect that is likely to cause death or bodily injury; or

The vehicle is out of service for repairs for a cumulative total of more than 30 days, for any combination of defects.

Thus, if a California consumer proves that a vehicle has been subject to repair four times for the same problem within 18 months or 18,000 miles, then the judge will tell the jury that the consumer has met his burden of proving that the manufacturer had a reasonable number of repair attempts.

The presumption helps consumers meet their burden of proof if they have to go to trial.

Does your vehicle have to meet the test of presumption to be considered a lemon? No, it doesnt. But there are advantages to the consumer if it does. In lawsuits there is something called, the burden of proof. If the consumers lemon vehicle doesnt meet the presumption that it is a lemon, the consumer has the burden of proving that the vehicle is a lemon when contending with the manufacturer. Obviously it is a lot more difficult financially for a consumer to prove that the vehicle is a lemon than it is for the manufacturer to dispute the claim.

An example of a car that does not meet the presumption, but may well legally be a lemon follows:

The same defect is subject to repair four or more times over a period of two and a half years; or

The vehicle is out of service for repairs for a cumulative total of more than 30 days, for any combination of defects.

The vehicle currently has 38,000 miles on the odometer (remember, it had to be 18 months or 18,000 miles).

If, however, the consumers vehicle meets the presumption, the burden of proof shifts to the manufacturer. It is much harder for the manufacturer to dispute the consumers basic facts that the car meets the essential requirements of what is a lemon, when the vehicle meets the presumption.

With the burden of proof on the manufacturer, they must prove the consumers car is not a lemon. They may have to bring in experts, go through a lot of legal activities, and try to prove to a jury that the lemon law doesnt say what it says. They must do this in the face of your facts, which are legally in your favor. This is good for the consumer.

Instead of being the short kid with glasses, constantly getting stuffed in lockers and trashcans, you are now the buff athlete who takes no crap from anyone. When our modern lemon laws were created, the very obvious imbalance between the consumer and his or her resources vs. manufacturer and their resources was taken into consideration. The law, as some wit said, is a fool. This is not always true. Sometimes the people who make the laws do the right thing. Sometimes even governments do the right thing. Here in America it happens more than anywhere else in the world.

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If the neighbors Pekinese decides to scare off bad guys at 2:00AM in the morning, and does this every night, and you cant persuade your neighbor to correct the situation, perhaps mediation or arbitration is the answer. After all, going to court seems a bit much, and committing crimes against the little $%%$# is probably counter productive.

I say this by way of introducing the fact that your long battle against the Fords or Mercedes of the world isnt at all like getting the neighbors lap dog to be quiet. There are situations where arbitration or a dispute resolution process is entirely appropriate. However we want to say it right up front, after over four thousand five hundred lemon law cases we have almost never seen a case where the vehicle owner benefited from arbitration with a manufacturer.

It is an unequal battle that is but one step in a long war. The outcome is inevitable. To engage in this war is equivalent to a middle-aged, non-athletic accountant, dedicated to ribs and beer stepping into the ring with the young Muhammad Ali. You wont even see that sweet left hook coming. Everything is on the side of the manufacturer.

Sun-tzu in the The Art of War wrote, Generally in warfare: if ten times the enemies strength, surround them; if five times, attack them; if double, divide them; if equal, be able to fight them; if fewer, be able to evade them; if weaker, be able to avoid them. I hate to be the one to break the news but consumers very definitely fall in the latter two categories. Consumers going into arbitration have fewer soldiers and are certainly weaker.

In California two things level the playing field. A strong lemon law - the Song Beverly Act - and very experienced lemon law attorneys. We should have these things, after all California has more cars on the road than any other state.

Lets look at a definition of Arbitration: The process by which the parties to a dispute submit their differences to the judgment of an impartial person or group appointed by mutual consent or statutory provision. With very few exceptions you can forget impartial and mutual consent.

If Saddam Hussein offered to arbitrate detente between Islam and Israel, I for one would have problems with the impartiality of his decision. Mr. Hussein will never be found on the moral high ground. Arbitration can be similarly unequal. Fairness, equity and the proper application of the law are what should occur in arbitration. If you want the consumer to accept arbitration that is sponsored by an automobile manufacturer, or where the arbitration organization receives most of its business from automobile manufacturers, then I give you the same answer Israel would give Saddam. Forget it! Not on your best day, sport!

There are other factors that unfortunately work against arbitration being an equitable solution for consumers with lemon vehicles.

Training

Professional arbitrators are not necessarily trained in the lemon law, in fact it is far more likely that they have no training in the subject at all. Arbitrators are rarely judges or lawyers. Generally the arbitrator is trained in so-called people skills, how to negotiate and perhaps a smattering of legal knowledge. This is a subject area where a little knowledge is very definitely dangerous. Perhaps the arbitrator imagines he or she can get by on common sense and honesty. If it were true the consumer would seldom lose a case.

Are consumers properly prepared for arbitration?

How could they be, even if they read the Song Beverly Act, or anything else? Even with all the facts, consumers dont know what to expect. Consumers arent all lawyers. The manufacturer will send a lawyer trained to handle this sort of thing. The manufacturers lawyer may lie; thats correct, lie. Theres not much consumers can do about that except feel miserable. Whether the manufacturer s representatives lie or not, they will present a blizzard of bizarre possibilities, all designed to confuse and dilute the consumers case.

Is arbitration binding?

There is light at the end of this particular tunnel, however. In California, arbitration is not binding; its just another waste of time. When the ruling is handed down, and the manufacturer is permitted another repair attempt, consumers need not comply, consumers can get a lemon law attorney and put an end to the endless games manufacturers play.

Cost

Even if the arbitration is paid by the state, what is often ignored is the lost time from work, expenses for experts where expenses are required, copying, and running around to get copies of missing paperwork. Then there is the time spent preparing an oral argument, trying to figure out how to answer the manufacturers defenses. Of course, if the manufacturer runs the arbitration, this is no arbitration at all.

How long does it take?

If consumers get this far they have often been trying to get the dealer/manufacturer to do something about their car for many months, even years. Arbitration adds another 30-90 days onto to the process. If the car is dangerous to drive what do consumers do? Are they supposed to endanger themselves and their families in an attempt to finally get the problem resolved? Should they do this, especially when there is a better than even chance that more delay will be added into the process by awards of additional repair attempts? This is hardly a fair and equitable solution to the problem.

A little known fact

All major vehicle manufacturers have networks of dealerships all across the country and even the world. Manufacturers enter into contracts with dealerships. These contracts affect every aspect of sales, maintenance and repair of their vehicles. More frequently than the public ever discovers, there are disputes between dealerships and manufacturers. Dealerships want uniform arbitration procedures and laws to help them deal with these disagreements. Guess who fights any sort of arbitration with dealerships? Exactly! The manufacturers. And yet, the manufacturer touts the benefits of the arbitration/dispute resolution process when it comes to consumers. Whats wrong with this picture?

Remember, if the manufacturer wants arbitration, its not good for the consumer:

Arbitration does not take place on a level playing field. At Norman Taylor & Associates we have seen enough cases to know this. The two sides have very different goals. Consumers simply want vehicles that work as advertised. The manufacturer does not want to give consumers a refund or replacement for their defective car and then be stuck with a vehicle that is worth half its current value, and may be impossible to fix or to sell.

From the manufacturers point of view they have every incentive to make the entire process so difficult that consumers will give up and go away. Dont do it, Mr. and Mrs. Consumer. With professional help you can prevail. Absolutely nothing beats winning a hard fought battle when you are right.

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There is a relationship between the auto repair technician Flat Rate pay system and the incidence of unrepaired Lemon Vehicles. It is more direct than one might think.

What is Flat Rate Pay System?

Its old-fashioned piecework plain and simple. Imagine picking peaches. Instead of an hourly wage, you get paid a penny a peach.

The auto manufacturer establishes fixed times for every conceivable repair. This includes everything from a bulb replacement to installing a new engine. Most dealerships charge between $60 and $70 dollars an hour for warranty repairs. Its in the dealerships contract with the manufacturer that they may only charge for the repair hours provided by the manufacturer.

Here are some of the links in this chain of cause and effect:

- The modern automobile is computer controlled and complex.

- Vehicle computers fail and these software/computer hardware failures appear to be other non-computer components in the vehicle.

- Modern diagnostic tools dont isolate faults; they suggest possibilities, areas of vehicle systems that might be at fault.

- The technician is rewarded for how fast he or she works, not how well.

- The dealership makes good money for warranty and non-warranty repairs.

- Quality and customer satisfaction are advertising slogans, not a way of life in the work place.

- Quite often poorly trained mechanics cause more trouble than existed in the vehicle before attempted repairs.

- The slow technician, whether excellent or not, will barely make a living and certainly receive hard talk from his supervisors.

Are all vehicles declared lemons at buyback unrepairable? Probably not.

Given these conditions, the chances a faulty vehicle will meet lemon vehicle legal definitions, i.e., four repair attempts during the warranty period, are significantly increased.

The Dealership Situation

Heres an example of what dealerships consider a bad, bad thing.

1. A car that is still under warranty has a defective transmission. The manufacturer assigns transmission replacement a time to repair of 4.5 hours. At $65/hour for warranty repairs, the dealership gets paid $292.50 by the manufacturer for this warranty repair. (Remember, the manufacturer pays for warranty repairs.)

2. If it takes the dealerships technician 6.75 hours to complete the repair. The dealership must eat 2.25 hours of technician repair time.

3. If the technician takes 3.9 hours to make the repair, the dealer will still charge the manufacturer 4.5 hours, and even though the technician only spent 3.9 actual hours on the job, he will be paid for 4.5 hours.

4. In the first case the service manager at the dealership complains to the technician, sorry, Joe, the manufacturer reduced repair times again. You know those %$%$# arent part of the real world, they dont know how long it takes to make orange juice! Hes also going to strongly encourage the technician to make the repair in less time than that assigned by the manufacturer.

It is an unjust system with no redeeming value for the honest technician or the dealership. Whos the big loser? You guessed it, the customer.

All the players in this game have very different viewpoints. Lets review them.

Manufacturer

The manufacturer screams about being ripped off by the dealership for inflating warranty repair hours, and that the dealership is doing unnecessary warranty repairs. Both accusations are probably correct, but not necessarily for the reasons suggested by the manufacturer.

Dealership

The dealership moans and groans about how unfairly the manufacturer establishes and even reduces the hours allowed for each warranty repair. They also claim they have no say in how the hours were established in the first place. Both of these accusations are entirely correct. Manufacturers also have a policy of not paying for repeated warranty repairs to fix the same malfunction. How does the dealership respond to this? Its not good. If the dealership sees a repeat problem, they must somehow make it appear to be different that the original malfunction. Charitably, this can lead to untruthfully describing a problem on the repair order. Remember, four repair attempts for the same problem is one of the criteria that defines what is and is not a lemon. Wheres the incentive to do honest, quality work?

Mechanic

The immediate effect of manufacturers cutting the flat rate (piece work) times is a reduction in the mechanics paycheck. In order to maintain the same pay rate the mechanic must work that much faster. Faster is not consistent with quality repairs, quite the contrary. At the same time the manufacturer is demanding higher quality repairs. Its a Catch 22 wherein everyone loses. Add to this inadequate training at best and one has a recipe for the Lemon connection.

Consumer

The consumer has no idea about the complex business relationships that exist between manufacturers and dealers, nor do they have any interest. Why should they? The consumers needs are quite simple. Sell me a car for a decent price that does what the advertisements say it will. If it needs a repair, have someone competent and well trained do the work and for Petes sake get it right the first time.

Final Thoughts

Theres something seriously wrong with the system. Its a system that rewards all the wrong things. Like many such systems in other parts of American business, this system rewards quantity, not quality.

There seems to be an inherent inability among business managers to draw a connection between quality and business success. The manufacturer sets up quality rewards systems, such as Fords Blue Oval, then turn around and cut the work/task hours arbitrarily, probably to allow a senior executive to look good by improving the bottom line of a quarterly report. The result is an immediate drop in quality work at the dealership. There are so many contentious viewpoints, and so little willingness among the players to correct the situation.

I wish I could offer some hope to consumers that efforts are being made to resolve this situation, but I havent seen any such evidence. Perhaps this essay will at least bring some sense to a nonsensical mess.

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Remember when you opened the hood of your car and saw the ground beneath the engine? Now you open the hood and there’s not enough room left in there for an underfed mouse. The space shuttle cockpit is child’s play by comparison. Do people actually work on this thing! Not unless they have fingers like a Rhesus monkey, can see through solid metal like Superman, and have advanced degrees in engineering and computers. That’s right computers!

These days if the seat temperature isn’t controlled to a 10th of a degree the consumer doesn’t want it. Pretty soon the seats will vibrate like those heart-shaped beds at the No-Tell Motel.

Okay, okay! Perhaps I’m getting a little carried away. The complexity of modern vehicles has grown extraordinarily in the last fifteen years. It isn’t enough that these vehicles have design flaws. It isn’t enough that attention to real quality has fallen by the wayside. Now even the mechanics are bewildered. When faced with diagnosing a problem the average mechanic must employ a confusing array of computerized test equipment. This is a guess, but I estimate that this so-called sophisticated test equipment isn’t even in the right problem area 50% of the time.

There was a time when the mechanic started the engine, listened, or maybe drove it around the block after which he would tell you what was wrong, and he’d be right a large part of the time. Now they connect your vehicle to an engine test stand that looks like something from Apollo mission control. More often than not the computer will say you don’t have a problem or that you have a problem that isn’t vaguely related to what you are experiencing.

You protest. The mechanic says, wisely. The test equipment doesn’t lie, it’s computer controlled! He says this with the assurance of someone who still believes in the tooth fairy, and that children are conceived under cabbage leaves. It is only later that you might think to say, Wasn’t the computer programmed by humans? And how about the old saying, to err is human? Or GIGO: this is a computer programmer thing. I means ‘garbage in, garbage out’.

Here’s the point of all this. There are many reasons why you happened to get a Lemon. You were not, however, personally selected by Ford, Volkswagen or God to be punished because you are a bad person. The thing to remember is that you can do something about it. Whatever you do don’t assume that the dealership and its technicians know what’s wrong with your vehicle, or that all that wonderful test equipment can figure it out.

You want the complexity gone from your life. Prediction is the basis of sanity. If you are constantly wondering if your vehicle is going to stall in traffic, the unpredictability of it all can be pretty darn depressing.

The first step to handling is to understand how it happened and next determine how you can fight for your rights. The understanding part is one of the reasons you are here reading this essay. Your Lemon Law attorney can help with the rest.

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Each year, cars, trucks and RVs get more complicated. In this new electronic world computers manage most of the various vehicle operations, such as the power package, transmission, brake systems, emission control system, entertainment systems and safety related systems.

Although computers make it more difficult for an individual to work on his or her car, some of them actually make the car easier to service.

In twenty years we have gone from a completely mechanical automobile no electronics - to vehicles that have as many as forty or fifty computers. This sort of accelerated development has a price. There is no standardization in vehicle computers - software or hardware. None of it is common from manufacturer-to-manufacturer, or even model-to-model.

This lack of standardization is bad for everyone. The mechanic is in trouble, because often he or she hasnt been trained to use the necessary diagnostic tools. The owner pays a heavy price because when a computer fails, finding the exact cause can be very difficult. Thus, the owner waits, often for weeks, even months for the dealership to figure out what is wrong.

The dealership is caught between the demands of high warranty repair expense and needing to service the customer. And, finally, the manufacturer is under pressure to maintain the faade of manufacturing cars that do everything advertised.

The manufacturer competes in a tough business environment, so they must offer new and sexy gadgets to the consumer. The customer asks for these things. If a manufacturer doesnt provide them, the competition will.

The move toward more and more computerization in cars, trucks and RVs is driven by certain key elements:

- The need for sophisticated engine controls to meet emissions and fuel-economy standards

- Advanced troubleshooting diagnostics

- Simplification of manufacture and design

- Reduction of wiring (less wiring equals less weight, equals better gas mileage)

- Manage sophisticated new safety features

- Control comfort and convenience features

- Compete in a tough business environment

A recent survey of Lemon legal cases indicated that a remarkably high percentage had major defects that were directly or indirectly related to one or more of the on-board computers. given the sophistication of the modern automobile, this should not surprise anyone, least of all the manufacturers.

When something goes wrong with an automobile, manufacturers want to talk about bad components, not the part of the vehicle that tells the components how to operate; the on-board computer.

Typically the manufacturer talks about emission control valves failing, not the Electronic Control Unit (a microprocessor, computer), and its subordinate system the Emission Controls Computer (a microprocessor, computer), which tells the emission control valve when and how to work.

We call this slicing and dicing the defect. It is a form of watering down the defect, a sort of deception whose purpose is to disguise what is really defective, one or more of the vehicle computers.

If all it took was replacement of the defective computer, no big deal; better than replacing the entire vehicle. But, what if there is a software design fault? Or what if there is basic computer hardware design fault within the computer itself? Now, the manufacturer could be looking at possible recalls. This can be a devastating expense to the manufacturer.

Hardware or software design problems with an on-board computer are not infrequent. Therefore, from the manufacturers viewpoint, it has to be something else; preferably something at which mechanics can throw parts regardless of whether the problem is corrected.

Another bone in the throat of customers that prevents them getting excellent service is knowledge. That is correct, knowledge. For the average mechanic, the computer, microprocessor is a new and fearful thing. They know darn well if they fool around with anything that has a computer in it, they are going to screw up and get in big trouble.

In an article on BMW Fuel Injection Fault Codes these are the codes the engine control computer generates indicating what is wrong with a particular system the master mechanic who wrote the article, described the task of retrieving and understanding the control codes as being very difficult: Its a 1 on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being most difficult, the master mechanic said.

Still, the dealer has to get the work done. Inexperienced mechanics are put to work on problems they do not understand and that they really do not want to do. Who bears the brunt of their lack of training, aptitude and attitude? Right again, the long-suffering consumer. There is a nationwide shortage of trained mechanics, so severe that dealers and repair shops recruit from prisons in the Midwest. None of these conditions bode well for the consumer.

Every Computer/Microprocessor in the modern automobile has multiple sensor inputs. Sensors measure things like engine temperature, RPM, vehicle speed. Sensors may be variable, which is to say they are collecting changing values, like vehicle speed, which the computer uses to make decisions; or they may be looking at the output of switches that are ON or OFF.

The Engine Control Microprocessor may be connected to fifty or more of these computers and hundreds of sensors. Very few of these sensors, if defective, produce one isolatable fault. The failure of these sensors to operate properly at the proper time can create a multitude of hard to diagnose problems. Some of these problems present a serious safety hazard to the owner.

Its not an easy thing when the brain of a vehicle, or a human is defective. Like a cancer it spreads out into other systems and affects them in unpredictable ways. It is callous and possibly worse for a dealership to remove and replace the emission control valve when your car begins to stall at stop signs and intersections, and then claim that everything is all right now. A week later the same thing occurs and it is some other component. It is analogous to a surgeon replacing your arm because the brain isnt sending it the right commands for proper operation.

Its a tough situation, and manufacturers and dealerships do not improve it by denying such problems exist. One answer, of course, is more rigorous testing by the manufacturer. Mandatory programs to upgrade the skills of mechanics would also go a long way to improving the service, safety and vehicle ownership experience.

Next time the dealership tells you the ABS Automatic Brake System- is supposed to pulse like a dying carp on the beach, step back, give them the, I see your hand in the cookie jar, look. Ask, How do you know its not the Big Brain? How do you know it isnt the Engine Control System Computer thats defective?

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Youve heard the expression, Just when I thought nothing else could go wrong, it did. This is too often the case with motor home lemon vehicles. Its a problem of multiple manufacturers being responsible for what is finally delivered to the customer. When Ford or GM builds and sells an automobile, generally they take responsibility - as much as they take responsibility for anything - for the whole vehicle. With a motor home this is not the case.

Heres a possible list of major components built and separately warranted by different manufacturers:

- Engine Cummins Diesel
- Transmission Allison/GM
- Chassis Freightliner
- Coach Fleetwood (and many others)

Various components of the finished product have their own warranties. Appliances are a good example. GE might make the refrigerator and Sears the stove. These manufacturers warrant their own products.

Many of the components, large and small, are in some way interconnected mechanically, electrically, even electronically. The transmission connects to the Engine. The engine is mounted on the chassis, the coach is mounted to the chassis and covers the engine and around and around we go. The hipbone is connected to the thighbone, the thighbone is connected to the leg bone, and the leg bone is connected to the anklebone, so goes the old song.

What happens when something goes wrong? What happens when one or more of these interconnected components has a malfunction? Who is responsible? Who steps forward? In an ethical world, a world where honesty is the rule, mechanics and manufacturers representatives of the various components would figure it out and the maker of the malfunctioning part would step forward. The responsible person would say, Its my component that failed, Mr. and Mrs. Jones. Well get right on it and fix it.

This isnt the way of the world. If you, as an owner of a motor home, find yourself in this situation, you will get to watch a lot of company representatives behave very badly indeed. Nowhere outside of a police holding cell will you see greater efforts by the various manufacturers representatives to blame each other. Responsibility among the various manufacturers is as foreign as political integrity in Washington D.C.

Motor homes are susceptible to the same problems experienced in automobiles and also problems that are uniquely found in motor homes. Like the modern automobile, motor homes make use of computers to control the various vehicle systems. The difference is that a motor home is a combination truck, (chassis and diesel engine), residence (has many of the qualities of a home such as rooms, showers, appliances, walls, decorative elements, etc.) and its a lot like a bus. Its big!

There are also special characteristics unique to RVs. Think about rooms that extend out of the side of the coach, and portable bathrooms. The possibility for really unpleasant problems abound.

We see it happen time and time again. The manufacturer does the right business thing. They innovate; they put their creative people to work developing neat things to catch the buyers interest. This is a good business approach to take. It is how American businesses stay ahead of the competitive curve. They send out their survey people to discover what the consumer wants and then do their damndest to provide it. Now, with the latest innovation in hand, the designers meet the production people. Often these meetings resemble, human meets bug-eyed alien. The innovators are high on how cool it all is, and production is thinking, How in Gods name can we build that! Its going to cost a fortune.

A good example in the motor home world is the slide out. A slide out is essentially a electro-mechanical method whereby a room in the RV is made bigger by extending it out from the side of the vehicle. See Figure 1 for an example of a typical slide out. Its a great idea that loses much in the translation from design to production. Very, very few slide outs are without some sort of problem.

We have seen in previous articles that many of the problems were related to electric/electronic systems. In the motor home we see all of the electrical and electronic problems plus the mechanical. This is not surprising. Remember the motor home is a vehicle trying to be a house. Workmanship comes up over an over in the defects listed. Generally, if you buy a new sedan you are not worried that it will leak like a sieve in the first rain shower. Motor homes frequently have problems with leaks, especially around and in the slide out.

At least when you buy a house, barring earthquakes and tornadoes, it is meant to stay in one place. Anyone who lives in California knows what happens to the house when the earth begins to shake. The house is twisted in all sorts of directions. Afterward, cracks appear, doors are out of plumb, plaster falls, foundations warp and maybe the roof develops a leak.

When you drive an motor home all over the country, over roads in various states of disrepair, you are creating a kind of continuous earthquake effect on the vehicle, on your portable house. We see the results in lemon motor homes all the time. Those that were designed with these effects in mind, come through none the worse for the wear. Others, where the driving force in production and they did everything as cheap as possible, manifest all the problems youd expect after an earthquake and some that are unique to motor homes.

The following is a list of typical problems from RV Owners. I have not included the name of the Manufacturers, as this is being written after the fact, and who knows, maybe they have gotten their act together (skeptical look). In one year an owner reported the following problems with his 32-foot class C deluxe 5th wheel RV: - Electrical outlets pop out of the wall

- Two entire panels pull away from their frames due to inferior thickness of the substrate and the necessary spacers to hold them together in the range of humidity that any trailer experiences.

- Panels bowed for the same reason

- The slideouts have pulled the paneling away from the face wall when the slideout is pulled in, because ragged sheet metal edges of the slideout have dug into the panel due to mismatched surfaces

- After extending the slide out, couldnt get it back in, had to pry it back in with a 2 X 4 plank

- Easy chair replaced because the upholstery separated from the frame and allowed the padding to slip down.

- The center slider section of the screen door will not stay in, due to poor quality control of the space in the center of the door.

- The water pump which comes standard on this 32 foot trailer puts out 20 lbs of pressure which isn’t enough to get water out of a PUR faucet filter less than 20 feet away.

- Necessary to supplement the heat in the upper bedroom with a space heater because the blower and ductwork is inadequate to get enough heat to the room.

- The shower cracked, the roof leaked, the canopy broke,

- The toilet lid has broken off

- Electrical problems and on and on

And after all this, you have the things people say about the quality of service from so-called authorized dealers. I cant say them here and have this article remain G rated.

One aspect of lemon law is how many days the vehicle must remain at the shop for repairs during the warranty period. Thirty days is the standard in the statute for a lemon vehicle. It is not unusual for lemon motor homes to be in the shop for two and three months, even longer during the warranty period.

Heres the key language. It defines a lemon as:

Vehicles that continue to have a defect(s) that substantially impairs the use, value, or safety of the vehicle after a reasonable number of attempts to repair the vehicle 4 attempts in California for non-safety related issues - or after the vehicle has been out of service for a particular number of days. Substantial is from the viewpoint of the owner, not the manufacturer.

Having the slideout extend in traffic while some speed-crazed Peterbilt driver bears down on you is not safe. Bailing water out of your vehicle after every rain shower is not considered the best use of the vehicle. This might also be thought to decrease the value of the vehicle. If the weight distribution toward the rear of the vehicle is so poor it feels like the front end is a foot off ground, this seems substantial to us. This is very definitely a safety issue. I could go on for a long time.

What is the bottom line? Dont put up with it. Get legal assistance. The law allows you to get a refund or a replacement. Although after your experiences with your lemon RV, you may want to buy an M1A1 Abrams tank and pay a visit to the manufacturer.

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You always had a dream to drive a luxurious car and with your sincere efforts you recently bought one. But because of some technical malfunctioning you are not able to enjoy the drive as more than often it is parked in service station. The customer care department of the car company is showing little interest in your problem. Yours is not the sole case. There are so many people like you who have faced such problems.

Seek redress under the Lemon Law. In order to protect consumer rights Lemon Law was enforced. It legally empowers consumers to force automobile manufacturer to replace a defective or unsafe vehicle. The lemon law differs from state to state and includes SUVs Vans, Trucks, Boats, etc.apart from cars. It states if a problem persists even after four times repairing of same defect, you have the lemon. For replacement and claiming your lemon you must be sure that the problem is of considerable significance.

You can claim for lemon in case of wide range of defects including: Engine problems, Transmission problems, Water leaks, Paint defects, Electrical problems, Brake problems, Steering problems, Vibrations, Bad smells, Rattles, etc.

It is important to know your rights as consumers and must exercise it judiciously. The lemon law is not limited to cars, SUVs or other automobiles it applies even to computers in order to protect consumers for any wrongful done. If you think the new PC you bought is not performing up to the standards, seek lemon and get it replaced.

Just check out what provisions regarding lemon your state offer. It is never between you and company when you are filing a lemon. Its between a consumer and a manufacturer. Government and law are not lenient on such issues why should you be? Be an aware consumer, fight your right.

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Are you a victim of a lemon law violator? If so, you have many rights that can protect you. Lemon laws were established to help protect the consumer against the purchase of a bad product. For an example, lets use cars. If you purchase a car from a dealership or a private owner and are told that the car is in good working order, they have to stand by this. If you pull it out of the drive way of that dealership only to have it break down on the way home, chances are that the car was not in good shape to begin with.

Dealerships and anyone else selling used cars need to ensure to you that the car is in the condition they are selling it to you. They cant tell you its brand new if it really has been around for years. In order to protect consumers from not too honest dealers, lemon laws were created. But, each state has their specific set standards for lemon laws. You can find out what your states lemon laws are and find out how they affect you whether you are buying or selling a car.

If you feel you have been a victim of lemon law violations, you have rights. The first thing that you need to accomplish is finding a qualified lemon law attorney. This is important because if you take on the dealership (as in our example) on your own, chances are good that you may miss something, make a mistake to cost you the case, or just not present yourself in a positive manner. Investing in a lemon law attorney can help to ensure that your purchase and case are taken care of in the best possible way.

Lemon laws are there to help you. In order to do so, though, you need to know how they work in your state and in your situation. To find out what your states lemon laws are, simply look on the states website or call a qualified lemon law attorney.

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