Like every state in the Union, Alabama has a lemon law which gives the purchaser of a vehicle that turns out to have a defect that cannot be repaired satisfactorily a way to get his or her money back or a replacement vehicle.
The Alabama lemon law covers vehicles that are primarily used on public roads, the law does not apply to self-propelled motor homes or a vehicle weighing over 10,000 pounds. The law protects the original buyer (other than the dealer that purchased the vehicle for the express intention to resell it) as well as anyone else that is entitled to enforce the warranty.
To qualify as a lemon in Alabama the car must be:
* Either two years old or less or have 24,000 miles on it or less
* The manufacturer or the manufacturer’s dealer has had three chances to fix the defect
* The car has been in the shop for repair of the defect for at least 30 days
Not every defect is considered to be substantial, for the car to be covered by the Alabama lemon law the condition must be such that it fails to meet the express manufacturer’s warranty and:
* The defect impairs the use of the vehicle, the value of the vehicle or its safety
* The defect arose in the course of ordinary use and did not arise as a result of vehicle neglect, abuse, modification, alteration or accidental damage.
Under the law, the vehicle manufacturer is obliged to repair the nonconforming condition if the purchaser of the vehicle brings it to the manufacturer’s representative and serves notice of the condition while the vehicle is still under the coverage period. In the event the defect cannot be repaired after a number of attempts the manufacturer must either replace the vehicle with a substantially equal one or repurchase it; the choice of recourse is the consumers.
The Alabama lemon law presumes that the manufacturer was given a reasonable number of chances to rectify the situation. The manufacturer is grated three attempts at repairing the defect, one of which at least is made during the period of lemon law coverage and the manufacturer was given one final opportunity to repair the problem. As well as the repair attempts, if the car was out of service for a total of 30 days or more it also qualifies as a lemon.
The Alabama lemon law provides the purchaser of certain vehicles recourse in the event the vehicle is a lemon. If you feel you have a case you are invited to have it reviewed at no charge by contacting the Krohn & Moss Consumer Law Center. Visit YourLemonLawRights.com for more information.
