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The Florida (FL) Lemon Law, found in Chapter 681 of Florida Statutes, has been put in place to give aid to car owners who continuously have faults that need to be repaired to bring the car up to the standard promised under the manufacturer’s warranty. The FL Lemon Law hopes to get manufacturers to give either refunds or a replacement vehicle to consumers with such defective vehicles if after a reasonable number of attempts also a car does not conform to the terms of the warranty.

Provided below, are some definitions that are mandatory conditions so as to get protection under the FL Lemon Law.

This law covers automobiles that are new vehicles purchased for personal, family or household usage as also vehicles leased for a period of more than one year where the lease agreement clearly states that repairs will be the responsibility of the consumer. If a manufacturer’s warranty was a condition of the sale for a demonstrator, then even that is covered by the FL Lemon Law.

However, FL Lemon law differs from others in that it does not protect off-road vehicles, vehicles only run on tracks, the living facilities of mobile homes, mopeds and motorcycles and trucks over ten thousand pounds of gross weight.

The Law gives protection for any fault that significantly reduces the value, use or safety of a vehicle. However, what it does not cover is any fault that can be pinned on abuse, an accident, neglect, changes or alteration of the automobile by anyone other than the manufacturer’s HTML AUTHORized service agent.

A Lemon Law legal action may be brought against the manufacturer up to 18 months from the date of delivery or the first 24000 miles on the vehicle, whichever happens first.

Procedure to be followed under the Florida Lemon Law

The Lemon Law procedure in the beginning may seem daunting and there are chances that consumers may get disheartened. However, if the procedures delineated below are carefully and persistently followed, the consumer can avail of his rights under the FL Lemon Law.

The first prerequisite is that the vehicle should have gone to the manufacturer or its authorised repaid shop for the same fault at least three times. Alternatively, the vehicle should have been out of service for one or more fault for at least 30 days. These 30 days should not include the time the car is given for routine servicing.
The consumer must give written notice for the need for repair, to the manufacturer by registered or express mail to the manufacturer, once the vehicle has been at the repair shop for one or more defects for a total of fifteen days. Once this notice has been sent, then the manufacturer gets one last chance to finally repair the fault.
If this last attempt at repairing the fault is unsuccessful, then the manufacturer will get 40 days to refund the purchase price or repurchase the vehicle from the consumer.

Once this last and final attempt fails, this is what the consumer needs to do to get his rights under the Florida Lemon Law.

If the manufacturer has a dispute resolution procedure in place then the consumer is bound to first use this procedure. Some manufacturers do not employ such a procedure, so a consumer will have to check this with the manufacturer first.
If the customer is not happy with the decision taken in such dispute resolution procedure then he may apply to the State of Florida's New Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board.
If the Board also returns a decision that favours the manufacturer, then the consumer can file a case with the Circuit Court within 30 days of the decision of the Board.

A few pointers to remember are that the customer must be acting in good faith, must give appropriate notice to the manufacturer and must go through an arbitration process.


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