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The law relating to the protection of buyer's interest in case of defect in any vehicle purchased by him/her in Missouri State is found in the Missouri Revised Statutes, Chapter 407. Sections 407.560 to 407.579 deal with the state lemon laws. This statue gives protection to the buyers of new vehicles in the state of Missouri, whose vehicles do not perform according to the specifications of the manufacturer's warranty, given at the time of the purchase.

Manufacturer's duty

In case a consumer reports a fault with his/her vehicle to the manufacturer within the warranty period, then the manufacturer, either himself or through his authorized agent must make the repairs to the said vehicle promptly. If the manufacturer or his agent cannot get the vehicle up to the standards of the warranty by way of repeated repair attempts, then, the manufacturer should at his option, either replace the vehicle with a new identical or comparable one, or refund the purchase price to the customer.

In case of refund, then, the manufacturer has to refund not only the contracted price as was paid by the consumer but also all other incidental charges borne by the consumer such as taxes, license fees, registration, etc. The manufacturer is permitted to deduct reasonable expenses from the refund amount owing to the normal wear and tear of the vehicle.

It is considered as a reasonable attempt at repairing the vehicle by the manufacturer if he or his authorized agent attempts the repair at least four (4) times, or the vehicle has been has been out of commission owing to such repairs for a total of thirty (30) days or more.

The manufacturer is mandated to provide information to the consumer about his remedial mechanism with each new vehicle. Once a complaint comes from a consumer, the manufacturer has to direct him/her to the nearest dealer to get the fault repaired. He has ten days to repair the fault.

Defenses available to the manufacturer

The manufacturer can argue against his liability by claiming that the fault does not restrict the normal use of the vehicle, or that the said defect has arisen due to the fault of the consumer and not any manufacturing defect.

Consumer's Rights And Duties

It is the duty of the consumer to inform the manufacturer in writing about the fault that has occurred in the new vehicle immediately to claim protection of this law. Further, if there exists an informal dispute resolution mechanism of the manufacturer, and he is aware of it, then the consumer should go to that forum first and not to the courts.

If the consumer files for a court action after exhausting the above remedy, and is successful in the same, then he is entitled to receive not only the contracted price for the vehicle, but also the costs of the suit, from the manufacturer.

The US federal law governing lemons is officially called The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, however, most American states each have their own lemon law.


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