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The lemon laws for the state of Mississippi are codified in the “Motor Vehicle Warranty Enforcement Act”. This Act recognizes a vehicle as a major purchase and hence a need to protect the consumers from any breach of warranty that may occur due to defects that may arise to the new vehicle.

Manufacturer’s obligations

If in the event that a new motor vehicle does not confer to the warranty and the consumer informs him of the same, then the manufacturer has to do all that is necessary to bring the vehicle up to the promised standards.

If even after repeated attempts the defects persist, then the consumer gets the right to ask for either a refund of the price or a replacement of the vehicle with an identical or a comparable one.

In case a refund is opted for, then the manufacturer has to refund the full purchase price along with all other incidental expenses incurred by the consumer due to the defect. He is however permitted to deduct a reasonable amount from this refund towards the normal depreciation of the vehicle.

The manufacturer will be considered to have made a serious repair attempt if he has tried it for at least three times or caused the vehicle to be out of commission for repairs for at least fifteen days within the warranty period.

Defenses available to the manufacturer

The manufacturer will be excused from his liability if he can successfully establish that the defect in the vehicle is not due to a manufacturing flaw.

To avail the defenses the manufacturer has to prove that the consumer has abused, or neglected, of used the vehicle for purposes it was not designed for.

Consumer’ Duty

It is the duty of the consumer to inform the manufacturer about the defect in the vehicle as soon as it arises and make sure that the vehicle is within the warranty period.

The consumer should not initiate a claim only in order to harass the manufacturer. All his claims should be genuine.

Dispute settlement

The manufacturer may establish a dispute settlement mechanism to cater to any warranty disputes. This mechanism will be of an informal one, and the consumer has to be informed about it at the time of purchase of the vehicle.

If such a mechanism exists then the consumer is mandated to approach it first in the event of a warranty dispute. Only then will he be entitled to other remedial provisions of this Act.

If the consumer is dissatisfied with award of the arbitration, he may approach the court for relief within eighteen months of the date of delivery.

If he is successful in his motion, then the consumer will be entitled to damages and also costs of the motion.

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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