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Advice on lemon law


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I'm looking for some advice on filing a lemon suit on my spark. I've told my dealership they have until friday the 20th to get my car fixed.

I've had lots of little problems, but the major issue is the throttle sticking. At almost 14,000 miles it still hasn't been fixed. I feel like that alone is enough reason to lemon law and get a Ford Fiesta instead.
So what should I do to make sure I'll win the suit? My only idea is to get a video recording of the car acting up. Should I get someone at the dealer to sign something stating I've given them x amount of time to fix it?

Any advice/ideas are appreciated.

Thanks, Colin

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As Bluer stated, your best bet is a lawyer, these cases can get pretty complex. Here in NJ, we have lemon lawyers that will take your case with no money upfront, and will not charge you, if they lose. If you win, in most cases, the manufacturer reimburses your legal fees. Check your phone book, look around Google, these guys are pit bulls, they usually win. Good luck!

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No matter what anyone tells you, do not agree to a Better Business Bureau arbitration.

Make sure it goes through your state's process, since the BBB is GM's preferred option (can you guess why?).

Be aware that once you hire an attorney - even if he doesn't take the case, no one from GM will talk to you at all.

File the paperwork with the state then get on GM's a$$ to make it right before it gets to a hearing - which they will want to do.

Make sure you have all the service orders from every time you brought the car in, since each one is a day (or more) that the car was out of service.

Most importantly, if you do talk to anyone from GM and make a deal (like for a replacement) GET IT IN WRITING!!!!

Do NOT trust them to keep up their end of the bargain.

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No matter what anyone tells you, do not agree to a Better Business Bureau arbitration.

Make sure it goes through your state's process, since the BBB is GM's preferred option (can you guess why?).

Be aware that once you hire an attorney - even if he doesn't take the case, no one from GM will talk to you at all.

File the paperwork with the state then get on GM's a$$ to make it right before it gets to a hearing - which they will want to do.

Make sure you have all the service orders from every time you brought the car in, since each one is a day (or more) that the car was out of service.

Most importantly, if you do talk to anyone from GM and make a deal (like for a replacement) GET IT IN WRITING!!!!

Do NOT trust them to keep up their end of the bargain.

Thank you, much appreciated.

I'm going back on Tuesday to get another data recorder put in my spark. Hopefully it just gets fixed and I don't have to go through with this. But yesterday my brakes started squeaking... Always something

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Just as an update, my visit Tuesday did not go well. And I've now sent a letter to Chevy for a "final attempt"
I found this thread, same exact problem as me. http://chevysparkforum.com/topic/1577-rev-hanglurchingaccelerating-issues-2014-mt/

I wish my car wasn't so plagued with problems. Test drove a Fiesta after getting kicked out of the dealership on Tuesday. Not real impressed :(

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  • 1 month later...

GM is not to be trusted under any circumstances. I have '63 and a '72 Chevys and love them. Built back before GM built junk, then tried to weasel out of it. Someone here bought a Ford Fiesta, and I believe they like it. While I eventually bought a 2006 Mazda Miata, because I found one that I absolutely fell in love with (automatic and cruise control) I looked at the Fiesta and fell somewhat underwhelmed by it. Had I not bought the Miata, I would likely have bought a used Kia Soul. While some Kia models do feel cheap and flimsy (the Rio and Forte) The Soul felt like a tank. My online research, including joining a Kia Soul forum to ask questions, pretty well backed up my original impressions. This thing must have been designed as a military vehicle. Nobody on the Soul forum regretted buying one. Most of the conversation was about modifying them, not about them breaking down. If there are any decent ones left when I get rid of my Miata, I'll probably get one.

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GM is not to be trusted under any circumstances. I have '63 and a '72 Chevys and love them. Built back before GM built junk, then tried to weasel out of it. Someone here bought a Ford Fiesta, and I believe they like it. While I eventually bought a 2006 Mazda Miata, because I found one that I absolutely fell in love with (automatic and cruise control) I looked at the Fiesta and fell somewhat underwhelmed by it. Had I not bought the Miata, I would likely have bought a used Kia Soul. While some Kia models do feel cheap and flimsy (the Rio and Forte) The Soul felt like a tank. My online research, including joining a Kia Soul forum to ask questions, pretty well backed up my original impressions. This thing must have been designed as a military vehicle. Nobody on the Soul forum regretted buying one. Most of the conversation was about modifying them, not about them breaking down. If there are any decent ones left when I get rid of my Miata, I'll probably get one.

I could never buy a Kia. My mom had a Soul as a rental for a minute, that thing was horrid. I would love a miata but they just don't get the gas mileage I'd like. I'd rather have a truck as a DD, but with as much driving as I do it doesn't make much point. So my truck sits in the garage.

I went in for an final attempt the other day and was late, so the engineer who had came to look at it had already left. So now the 13th....

While driving home today my back passenger window rolled down when I turned on my turn signal. Wouldn't roll up until I turned the signal off. Scared the crap outta me when I heard that noise going 70mph on the freeway lol

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well, l have actually gone through the Lemon Law myself with GM so I know a thing or two about it. I live in CA so the rules may be different...but the process generally is the same. In CA, in order for your new car to qualify for the lemon law, you need to meet the following conditions within the first 18 months or first 18k miles(check with your state). There is also a separate claim for cars bought used from the dealer but still within the warranty period. But this is only to address new car purchases as the latter is a bit more “gray”.

1. Car has been in the shop for 30 days or more. (weekends and holidays count in CA, some states don’t)

2. The car has been in for two or more repairs for a defect that is likely to cause death or bodily harm.

3. The car has been in the shop for the same problem 4 times or more times.

Also, your car will be prorated a usage fee which will be deducted from the purchase price of the car. The manufacturer also has to pay back any finance fee, rental car fee, taxes, etc. The formula is (mileage on car when you qualify/120,000) X price of car = what you will get back.

The “mileage on car when you qualify” used in the formula above may possibly NOT be the current actual mileage on the car. Sounds confusing? Let me give you an example. Say my car went into the shop four times for the same problem. The first time that I had the problem, the car had 1000 miles on it. Then second time, 2000 miles. The third time, 3000 miles. And finally the fourth time, 4000 miles. My car now qualifies as a lemon. However, because the problem first appeared at 1000 miles, and it is the problem that the dealer couldn't fix...and on top of that...it is the problem that eventually qualified it as a lemon, you will use 1000 miles in that formula rather than 4000 miles. Get it? Be careful of this because GM WILL try and lowball you with the actual mileage on the car. It happened to me. Luckily for me, I was knowledgeable enough to correct them before I signed the buyback contract.

So in my opinion, you need to do one of two things.

1. Talk to GM corporate directly. (I advise this as a first step)

2. Hire an attorney. (I advise against this unless you're lazy and don't mind paying them a portion of your car's worth)

If you decide to talk to GM, they will have a department specialized in handling these claims. They WILL pull your repair records AND service records to verify that you actually qualify. They know that if you legally qualify, there is NO incentive for them to play hardball because if you hire an attorney, they will end up paying A LOT more in the end. So they will rather work with you. The rep will open up a case for you and assess the value of the car and what it is worth. IF, they decide that you qualify, they will send you a contract in which you sign agreeing for them to buyback your car at a mutually agreed on price. Then they will send some more paperwork to your closest dealer along with a check for the car. You drive your car over to the dealership and they will inspect the car to make sure that there are no damages. You sign more paper and they hand you the check. You're done. If the car is financed, the check will generally go towards your creditor to pay off the balance on the vehicle.

If you hire a lawyer, they will do the exact same thing except that you will be completely hands-off on the whole process. However, when it is all said and done, you generally WILL get less money back because they usually work on contingency for lemon law cases and take a percentage of your settlement.

IMO, because lemon laws are generally very clear cut and can be handled without legal counsel, it is in your best interest to work directly with GM first for an amicable solution. If they play hard ball, then call up the lawyers.

One more thing that I want to add. I know that some people do their own maintenance on their cars. You can be almost 100% sure that GM WILL IN FACT require proof of maintenance. This is where getting work done at a dealership is handy because it's all recorded. HOWEVER, if you do your own work, you BETTER MAKE DAMN SURE you have all the receipts for the filters and oil that you have purchased. The dealer asked me to provide documentation since I do all of my own work. Luckily for me, I keep a record of everything for anything that I own. I'm an accountant by trade so it's just part of my blood. They had nothing to say after I pulled out a thick binder with all of the receipts and also all of the copies of the service records for every single time that it has been in the shop.

Hope this is helpful.

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