Lexus are known across the world as some of the most comfortable and stylish luxury vehicles in the automotive industry. With incredibly high-reliability ratings and customer service experiences, the brand has become a status symbol unto itself. But even though the manufacturer earned its reputation for reliability, you may still wind up buying a lemon of a Lexus.
Thankfully, we have optimistic news for those who believe that they’re driving a lemon: every state in the country has its own lemon laws that can help make you whole. So, if your Lexus qualifies as a lemon, you’ll be entitled to a refund or a replacement vehicle from the manufacturer.
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Lexus Lemon Law – All You Need to Know
Lemon laws are regulations put in place to hold auto manufacturers accountable for the warranties they issue with new cars. Each state has its own lemon law, meaning that requirements for your Lexus to qualify depend on where you purchased the vehicle.
That said, lemon laws only vary slightly from one state to the next. Plus, the Federal Lemon Law (The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act) protects consumers nationwide. So, no matter where you are in the United States, if you have purchased or leased a lemon, we can help.
What Qualifies as a Lemon?
Every lemon law shares the same underlying requirement for lemons: the vehicle must have a defect that substantially impairs its safety, value, or use. This defect must be covered under the manufacturer’s warranty. And it must persist after providing the manufacturer with a reasonable number of attempts to fix it.
Each state offers its own definition as to what it considers “a reasonable number” of repair attempts. But, generally speaking, four failed repair attempts for a significant defect will qualify your Lexus as a lemon in any state. And, for defects with the potential to result in death or serious bodily harm, a single failed repair attempt may be all that your state requires.
States also have specific rules about when, in relation to the original purchase date, the repair attempts must take place. So, it’s always in your best interest to bring your Lexus in for service as soon as you notice an issue.
Thankfully, the Federal Lemon Law offers protection for the duration of your warranty. As a result, we can help you secure compensation even if your defects arose outside of your state’s reporting period. Still, the sooner you act, the higher your potential payout can be. Thus, you should reach out to us as soon as you suspect that your Lexus may be a lemon.
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How to Handle a Defective Lexus
As soon as you discover an issue with your Lexus, you should bring it to the manufacturer for repair. If the manufacturer fails to fix the issue after the first attempt, you may want to reach out to an experienced Lemon Lawyer such as those here at Krohn & Moss, Ltd. But unless your Lexus’ defect poses a significant safety risk, your best bet is to bring the vehicle back for another repair attempt.
Whatever warrantied defect your vehicle suffers from, you should seek legal advice after the second or third repair attempt. And if you’ve already endured four failed attempts, your Lexus is already likely to qualify as a lemon.
Once you have reached this stage in the process, give us a call or provide us with the details of your case online. When we receive your information, we’ll review your case and get back to you within 24 hours. If you have a legitimate case, we’ll represent you for no out-of-pocket costs.
At Krohn & Moss, Ltd., we only get paid if you do. And, thanks to the fee-shifting provisions in most lemon laws, the manufacturer pays our fees in most cases, not you. As a result, we provide most clients with our unmatched lemon law experience without ever collecting a penny from them. So, if you think your Lexus is a lemon, let us prove it while you sit back and wait for a settlement.
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The Claim Process
Before we can file a lemon law claim with the courts, most states require us to seek resolution with the manufacturer. Typically, this means that we’ll start by presenting your case to an arbitration board.
To do so, we’ll need all the paperwork from both the sale/lease of the vehicle and any repair records. Any such documents you can provide will be a great help. However, our team can also obtain any records you lack directly from the manufacturer and/or the authorized service provider who attempted the repairs. So don’t worry if you’ve misplaced some of your paperwork.
Once we’ve gathered all your evidence, we’ll organized it and explain how the documents demonstrate that your Lexus is indeed a lemon. Next, we’ll submit the evidence and arguments for the arbitrators to review.
Either party (you, the consumer, or the manufacturer) may request a formal hearing with verbal arguments. That said, such meetings are rarely necessary. Instead, arbitrators usually review documents and written arguments made by both parties to inform their decision.
Regardless of the arbitrators ruling, it will be up to you as the consumer to accept or reject the proposed settlement. If you aren’t satisfied with the offer, then the next step would be for us to file a claim in court. But even if we do file a claim, the fact that we’ve settled more than 99% of the cases we’ve taken on suggests that your case is unlikely to ever make it to trial.
Compensation After the Claim
Although lemon laws differ between states, all were designed to make you whole after purchasing a defective product. Thus, each lemon law provides similar guidelines for the compensation consumers should expect. They provide you with your choice of:
- A refund (less a deduction for the time you used the Lexus before issues arose), OR
- A replacement vehicle
If you opt for a refund, you’ll receive the amount that you paid for your vehicle, including taxes, fees, and financing charges. However, manufacturers may deduct a portion of this refund to account for the time you used the vehicle before its issue(s) became apparent. This deduction is why it’s crucial for you to bring the vehicle to the manufacturer as soon as you notice any defect.
And should you choose a replacement vehicle, the manufacturer may issue a refund in its place. However, they may only do so if a sufficiently similar vehicle is not available.
Additional Compensation
Most lemon laws also include fee-shifting provisions that force the manufacturer to pay your attorney’s fees when you win your case. And since our team at Krohn & Moss, Ltd. Consumer Law Center® only receives payment when you do, most clients will never pay a penny out-of-pocket for our services.
And, in cases where the manufacturer willfully breaks a lemon law, some jurisdictions allow consumers to pursue Civil Penalties. In these cases, you may collect up to three times the purchase price of their vehicle when it comes to compensation. Just know that proving that the manufacturer willfully broke the law can be challenging. Thus, it’s rare for consumers to earn such awards.
We are Your Lemon Law Attorneys
Krohn & Moss, Ltd. Consumer Law Center® has been representing consumers and winning Lemon Law cases since 1995. And in this time, we’ve helped tens of thousands of clients collect the compensation they deserve. Our invaluable experience has led to us securing settlements for more than 99% of the cases we take, making us one of the most successful lemon law firms in the United States.
But our success rate isn’t the only advantage we provide to our clients. The following list of our commitments and accomplishments details some of the other advantages we bring to the table:
- 25+ Years of Experience Squeezing Manufacturers
- Over 50,000 Successful Cases Across the Country
- We Respond to All Inquiries Within 24 Hours
- No Fees Unless We Win Your Case
- Maximum Compensation for Clients is Our Goal
These details, among others, demonstrate our team’s aptitude for lemon law cases and the likelihood that we’ll prevail when it comes to your case. So, if you suspect that your Lexus is a lemon, contact us today for a free case review and let us get you the compensation you deserve!