If you ever happen to find yourself thumbing through the Nebraska State
Statues put together by their legislature you might want to take a
gander at Chapter 60, Sections 2701 through 2709. This will be
fascinating reading especially if you're not happy with the new car you
just bought.
Chapter 60 is where you'll find the lawyerly explanation for Nebraska
Lemon Laws. Fortunately, we can translate that legalese into
understandable copy.
These are the basics: if you have a car that qualifies as an official
lemon under Nebraska definitions, you have two options for getting your
money back. Those options are submitting to what they call an informal
arbitration or file a lawsuit against the car maker in court. First,
you have to determine if your car really is a lemon.
Nebraska Lemon Law Qualifications
To qualify, the car needs to have been purchased in Nebraska and still
needs to be under warranty. Additionally, the car can only be at least
a year old from date of purchase to the first notice you sent to the
car maker describing the problem. Nebraska Lemon Law covers any cars
used for your family, your business or any other personal reasons. It
can be any size of a car, a motorcycle, a semi-truck or even a leased
auto. What it can't be is a motor home.
For the sake of the Nebraska law, you can call your car a lemon if your
car has a defect that can be traced back to a manufacturing issue. This
defect must be serious enough to send you back to your original dealer
at least four times in an attempt to fix the problem. You also have a
lemon if this one defect has caused you to be without the use of your
car for up to 40 days or more.
Of course, there are some exceptions to these rules. If this defect is
considered to be "life threatening" there might not be the need to try
and get it fixed four times. On the other hand, if your car is just
making a funny noise that is driving you crazy, you just might be stuck
with that noise.
Nebraska Lemon Law Arbitration Remedy
The most common approach Nebraska residents take to resolve their lemon
issue is to go through an arbitration process that is sponsored by the
courts, but you certainly don't need a lawyer or legal background to
work through this process.
Essentially you'll be laying out your case in front of an impartial
arbitrator. The car maker has the option to defend themselves as well.
It will then become the arbitrator who makes the final decision.
Whatever that decision is the auto maker must abide by. On the other
hand, if you reject that decision then you can take the auto maker to
court and sue for damages.
You'll need to present evidence in the arbitration hearing about your
lemon car. This can come in the form of mechanic estimates. Before this
process can begin, you should have notified the auto maker by certified
mail and given them the chance to fix the problem. The more written
details you can provide, the stronger your case will become.
If the arbitrator rules in your favor, you'll be entitled to a full
refund including any taxes, license or registration fees. Most
arbitration cases can be wrapped up in less than 40 days once the
process has officially begun.