The U.S. Constitution grants many rights to the states. The theory goes
that the federal government can't fix everything all the time. This is
especially true in matters of specific consumer protection. Although
there are many regulations that originate from Washington, D.C.
concerning manufacturing fraud and abuse, it has fallen to each state
to devise their own types of protections.
Nevada Lemon Laws are part of the state statues. Specifically, they are
on the books as statues 597.600 through to 597.680. Those cover all the
bases for dealing with a car that is deemed to be a lemon.
Nevada Lemon Law Qualifications
As you can imagine the voice of the people was heard when it came to
writing lemon laws. Most states consider a lemon as to be any car that
has a manufacturer defect which renders the vehicle inoperable. That's
a fancy way of saying the car is broke and can't be fixed. For the
purposes of the Nevada Lemon Law the car needs to be new and still
under warranty.
A car is deemed a lemon in Nevada if one particular issue has caused
the car to be taken into the proverbial shop at least four times while
still under that warranty or four times in one year, whichever comes
first. A lemon could also be defined as any car that couldn't be driven
for at least 30 days because of all these repairs.
Most states draw the line at mechanical defeats that originate back at
the factory. However, in Nevada, if your car is making an irritating
noise that no mechanic can get rid of, you can call it a lemon and
start the process to remedy.
Nevada Lemon Law Procedures
Once you've figure out that you might be stuck with a lemon, there are
steps you'll need to take under the Nevada Lemon Laws to seek a remedy.
First, you'll need to send a written certified letter (not an e-mail!)
to the car maker. This isn't the person who sold you the car, rather
the car company. This letter should state the defect and how you
attempted to fix the car.
After the manufacturer has been officially notified, they will have the
option to try and fix the problem. They might even have their own lemon
law options to use. If not, you can proceed accordingly. The car maker
can either replace that exact make and model of the car you bought or
issue a total refund. That refund will include whatever money you paid
for the car minus a fair use allowance. In other words, if you managed
to drive it around for some time, that will be deducted off the refund
price as if you rented the car.
Take note that as this process begins, the dealer or person who sold
you the car can't make you sign away your rights to a replacement or
refund. They might think they are helping out the car maker, but they
could get into serious trouble with the law by doing that.
Ironically, there is nothing stopping that dealer from reselling that
car. All they have to do is declare that the car was once deemed a
lemon and slap a big sticker on the car stating the same thing. Then it
becomes an issue of "buyer beware."