Lemon Law Ohio - Protecting You
by Mark Kessler

The lemon law in Ohio declares that any vehicle purchased in this state must be accompanied by a written statement in capital ten-point type letters that reads:

IMPORTANT: IF THIS CAR IS DEFECTIVE, YOU MAY BE ENTITLED UNDER STATE LAW TO A REPLACEMENT OR TO COMPENSATION.

And each time a vehicle is returned from being serviced or repaired, the car's manufacturer or authorized dealer must provide the car buyer a written statement itemizing all the work that was completed on the car, including all parts and labor.

However, if a purchased car does not operate according to its warranty, and the car buyer reports its defects to the car's manufacturer, agent, or authorized dealer during one year of purchase date (or during the first eighteen thousand miles, whichever is first), the manufacturer, agent, or authorized dealer is legally obligated make repairs necessary to bring the car to the condition specified in its warranty.

If the car's manufacturer, agent, or authorized dealer fails to bring the automobile to the proper working condition specified in its warranty after a reasonable number of attempts, the car's manufacturer, at the car buyer's option, must replace the car with a new automobile, or accept the vehicles return and refund the actual purchase price, The lemon law in Ohio also grants unsatisfied auto buyers a refund of the car's purchase price in addition to any and all fees associated with undercoating, transportation, installed options, sales tax, license and registration fees, and all finance charges related to the vehicle.

According to the lemon law in Ohio, if the car buyer prefers a new car, the car's manufacturer must first notify any lienholder noted on the certificate of title. If both the lienholder and the car buyer agree to finance the new car, the lienholder must release the lien on the defective car - but only after it has obtained a lien on the new car. If however, the lienholder does not want to finance the new car, he or she is not required to cancel the current lien until the original lien is satisfied.

As in most states, the car's manufacturer, dealer, or authorized agent must make three attempts to repair the same defect. Otherwise, the lemon law in Ohio says that the auto manufacturer, dealer, or authorized agent can make eight repair attempts in total and one attempt to repair a condition likely to cause death or serious bodily injury.

Should a vehicles buyer suffer a loss due to the failure by the car manufacturer, agent, or authorized auto dealer to bring the vehicle to the condition that is specified in its warranty, the buyer may bring civil court action in a court of common pleas or other court of competent jurisdiction and, be entitled to recover all attorney's fees, court costs, and other relief.

The lemon law of Ohio does not apply to a car's warranty defects which are the result of abuse, neglect, or unauthorized modification by anyone other than the car's manufacturer, agent, or authorized dealer.

All vehicles which can not be brought back to the condition specified in its warranty can not be resold, unless the auto manufacturer provides the exact warranty that was given to the original vehicle owner. The new terms of the warranty (according to the lemon law in Ohio) are then only for twelve thousand miles (or twelve months after resale date - whichever is first). In addition, the car's manufacturer must provide the car buyer a written statement in capital ten-point type letters that reads:

IMPORTANT: THIS CAR WAS RETURNED TO THE CAR MANUFACTURER BECAUSE IT DID NOT CONFORM TO THE CAR MANUFACTURER'S EXPRESS WARRANTY AND THE NONCONFORMITY WAS NOT CURED WITHIN A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME AS PROVIDED BY OHIO LAW.

............... ....................... DATE BUYER'S SIGNATURE

In the case that a car's defect is likely to cause serious bodily injury when driven or even death, the car may not be sold in this state period.