Most of the statutes contain a three or four prong definition of when a manufacturer has had a sufficient number of attempts to repair, entitling the consumer to a refund or a replacement. If the defect is a safety defect not involving a serious safety defect, the manufacturer has two attempts to repair. For any other defect, the manufacturers are usually granted three or four chances to repair the same defect. If at any time the vehicle is in the shop for a cumulative total of 30 days in a one year period, at least one of those days occurring in the first 12 months or 12,000 miles. If any of the four prongs are satisfied, the consumer is generally granted the right to require repurchase or replacement of her vehicle.
Most lemon laws allow an offset for use of the vehicle for the consumer.
This reasonable offset for use, often involved a reduction in the consumer's purchase price return in relation to the number of miles he has put on the car. The consumer can often effectively argue that he should not be charged for miles that were put on the vehicle after the initial attempt to repair the offending defect. Our answer is no and the above formula should be computed using the mileage at the time of the first attempt. This can often make a difference of several hundred dollars to the consumer. Only about one half of the lemon laws allow the consumer to recover attorney's fees in his action.