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No way out of lemon, screwed on the way in, screwed on the way out.
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Posted by C Lemon (64.12.96.205) on March 31, 2003 at 22:48:03:
I leased a new Ford in 2000, it was a lemon from hell. In the dealer shop a cumulative 4 weeks in the few months I had it. I suspected something about it...I stupidly committed to the "new" vehicle having 386 miles on it (I purchased it from our area local dealer). I thought it might be test drive miles, besides this was the fourth new vehicle I had purchased from them so I felt no reason to mistrust them. My finances weren't great to begin with, but I didn't budget for all the breakdown time and loss of pay from work...I started falling farther and farther behind on the payments. Meanwhile, the dealer wouldn't exchange it for a reliable vehicle because of "upside down" equity. And Ford Motor Credit said the problem wasn't theirs they just needed to get paid.
I began to surf the net for lemon laws in my state, and found little that could help me in the speed of how fast things were spiralling downward. I happened upon one website that spelled out what I may have encountered, title washing. It's perfectly legal for a dealer to take back a new vehicle that has lemon problems and move across state line and sell it as new.
Perfectly legal in my state (NC). I called the attorney general in my state and his office said that a vehicle can be called "new" with an odometer reading up to 7500 miles, and they didn't seem especially concerned that mine had 386. Meanwhile, I am being charged interest and late fees and losing work going to an out-of-town dealer and getting on the waiting list for a "loaner" vehicle. Back and forth, back and forth. One morning, got up...vehicle was gone, involuntary reposession. It had rained heavy those past three days, so they had hell dragging it out of my yard. The ruts were a foot deep. LOL...the damned thing was dead anyway. I got on the Department of Highway Safety website, and found too many lemon complaints about this model and year vehicle...but you know, things go on for years and years before some teeth get sharp to put an end to things. It has to be "conclusive" for it to aid in my case. Anyway, I have a bad debt of $10000 on my credit report...I sent a letter to the credit bureau explaining my side...but it doesn't seem to help. Dealers and the manufacturers have many multiple opportunities to remedy the problems with vehicles and it can take a long time of grief...meanwhile it hurts financially.
If a vehicle has multiple problems, they fix one, and another pops up totally unrelated, that scenario puts a wrench in consumer protections.
Anyway I'm stuck. But here's some advice. If you buy a "new" vehicle, don't commit until you recieve your own copies of their chain of acquisition. You can find out where your new love has been before you tie the knot. I learned that too late. I'll be back up in 4 years.
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