This Article Features:
Vocabulary Key Words in Orange AND bonus Comprehension Questions at the end.

By William Allen Yap 

The lemon law in New York provides a remedy for customers that have had problems with their vehicles despite the number of times that these have been brought in for repairs. The manufacturer is also held liable if the car sold does not conform to the terms of the written warranty.

In New York, this covers new and used cars including "demos" under 4 conditions:

1. First, the car was covered by the manufacturer's new warranty at the time it was delivered to the owner.

2. The car was purchased, leased or transferred within the first 18,000 miles or two years from the original date of delivery.

3. The car should be purchased, leased or transferred in New York and presently registered there.

4. The vehicle is primarily used for personal purposes. The definition of personal includes using the car to do household errands, drive to and from work. You can however use the car for business and it will still be covered under the lemon law as long as personal use is predominant.

Just like the state of California, New York allows motor homes to be covered under this law however inclusive items like the appliances, fixtures, systems and other parts that are residential in nature are not protected. Motor vehicles and off road vehicles are not also covered. Leased cars are covered only if the lessee is responsible for the repairs.

If you suspect that your car is a lemon, you must immediately report this matter to the manufacturer or authorized dealer. Under the law, the notice given to the dealer is considered also a notice to the manufacturer.

During this time, the dealer has to conduct the necessary repairs. If they refuse to do so, another letter must be written and this time addressed to the manufacturer which must be completed within the next 20 days. If the problem is not repaired after reasonable attempts, the manufacturer or dealer has no choice but to refund the full purchase or offer a comparable replacement unit. The decision is up to the customer.

If you are getting a refund, this includes the price of the car, title and registration fees as well as any other governmental charges. There may be some deductions if the car has traveled more than 12,000 miles but less than that, there are none. Should the lemon car be leased, the refund is divided between you and the leasing company.

Those of you who choose to get a comparable replacement car should know that what you get in exchange for the lemon car is usually the same model and year as well as approximately the same mileage as the one being replaced.

But before a refund or a replacement car is given, you have the choice of participating in an arbitration program or suing the manufacturer and taking this matter to court. If the manufacturer has an arbitration procedure, you have to participate in this first. This consists of a hearing and a decision will be made after 10 days.

If you go to court, this will take some time but should you end up in winning, you can recover the amount you spend on attorney fees.

The lemon law of New York does not have a specific number of repairs which qualify the car as being considered a lemon however, four instances (or greater) within the span of two years may be the ideal number. If this happens, you should just document it by keeping a copy of the work orders, repair bills and correspondence.

Questions and Explanations:

1) Quick - the word Lemon - what do you think - sweet, sour, bitter, happy ? For most people lemons are sour and unpleasant. Now based on that idea or viewpoint what do you think the Lemon Law is ? Why is it called a Lemon Law ?  

2) When we remedy something we fix it. What is something that you have remedied in the recent past ? What is something that needs to remedied in you life ? How about business or education ? How about your city or country ?

For example these days in the United States there is a lot of talk to remedy the national health care system.

3) When someone is liable for something what does that mean ?  Have you ever heard of liability insurance ? Who would buy that ? What would it cover ?

4) When something conforms what are we saying ? For example which sentence is correct :

A) All students must conform with the rules or they are out.
B) All students must be conformed or they cannot come.

The answer is "A" in choice "B" the word should be confirmed. To conform means to go along with, to not object.

5) Lessee and Lessor - Lessee is the one who is borrowing, Lessor is the one who is loaning. When you do a long term rental for a car which party are you ?

6) Title - in this case the word title DOES NOT mean the name of an article or something. It is a document which provides legal proof of ownership. In the U.S. in order to legally transfer something you must provide a title during transfer. In addition you should provide a clean title, this means there are no legal issues on that property such as liens, or other claims. How about in your country - does your country have such procedures to help protect buyers ?

7) Deductions - What is a deduction ? This is a common word in business.For example let's deduct last night's entertainment bill from our income. Or, The cost of these goods must be deducted from our gross revenue. 

8) Arbitration -  suing -  hearing - all three of these terms are related to legal activity. A hearing is an activity of judicial practice to hear the situation, where the parties involved in claim against each other speak their positions.  Arbitration is legal activity outside of court, whereas suing - to sue someone - is an activity of legal action within the court system.