Unless the manufacturer’s written warranty expressly limits itself to the first purchaser, any subsequent car owner has rights under the manufacturer’s original written warranty.12 If certain parts are covered for five years under the warranty, and a car is sold after four years, the subsequent owner has rights under the warranty’s final year.
Manufacturers offer written warranties on some used cars, even when the factory warranty is no longer in effect, as when a consumer purchases a car that the manufacturer had previously bought back under a state lemon law or as a goodwill gesture.
Used car dealers provide assurances in writing that constitute UCC express warranties more often than might be imagined.
A number of jurisdictions restrict or prohibit disclaimers of implied warranties for consumer goods more generally, typically applying as well to used cars. California, the District of Columbia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oregon, and West Virginia have particularly significant restrictions.
Courts consistently uphold lemon laws against constitutional challenges.15 Courts have rejected constitutional challenges based on the Commerce Clause,16 even when the state lemon law is applicable to vehicles purchased in another state.17 The Eighth Circuit has ruled that a lemon law did not amount to a taking of private property without due process of law.18
The typical state lemon law applies to defects discovered in the first year or two after a new car’s purchase. New car warranties usually exceed the lemon law period, but nonetheless expire after a period of years. This section summarizes consumer remedies when a defect is not discovered until after these periods expire.
A significant number of new car sales are accompanied by the sale of a service contract, an extended warranty, or mechanical breakdown insurance. For an additional charge, the consumer obtains coverage for defects in addition to or beyond the term of the written warranty.
When trying a motor home case, prepare the jury for any terms used in the motor home industry that are not common knowledge. Prepare evidence that shows that the impairment is substantial. Many owners experience some problems with their motor homes. A jury that has some familiarity with motor home problems will want to know why the problems with the plaintiff’s home were so substantial as to justify the relief sought.
The manufacturer’s district representative may be the most appropriate deponent in an automobile lemon case. Obtain the basic documents through a request for production of documents before this deposition. The notice of deposition should ask for the same documents, plus the deponent’s own file on the car. Even if copies of the relevant documents have already been produced, review the originals, as there is often helpful material on the reverse sides.
Repair technicians who worked on the car at the dealership are often useful witnesses. They are likely to believe that the reason the car could not be repaired, despite all their efforts, is that the car has a manufacturing defect. Establish with a repair technician that:
This section provides a list of notable topics that may arise in automobile sales and finance transactions, and also pinpoints the subsections where these topics are discussed in this and other NCLC treatises. It is recommended that users view this checklist in this treatise’s digital edition, which provides live weblinks to these related subsections.
The legislative history, although relatively scant, includes helpful passages.6 Other resources for interpreting the Act are the FTC rules, set out at 16 C.F.R.
The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act applies to transactions involving a “consumer product,” defined as “any tangible personal property which is distributed in commerce and which is normally used for personal, family or household purposes,”24 and manufactured after July 4, 1975.25 The Act applies equally to new and used consumer products.26 Any ambiguity as to whether a particular product is covered is resolved in favor of coverage.
A product need not be exclusively used, but only “normally” used, for personal, family, or household purposes.32 The product can have other uses if the product is “normally” used for personal, family, or household purposes. Few products have only personal, family, or household uses.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) stated at one point that “general aviation aircraft” were not consumer products because no appreciable portion of new aircraft were sold to consumers; it deleted “small aircraft” from a list of consumer products.53 While an unreported district court decision agrees,54 the Seventh Circuit, in dictum, soundly rejected any blanket rule that would exclude all airplanes.55 The court pointed out that more consumers were
Several courts hold that prosthetic heart valves and other medical devices are not consumer products.57 Medical devices are not customarily made directly available to consumers but are surgically implanted by medical professionals, who first purchase the product.
The Act does not apply to services, only consumer products.77 Warranties which relate to the quality of a repairer’s work in performing repairs, such as a warranty on the rebuilding of an automobile engine, are not covered.78 A written warranty on both the parts and the labor, such as one relating to the rebuilding of an engine and the parts, does involve a product, and thus the Act applies.79 Ambiguity as to whether the warranty applies to parts s
The Act’s remedies extend only to “a consumer”84 and the term plays a role in other Act definitions and in certain substantive prohibitions. The Act includes a three-pronged definition of consumer:
Many provisions of the Act apply to “written warranties.” The Act contains its own definition of written warranty, which is more limited than the term “express warranty” under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC).96 The warranty must be written, so oral express warranties and express warranties by sample or model are not written warranties. A written warranty must meet one of two conditions:
Courts have held that the following are not written warranties:
The Act provides that expressions of general policy concerning customer satisfaction are not subject to Sections 2302, 2303 or 2304 of the Act, which govern disclosure of warranty terms, pre-sale availability, tie-ins, designation of warranties as “full” or “limited,” and standards for full warranties.150 If the policy is not general, but is limited to specific consumer products, even these provisions apply.151 A general policy that includes an express limitation of duration, a limitation on the
Buyers of used goods may not receive a printed warranty; the sales contract may state the goods are covered by, for example, a “thirty-day 50/50 warranty on parts and labor” or a “thirty-day warranty.” Is this a written warranty?
It may be if the statement is a promise that the goods will be free of defects in the first thirty days. While the warranty may not explicitly promise that the goods are defect free or will meet a specified level of performance, such a standard is implicit, as repairs are required only if a product has a defect or malfunctions.