The Lemon Law in Illinois

The Illinois Lemon Law is also known as the Illinois's New Vehicle Buyer Protection Act. It protects the customer who bought or leased a new car, pickup, truck or van as long as this does not exceed 8,000 pounds. There are no warranties here but it provides people a remedy if the dealer fails to live up to its commitment.

Leased vehicles are also covered under the lemon law as long as this was leased for 4 months and that 40% of the time this is used for personal, family or household use. It does not cover used cars, altered or modified vehicles, motorcycles and boats.

The statutory warranty period where the lemon law applies is to vehicles for one year or 12,000 miles whichever comes first. If the warranty expires, then the law no longer applies. However, if the warranty expires, the dealer is still required to fix it because this was first reported during the warranty period.

If the manufacturer is not able to fix the problem after repeated attempts, the law states that the customer has the right to go to the manufacturer’s arbitration program or to court in order to get a full refund or a replacement vehicle.

For this to work, the customer must give the manufacturer at least 4 chances to fix the defect, more than once if this involves the steering or braking system that is likely to cause serious injury or death or the vehicle has been out of service for more than 30 business days.

You should keep accurate records so this can be presented if it comes to a point where you have to fight the manufacturer for it.

A final letter is written to the manufacturer for them to repair the defect. If they fail to correct it, you can claim a refund or a replacement through a third party dispute resolution program. Your car manual should give you an idea how this works.

Sadly, nothing will happen if you are dealing with the dealer because they will do their best to stonewall your claim or at worse, the decision will favor the manufacturer.

They may even say that the problem you are experiencing is minor and that you do not qualify under the lemon law for any sort of relief. You shouldn’t feel discouraged when this happens because this is another tactic they do.

The only person that can make that determination is a lawyer so head on over the to the Illinois Attorney General’s office so they can recommend someone who can help you with this problem if you don’t know anyone. If you are not sure about this person, ask first for a free consultation.

Here, you can ask how long has he or she been practicing lemon law cases, how much is their fee, will they be able to refer a few previous clients and can they estimate how long the case will take.

You should know that when you file a civil action in court, the decision made during the third party dispute resolution program is admissible.

If after everything you are able to win your claim, you will likely receive a vehicle of similar like and value or the manufacturer will buy back the vehicle from you less than value of the mileage driven.