Used Car Wheelchair Lemon Law Frequently Asked Questions
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Find Out if You Have a Claim
Click here to submit a no obligation evaluation or call 609-714-2020.
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What is the New Jersey Wheelchair Lemon Law?
A "lemon" vehicle is one that exhibits a substantial problem or problems following repair attempts made to it. Motorized wheelchairs and scooters can cost up to $20,000.00. Accordingly, New Jersey’s lawmakers decided that the public should be protected from lemon motorized wheelchairs and scooters by having a right to sue the vehicle’s manufacturer for a refund of the vehicle’s purchase or lease price, less a reasonable use allowance deduction. Under New Jersey’s Wheelchair Lemon Law, manufacturers must provide the buyers of wheelchairs and scooters a minimum warranty of 1 year beginning from the time of delivery for defects or conditions impairing the vehicle’s value.
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Who is subject to the New Jersey Wheelchair Lemon Law's penalties?
Under the New Jersey Wheelchair Lemon Law, only manufacturers are penalized for failing to comply with the Law -- persons who manufacture or assemble motorized wheelchairs and agents of that person, including an importer, a distributor, factory branch, distributor branch and any warrantors of the manufacturer's motorized wheelchairs. Thus, dealers are excluded from penalties under the New Jersey Wheelchair Lemon Law.
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Does my wheelchair qualify under the New Jersey Wheelchair Lemon Law?
For the New Jersey Wheelchair Lemon Law to apply, the buyer’s vehicle has to meet the following requirements:
- Be a new or "demonstrator" wheelchair; or
- Be a motorized scooter designed primarily for indoor use, or
- Be a retrofitted power unit intended to motorize a wheelchair; and
- If a wheelchair or motorized scooter, be designed to help promote independent living and mobility for medical reasons; and be purchased or leased in New Jersey after 1996.
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Is my wheelchair a "lemon" under the New Jersey Wheelchair Lemon Law?
- During the first 1 year following delivery, the wheelchair must have a defect substantially impairing the vehicle’s use, value or safety; and
- The vehicle’s defect must either:
- be unable to be fixed by the manufacturer’s authorized dealer after a reasonable number of repair attempts for the same defect [3 attempts]; or
- place the vehicle out of service for 20 or more days.
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What must the manufacturer do under the New Jersey Wheelchair Lemon Law?
- Provide the buyers of wheelchairs and scooters a minimum warranty of 1 year beginning from the time of delivery for defects or conditions impairing the vehicle’s value.
- If a new motorized wheelchair does not conform to an applicable express warranty and the consumer reports the nonconformity to the manufacturer, the motorized wheelchair lessor or any of the manufacturer's authorized motorized wheelchair dealers and makes the motorized wheelchair available for repair before one year after first delivery of the motorized wheelchair to a consumer, the nonconformity shall be repaired at no charge to the consumer by the manufacturer.
- If unable to fix the vehicle’s material defect after at least 3 attempts, or if the vehicle was out of service for 20 days while the manufacturer or its dealer was trying to fix it, the manufacturer, at the direction of a consumer (other than a consumer who leases a motorized wheelchair from a motorized wheelchair dealer) do either of the following:
- Accept return of the motorized wheelchair and replace the motorized wheelchair with a comparable new motorized wheelchair and refund any collateral costs; or
- Accept return of the motorized wheelchair and refund to the consumer and to any holder of a perfected security interest in the consumer's motorized wheelchair, as their interest may appear, the full purchase price plus any finance charge amount paid by the consumer at the point of sale and collateral costs, less a reasonable allowance for use.
- With respect only to a consumer who has leased a motorized wheelchair from a wheelchair lessor, accept return of the motorized wheelchair, refund to the motorized wheelchair lessor and to any holder of a perfected security interest in the motorized wheelchair, as their interest may appear, the current value of the written lease and refund to the consumer the amount that the consumer paid under the written lease plus any collateral costs, less a reasonable allowance for use.
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How do I get relief under the New Jersey Wheelchair Lemon Law?
If the manufacturer or its dealership or authorized repair facility is unable or unwilling to fix the vehicle within a reasonable period of time and refuses to provide a replacement or refund, the buyer can file a lawsuit against the manufacturer in the Superior Court of New Jersey. If the buyer wins the lawsuit, the buyer can recover money damages, including 2 times the amount of their monetary loss, as well as attorney’s fees and court costs. There is also an administrative legal process (an alternative to the Superior Court -- see discussion on Lemon Unit claims below).
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Should I file a claim with the lemon law unit?
You are not required to file a claim with the Lemon Law Unit. If you file a claim with the Lemon Law Unit, you do not receive a trial by jury. However, if you or your attorney file a civil complaint in the Superior Court of New Jersey and properly demand a jury and your case is not dismissed before the jury deliberates, a jury of your peers decides whether you win or lose your case. Under New Jersey Law, if citizens have a valid case, they have a right to have their civil complaint decided by a jury. A Lemon Unit claim is decided by a single administrative law judge instead of by a jury of your peers. Who would you rather have decide your case? A judge alone or a jury of your peers? Another disadvantage to the Lemon Law Unit is that, while you may have more than one claim against the manufacturer (and thus multiple ways of recovering damages), you may bring only one type of claim against the manufacturer in the Lemon Law Unit proceeding. If you attempt to handle a claim by yourself through the Lemon Law Unit, you may lose your claim by failing to follow the required procedures or by failing to present sufficient proofs at any hearing. Usually manufacturers are represented by attorneys who are more familiar than you with such claims and quite often, consumers who represent themselves before the Lemon Law Unit fail to prove their claim.
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Do I have to start a claim with arbitration before filing a lawsuit?
Absolutely not. Under the New Jersey Wheelchair Lemon Law, if the manufacturer has its own dispute settlement or arbitration program, the buyer does not have to participate in it before filing a lawsuit against the manufacturer. Even if the buyer decides to participate in such a program, if dissatisfied with the result, the buyer may be able to file a lawsuit against the manufacturer. However, by deciding to proceed with an arbitration process before filing a lawsuit, many people waste much time and effort that could be better spent proceeding with a lawsuit. Often, Lemon Law dispute resolution programs increase rather than decrease the time it takes to resolve a case.
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How do I prove my case under the New Jersey Wheelchair Lemon Law?
- As soon as you notice that your vehicle has a defect, you must report the defect to the manufacturer or its dealership immediately and arrange for it to be repaired by them or their authorized repair facility. You must give the manufacturer or their authorized repair facility at least 3 chances to fix the same problem to the vehicle or 20 cumulative days to repair it.
- When you get your vehicle repaired, before leaving the dealership or their authorized repair facility, you should ask for a repair invoice listing what was done to your vehicle. If the dealer or the repair facility refuses to give you an invoice, for each repair attempt or inspection of your vehicle by the dealer, you should keep a record of the date when the vehicle was brought in, each and every problem you complained of on that date and the date when the vehicle left the dealer or their authorized repair facility.
- Once you become entitled to a refund or replacement vehicle, to receive it, you must offer to transfer possession of the motorized wheelchair having the nonconformity to its manufacturer. No later than 30 days after that offer, the manufacturer must provide you with the comparable new motorized wheelchair or refund. When the manufacturer provides the new motorized wheelchair or refund, you must return the motorized wheelchair having the nonconformity to the manufacturer, along with any endorsements necessary to transfer legal possession to the manufacturer.
- You shall lose your case if the dealer proves one of the following:
- The vehicle has no defects.
- The vehicle’s defect does not substantially impair the vehicle's use, value, or safety.
- The vehicle’s defect is the result of your failing to maintain, abusing, neglecting, modifying or altering the vehicle.
- You failed to give the manufacturer a reasonable number of chances to fix the vehicle.
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Should I try to handle my case without a lawyer?
Since legal proceedings can be very complex, since all or most manufacturers use attorneys to defend Lemon Law cases and since the New Jersey Lemon Law permits successful claimants to recover reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs from the manufacturer, there is little benefit to a consumer trying to handle a Lemon Law case without being represented by an attorney. Indeed, it is often quite easy for manufacturers’ attorneys to defeat consumers who try to handle Lemon Law cases without an attorney. Also, if you try to represent yourself, you may fail to take an important step (miss a deadline, fail to complete crucial paperwork, etc.) and jeopardize your case.
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Should I wait to see if the vehicle is fixed?
If your vehicle has been at the manufacturer’s dealership at least 30 or more cumulative days for repairs for the same problem or has been subject to repair 3 times for the same problem, you should not wait any longer to ask an attorney to evaluate your claim. Legal proceedings may take time to be concluded and thus, the longer you wait to find out you have a case (or if you have a valid case, to stat the process), the longer you shall likely have to wait to conclude your case. Delay could hurt your case.
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If I financed the vehicle's purchase, can I stop making payments?
It is generally very, very risky for a consumer to decide to stop making payments on a vehicle simply because it doesn’t work well or even if it doesn’t work at all. Failing to make payments on a vehicle could result in: (1) the credit of everyone on the vehicle’s loan being damaged; (2) the vehicle being repossessed; (3) everyone on the vehicle’s loan being sued; (4) ultimately, in a money judgment being entered against you, which may even exceed the vehicle's purchase price. Failing to make payments on the vehicle’s loan could make a bad situation much, much worse. Always consult with an attorney before deciding to stop making payments on a vehicle loan.
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What if the dealer or manufacturer says I don't have a case?
Ignore them and seek competent legal advice. Only attorneys licensed in New Jersey to practice law are permitted to give legal advice and only they are able to evaluate if you have a valid claim. Until you speak with an attorney who is knowledgeable about this area of the law, do not draw any conclusions, regardless of what you heard from non-attorneys or read on the web.
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What will happen if I do nothing?
If you have a valid claim and you do nothing to enforce your rights, you shall be stuck with your defective vehicle and the seller, manufacturer or warranty provider shall get the best of you. There are strict time limits for perfecting and filing certain legal claims. Do not try to interpret the law by reading a website!
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What if I think my facts do not fit the lemon law?
You should always speak with an attorney before coming to any conclusions about your claim. Do not try to interpret the law by reading a website! However, even if the facts of your case do not fit the requirements of the Lemon Law, you may be entitled to sue the manufacturer or its selling dealer for a breach of your warranties under other state and federal laws. Click here to learn about Breach of Warranty claims.
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How do I find out if I have a case?
Click here to submit a free evaluation or call 609-714-2020.
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