Few things may be more exciting than purchasing a new car from any one of Charleston’s many dealerships. That new car smell you enjoy as you drive your vehicle home serves as a confirmation that your days of worrying about car troubles are over. Perhaps that is why it is so disheartening when issues do immediately begin to arise with a new vehicle. Your warranty protection ensures that such issues should be addressed by the dealership (or its agents) at no unreasonable additional cost to you. Yet you may find that service technicians are not miracle workers.
If repeated attempts to fix your car by a service professional are unsuccessful, that may speak to a manufacturing defect. That is where the protection afforded to you by the state’s “lemon law” kicks in. If a vehicle manufacturer (or the technicians employed through its local retailers) are unable to fix the problems you are experiencing with your car (either in the time it is covered under the manufacturer’s warranty or up to one year afterwards) within three attempts, it is required to provide you with a new, fully functioning vehicle.
If the manufacturer does not fulfill that obligation, section 46A-6A-4 of the West Virginia Code states that you may recover the following damages through a lawsuit:
- A full refund of the vehicle’s purchase price, including sales tax as well as license and registration fees
- The cost of repairs required to return the vehicle to warranty conformity condition
- Any damages due to the loss of the vehicle, as well as any annoyances or inconveniences you were made to endure
- Your legal expenses
You must initiate any action citing the state’s lemon law within one year of the expiration date of the vehicle’s manufacturer warranty.
