Colorado Lemon Law
Colorado Revised Statutes § 42-10-101 et seq.
By seeking information about your consumer rights and the professionals that can help you assert your rights, you have taken the first important step in standing up for yourself and getting what you paid for. Many people mistakenly believe that when their new vehicles have repairs made under warranty for “free” there is no violation of the law, even if they have to get warranty repairs repeatedly or the repairs take too much time. The Colorado Lemon Law* says otherwise.
You are entitled to Lemon Law protection when your vehicle has been in the shop for an unreasonable number of repairs or an unreasonable amount of time.
Consumers have a right to recovery regardless of the cost of repairs.
The Colorado Lemon Law protects consumers of cars, trucks, and vans.** The Law protects a consumer when his/her vehicle exhibits a defect or condition that negatively affects the vehicle’s use, value, or safety. You are entitled to Lemon Law protection when the vehicle has been in the shop for an unreasonable number of repairs or an unreasonable amount of time. Even if the vehicle is presumably fixed by the last repair visit, the unreasonable repair history and headaches you suffered are not just simply erased; you still have a right to recovery.
There are many ways to establish an unreasonable repair history.
What constitutes an unreasonable number of repairs or an unreasonable amount of time in the shop is determined objectively by using what an average person would consider unreasonable under the circumstances.
To assist consumers, the Lemon Law provides a presumption in favor of consumers when a vehicle has been in the shop a certain amount of times or a certain number of days. According to the Lemon Law, it is legally presumed that a manufacturer had a reasonable opportunity to repair your vehicle when, either, your vehicle has had four or more repairs for the same problem, or, if the vehicle was out of service for 30 or more total days as a result of all its different repairs.
Please note this is just a legal presumption added to help consumers like you prove Lemon Law claims, it is not a barrier to a valid claim.
In fact, you may still have a valid Lemon Law case even if your vehicle does not meet the presumption, as long as the repair history is such that average consumer like yourself would consider the number of repairs or days in the shop unreasonable under the circumstances.
Consumers are also protected under federal law.
The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C. §2301 et seq. (“MMWA”) is a federal law (basically a federal Lemon Law) that applies to all consumer product written warranties In other words, if your vehicle experienced defects that were covered or repairs attempted via the manufacturer’s written warranty, you may be entailed to protection. The Statute protects vehicles that have timed out of the Lemon Law and older warranted vehicles that would normally not be included in the State Lemon Law. Where applicable, both the Lemon Law and MMWA are used simultaneously to aid consumers.
If you feel like you’ve suffered enough because of your defective vehicle, please submit the information requested in our FREE CASE REVIEW. We can help you determine whether the repair history merits a claim for recovery.
Consumers have many choices for relief and recovery.
Under the Colorado Lemon Law, you may be entitled to a refund of the purchase price (minus a reasonable usage fee) or a comparable new replacement of the “Lemon” vehicle.
Our Firm may also be able to negotiate a cash compensation settlement for you along with full payment of attorneys’ fees as an alternative to a repurchase or replacement if you prefer to keep your vehicle and obtain extra cash.
These remedies and recoveries are available to you regardless of whether the repairs were “free” under the vehicle’s warranty. Because your claim is based on the overall history of defects and warranty repair visits, you may also have a legal claim and right to seek recovery despite the manufacturer’s or the dealership’s insistence that your vehicle is finally fixed.
Consumers can make a claim and obtain relief and recovery without going to court.
Most claims are resolved by our Firm out of court and recovery is obtained for the consumer without the need for litigation.
If a consumer voluntarily decides to pursue litigation rather than accepting a settlement out of court, the Consumer Rights Protection Center is knowledgeable, experienced, and will prosecute your claim with diligence. Unlike other Firms that may not be interested or willing to litigate, our attorneys have fully and successfully litigated cases and prevailed against the car companies at trial and in the Court of Appeals.
However, most claims do not need to go to litigation in order to obtain recovery and are resolved out of court. The resolution and recovery by our clients without having to go to court is facilitated by our diligence, proven record of success in court, and earned respect from manufacturers and dealerships. Our 98 % record of success is also based on the fact that we carefully analyze and vet claims; we do not offer our representation unless we reasonably believe that a claim is valid and will result in recovery for the consumer. Once representation for you a claim is accepted, we will assert your rights on your behalf and aggressively pursue a resolution for you. Your main responsibility during the out of court recovery process will be to confer with your attorney via phone or e-mail regarding settlement offers, which takes very little of your time.
The federal law provides for the recovery of attorneys’ fees by consumers that prevail their actions. Settlement of a claim is considered prevailing for the purposes of the fees provision in the Law. Accordingly, you can obtain recovery and receive the benefit of pre-litigation legal representation without paying out of pocket, as attorneys’ fees are requested from the manufacturer as part of all settlements.
If you feel like you’ve suffered enough with the defects and problems in your Lemon vehicle, we are here to help. You do not have to keep putting up with getting your defective vehicle repaired over and over again, or for way too long. You do not have to keep putting up with getting the run around from the dealership or the manufacturer. Remember, the law specifically entitles you to have your attorneys’ fees paid by the other side when you have a Lemon vehicle so you can get the help of an attorney and not be taken advantage of. You can finally say “enough is enough” by submitting your vehicle information for a FREE CASE REVIEW. If it is legally possible, we will get you out of this problem.
