Illinois Lemon Law

1. Illinois Lemon Law
2. Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act
3. Uniform Commercial Code

Illinois Lemon Law

815 ILCS 380/1

Sec. 1. This Act shall be known and may be cited as the New Vehicle Buyer Protection Act.
(Source: P.A. 85-1350.)

815 ILCS 380/2

Sec. 2. Definitions. For the purposes of this Act, the following words have the meanings ascribed to them in this Section.
(a) "Consumer" means an individual who purchases or leases for a period of at least one year a new vehicle from the seller for the purposes of transporting himself and others, as well as their personal property, for primarily personal, household or family purposes.
(b) "Express warranty" has the same meaning, for the purposes of this Act, as it has for the purposes of the Uniform Commercial Code.
(c) "New vehicle" means a passenger car, as defined in Section 1-157 of The Illinois Vehicle Code, a motor vehicle of the Second Division having a weight of under 8,000 pounds, as defined in Section 1-146 of that Code, and a recreational vehicle, except for a camping trailer or travel trailer that does not qualify under the definition of a used motor vehicle, as set forth in Section 1-216 of that Code.
(d) "Nonconformity" refers to a new vehicle's failure to conform to all express warranties applicable to such vehicle, which failure substantially impairs the use, market value or safety of that vehicle.
(e) "Seller" means the manufacturer of a new vehicle, that
manufacturer's agent or distributor or that manufacturer's authorized dealer. "Seller" also means, with respect to a new vehicle which is also a modified vehicle, as defined in Section 1-144.1 of The Illinois Vehicle Code, as now or hereafter amended, the person who modified the vehicle and that person's agent or distributor or that person's
authorized dealer. "Seller" also means, with respect to leased new vehicles, the manufacturer, that manufacturer's agent or distributor or that manufacturer's dealer, who transfers the right to possession and use of goods under a lease.
(f) "Statutory warranty period" means the period of one year or 12,000 miles, whichever occurs first after the date of the delivery of a new vehicle to the consumer who purchased or leased it.
(g) "Lease cost" includes deposits, fees, taxes, down payments, periodic payments, and any other amount paid to a seller by a consumer in connection with the lease of a new vehicle.
(Source: P.A. 89-375, eff. 8-18-95.)

815 ILCS 380/3

Sec. 3. Failure of vehicle to conform; remedies; presumptions.
(a) If after a reasonable number of attempts the seller is unable to conform the new vehicle to any of its applicable express warranties, the manufacturer shall either provide the consumer with a new vehicle of like model line, if available, or otherwise a comparable motor vehicle as a replacement, or accept the return of the vehicle from the consumer and refund to the consumer the full purchase price or lease cost of the new vehicle, including all collateral charges, less a reasonable allowance for consumer use of the vehicle. For purposes of this Section, "collateral charges" does not include taxes paid by the
purchaser on the initial purchase of the new vehicle. The retailer who initially sold the vehicle may file a claim for credit for taxes paid pursuant to the terms of Sections 6, 6a, 6b, and 6c of the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act. Should the vehicle be converted, modified or altered in a way other than the manufacturer's original design, the
party which performed the conversion or modification shall be liable under the provisions of this Act, provided the part or parts causing the vehicle not to perform according to its warranty were altered or modified.
(b) A presumption that a reasonable number of attempts have been undertaken to conform a new vehicle to its express warranties shall arise where, within the statutory warranty period,
(1) the same nonconformity has been subject to repair by the seller, its agents or authorized dealers during the statutory warranty period, 4 or more times, and such nonconformity continues to exist; or
(2) the vehicle has been out of service by reason of repair of nonconformities for a total of 30 or more business days during the statutory warranty period.
(c) A reasonable allowance for consumer use of a vehicle is that amount directly attributable to the wear and tear incurred by the new vehicle as a result of its having been used prior to the first report of a nonconformity to the seller, and during any subsequent period in which it is not out of service by reason of repair.
(d) The fact that a new vehicle's failure to conform to an express warranty is the result of abuse, neglect or unauthorized modifications or alterations is an affirmative defense to claims brought under this Act.
(e) The statutory warranty period of a new vehicle shall be suspended for any period of time during which repair services are not available to the consumer because of a war, invasion or strike, or a fire, flood or other natural disaster.
(f) Refunds made pursuant to this Act shall be made to the consumer, and lien holder if any exists, as their respective interests appear.
(g) For the purposes of this Act, a manufacturer sells a new vehicle to a consumer when he provides that consumer with a replacement vehicle pursuant to subsection (a).
(h) In no event shall the presumption herein provided apply against a manufacturer, his agent, distributor or dealer unless the manufacturer has received prior direct written notification from or on behalf of the consumer, and has an opportunity to correct the alleged defect.
(Source: P.A. 89-359, eff. 8-17-95; 89-375, eff. 8-18-95; 89-626, eff.
8-9-96.)

815 ILCS 380/4

Sec. 4. (a) The provisions of subsection (a) of Section 3 shall not apply unless the consumer has first resorted to an informal settlement procedure applicable to disputes to which that subsection would apply where
(1) The manufacturer of the new vehicle has established such a procedure;
(2) The procedure conforms:
(i) substantially with the provisions of Title 16, Code of Federal Regulation, Part 703, as from time to time amended, and (ii) to the requirements of subsection (c); and
(3) The consumer has received from the seller adequate written notice of the existence of the procedure.
Adequate written notice includes but is not limited to the
incorporation of the informal dispute settlement procedure into the terms of the written warranty to which the vehicle does not conform.
(b) If the consumer is dissatisfied with the decision reached in an informal dispute settlement procedure or the results of such a decision, he may bring a civil action to enforce his rights under subsection (a) of Section 3. The decision reached in the informal dispute settlement procedure is admissible in such a civil action. The period of
limitations for a civil action to enforce a consumer's rights or remedies under subsection (a) of Section 3 shall be extended for a period equal to the number of days the subject matter of the civil action was pending in the informal dispute settlement procedure.
(c) A disclosure of the decision in an informal dispute settlement procedure shall include notice to the consumer of the provisions of subsection (b).
(Source: P.A. 85-1350.)

815 ILCS 380/5

Sec. 5. Persons electing to proceed and settle under this Act shall be barred from a separate cause of action under the Uniform Commercial Code.
(Source: P.A. 85-1350.)

815 ILCS 380/6

Sec. 6. Any action brought under this Act shall be commenced within eighteen months following the date of original delivery of the motor vehicle to the consumer.
(Source: P.A. 83-768.)

815 ILCS 380/7

Sec. 7. The seller who sells a new vehicle to a consumer, shall, upon delivery of that vehicle to the consumer, provide the consumer with a written statement clearly and conspicuously setting forth in full detail the consumer's rights under subsection (a) of Section 3, and the
presumptions created by subsection (b) of that Section.
(Source: P.A. 85-1350.)

815 ILCS 380/8

Sec. 8. This Act shall apply to motor vehicles beginning with the
model year following the effective date of this Act.
(Source: P.A. 83-768.)

Magnuson-Moss Warranty-Federal Trade Commission ACT [Top]

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act is a federal Law that protects the buyer of any product which costs more than $25 and comes with an express written warranty. This law applies to any product that you buy that does not perform as it should.

The Magnuson-Moss Act is a federal law giving consumers considerable rights in dealing with manufacturers and car-dealers of lemon automobiles. This law guarantees a car buyer that certain minimum requirements of warranties must be met, and provides for disclosure of warranties before purchase.

Regarding "lemon cars", this law greatly affects the rights of car buyers. For any product which has a written warranty, if any part of the product, or the product itself is considered defective, the warrantor must permit the buyer the choice of either a refund or replacement of the product.

We have argued successfully to juries that the lemon manufacturers and car-dealers should be given three (3) attempts to fix the defect. Continued attempts to repair beyond the initial three (3) should not be allowed. We call this the "three strikes and you're out" principle.

A consumer may pursue legal action in any court of general jurisdiction in the United States to enforce his rights under the Magnuson-Moss Act. Attorney's fees based on actual time spent will be covered if the consumer prevails.

Due to this particular condition, there is quite a bit of financial pressure on the manufacturer to settle consumer disputes before going to court, as this would keep their expenses down.

UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE [Top]

TARR BABY-The Uniform Commercial Code or UCC has been enacted in all 50 states and some of the territories of the United States. It is the primary source of law in all contracts dealing with the sale of products. The “TARR” refers to Tender, Acceptance, Rejection, Revocation and applies to different aspects of the consumer's "relationship" with the purchased goods.

TENDER-The tender provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code contained in Section 2-601 provide that the buyer is entitled to reject any goods that fail in any respect to conform to the contract. Unfortunately, new cars are often technically complex and their innermost workings are beyond the understanding of the average new car buyer. The buyer, therefore, does not know whether the goods are non-conforming.

ACCEPTANCE-The new car buyer accepts the goods believing and expecting that the manufacturer will repair any problem he has with the goods under the warranty.

REJECTION-The new car buyer may discover a problem with the vehicle within the first few miles of his purchase. This would allow the new car buyer to reject the goods. If the new car buyer discovers a defect in the car within a reasonable time of inspecting the vehicle, he may reject the vehicle. This period is not defined. On the one hand, the buyer must be given a reasonable time to inspect and that reasonable time to inspect will be held as an acceptance of the vehicle. The courts will decide this reasonable time to inspect based on the knowledge and experience of the buyer, the difficulty in discovering the defect, and the opportunity to discover the defect.

REVOCATION- What happens when the consumer has used the new car for a lengthy period of time? This is the typical lemon car case. The UCC provides that a buyer may revoke his acceptance of goods whose non-conformity substantially impairs the value of the goods to him when he has accepted the goods without discovery of a non-conformity because it was difficult to discover or if he was assured that non-conformities would be repaired. Of course, the average new car buyer does not learn of the non-conformity until hundreds of thousands of miles later. And because quality is job one, and manufacturers are competing on the basis of their warranties, the consumer is always assured that any non-conformities he does discover will be remedied.

Note: The author of the sections on the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and the Uniform Commercial Code is T. Michael Flynn of www.defect.com.