Utah Lemon Laws for Used Cars: What to Know
When you’re out shopping for a car, there are a lot of different styles, colors, makes, and models to choose from. What you’re looking for is up to you. No matter who you are though, you definitely don’t want a car that outright does not work.
Thankfully, Utah likely has you covered on this front with its lemon laws that help protect you from buying a faulty vehicle. Going through the process of evaluating your purchase and potentially having to return it under Utah’s lemon laws for used cars can seem daunting, but luckily, CoPilot is here to make it easier!
What is a Lemon?
A lemon is a car that doesn’t work properly due to some “nonconformity” that acts as a serious defect, significantly impairing the driver’s experience and ability to safely operate the vehicle, as well as the value of the vehicle.
If a new vehicle in Utah is replaced or repurchased by the manufacturer because of a nonconformity, the vehicle’s Utah title must be stamped with a “brand” that clearly states the vehicle’s quality as a “MANUFACTURER BUYBACK NONCONFORMING VEHICLE”.
Anyone that sells the car in the future, whether it’s the manufacturer, a dealer, or an individual seller, must be transparent in communicating to potential buyers that the car is a manufacturer buyback. Furthermore, a particular disclosure statement has to be included in any contract for the car’s sale or lease.
It’s important to note that not just any damage or defect will fall into the legal definition of a nonconformity. It only covers damage incurred by the actions of the manufacturer, authorized agent, or dealer, so if any other party damages or modifies the car in any way, it won’t count as a nonconformity.
You should also be aware that nonconformities have to seriously affect the car’s operation, so something small like a malfunctioning A/C system won’t cut it!
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Which Vehicles are Covered by Lemon Laws?
Under Utah’s lemon laws for used cars, most cars should qualify if they are new and purchased in the state of Utah. Unfortunately, this means that used cars are not covered at all. For a vehicle to be covered by the lemon laws in Utah, it must also be made to drive on highways and weigh under 12,000 pounds.
Most automobiles will meet these criteria easily. A motor vehicle such as a moped will not qualify because it isn’t meant to be operated on a highway, but a motorcycle would be just fine. Motor homes are partially covered. Certain parts of a motor home, like the chassis and the section that propels the home forward, qualify to be included in Utah’s lemon laws, but the cabin and living area do not.
Any noticeable malfunctions that might be considered a nonconformity must be reported within a year of purchasing the car or before the express warranty expires, whichever comes first. Even if the dealer’s repairs come after this time is up, as long as the issue was reported during it, the dealer still has to fix the car.
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What To Do Next
If your car seems to be a lemon, the first step is to report the malfunction within the time frame mentioned above. Reach out through the manufacturer’s dispute resolution process if you have any trouble. As long as you take care of this in a timely manner, the dealer is obligated to attempt to repair the issue within reasonable means.
In the occurrence of the dealer being unable to fix your car in a reasonable amount of attempts, they must offer you a full refund or a replacement car that’s sufficiently similar to the malfunctioning vehicle. A dealer’s repair attempts become unreasonable if the car has been out of commission due to repair for 30 collective days, or if the dealer has already tried to solve the car’s problem four or more times.
All this means that it’s not likely for you to wind up getting a refund or a replacement for your lemon. Most new cars are unlikely to have such a serious malfunction so early in their lifespan, and most problems can be repaired by the dealer pretty reliably.
However, it’s still important that you keep aware of the process and regulations regarding lemons in Utah, just in case this situation happens to you someday! Dealers can be tricky sometimes, so if they’re giving you the run-around, you can file a report with the Division of Consumer Protection.
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There are also attorneys out there that specialize in lemon laws that you can hire in the instance that a dealership does not comply with the lemon laws. In Utah, if you file a lawsuit against such a party and win, you will recover your attorney fees as well. On the other side of this same token, though, if the dealer wins, it can recover its own attorney fees against you, so the risk is relatively high for following this route.
With that being said, it’s still worth keeping in mind if you face serious injustice with a dealer.
Get a Curated List of the Best Used Cars Near You
For the easiest way to find reliable cars in your area, download the free CoPIlot car shopping app. Tell us what car you’re looking for and we’ll search every dealership in your area to create a personalized list of the best buys in your area. Built using the same technology that car dealerships use to buy and sell their inventory, CoPilot is the smartest and easiest way to buy a used vehicle.
If newer, off-lease vehicles are more your style, CoPilot Compare is the tool for you. Our search engine for nearly-new cars only shows you models that are 5 years or newer with low mileage so you can find the best listing in your area, broken down by how much you can save buying used vs. new.
What’s even better is that CoPilot doesn’t work with dealerships, so there are no ‘promoted’ or ‘sponsored’ listings - just the best cars in your area. Learn more about how CoPilot works on our About Us page.
