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CO Statutes
42-10-101 - 42-10-107 42-10-101
Definitions. As used in this article, unless the context otherwise requires: "Consumer" means the purchaser, other than for purposes of resale, of a motor vehicle normally used for personal, family, or household purposes, any person to whom such motor vehicle is transferred for the same purposes during the duration of a manufacturer's express warranty for such motor vehicle, and any other person entitled by the terms of such warranty to enforce the obligations of the warranty. "Motor vehicle" means a self-propelled private passenger vehicle, including pickup trucks and vans, designed primarily for travel on the public highways and used to carry not more than ten persons, which is sold to a consumer in this state; except that the term does not include motor homes as defined in section 42-1-102 (57) or vehicles designed to travel on three or fewer wheels in contact with the ground. "Warranty" means the written warranty, so labeled, of the manufacturer of a new motor vehicle, including any terms or conditions precedent to the enforcement of obligations under that warranty. 42-10-102 Repairs
to conform vehicle to warranty. If a motor vehicle does not conform to a warranty and the consumer reports the nonconformity to the manufacturer, its agent, or its authorized dealer during the term of such warranty or during a period of one year following the date of the original delivery of the motor vehicle to a consumer, whichever is the earlier date, the manufacturer, its agent, or its authorized dealer shall make such repairs as are necessary to conform the vehicle to such warranty, notwithstanding the The fact that such repairs are made after the expiration of such term or such one-year period. 42-10-103 Failure to conform vehicle to warranty - replacement or return of vehicle. If the manufacturer, its agent, or its authorized dealer is unable to conform the motor vehicle to the warranty by repairing or correcting the defect or condition which substantially impairs the use and market value of such motor vehicle after a reasonable number of attempts, the manufacturer shall, at its option, replace the motor vehicle with a comparable motor vehicle or accept return of the motor vehicle from the consumer and refund to the consumer the full purchase price, including the sales tax, license fees, and registration fees and any similar governmental charges, less a reasonable allowance for the consumer's use of the motor vehicle. Refunds shall be made to the consumer and lienholder, if any, as their interests may appear. A reasonable allowance for use shall be that amount directly attributable to use by the consumer and any previous consumer prior to the consumer's first written report of the nonconformity to the manufacturer, agent, or dealer and during any subsequent period when the vehicle is not out of service by reason of repair. It shall be presumed that a reasonable number of attempts have been undertaken to conform a motor vehicle to the warranty if: The same nonconformity has been subject to repair four or more times by the manufacturer, its agent, or its authorized dealer within the warranty term or during a period of one year following the date of the original delivery of the motor vehicle to the consumer, whichever is the earlier date, but such nonconformity continues to exist; or The motor vehicle is out of service by reason of repair for a cumulative total of thirty or more business days of the repairer during the term specified in subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (a) or during the period specified in said subparagraph (I), whichever is the earlier date. For the purposes of this subsection (2), the term of a warranty, the one-year period, and the thirty-day period shall be extended by any period of time during which repair services are not available to the consumer because of war, invasion, strike, or fire, flood, or other natural disaster. In no event shall a presumption under paragraph (a) of this subsection (2) apply against a manufacturer unless the manufacturer has received prior written notification by certified mail from or on behalf of the consumer and has been provided an opportunity to cure the defect alleged. Such defect shall count as one nonconformity subject to repair under subparagraph (I) of paragraph (a) of this subsection (2). Every authorized motor vehicle dealer shall include a form, containing the manufacturer's name and business address, with each motor vehicle owner's manual on which the consumer may give written notification of any defect, as such notification is required by paragraph (c) of this subsection (2), and the form shall clearly and conspicuously disclose that written notification by certified mail of the nonconformity is required, in order for the consumer to obtain remedies under this article. The court shall award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing side in any action brought to enforce the provisions of this article. 42-10-104
Affirmative defenses. (1) It shall be an affirmative defense to any claim under this article that: An alleged nonconformity does not substantially impair the use and market value of a motor vehicle; or A nonconformity is the result of abuse, neglect, or unauthorized modifications or alterations of the motor vehicle by a consumer. 42-10-105
Limitations on other rights and remedies. Nothing in this article shall in any way limit the rights or remedies which are otherwise available to a consumer under any other state law or any federal law. Nothing in this article shall affect the other rights and duties between the consumer and a seller, lessor, or lienholder of a motor vehicle or the rights between any of them. Nothing in this article shall be construed as imposing a liability on any authorized dealer with respect to a manufacturer or creating a cause of action by a manufacturer against its authorized dealer; except that failure by an authorized dealer to properly prepare a motor vehicle for sale, to properly install options on a motor vehicle, or to properly make repairs on a motor vehicle, when such preparation, installation, or repairs would have prevented or cured a nonconformity, shall be actionable by the manufacturer. 42-10-106
Applicability of federal procedures. If a manufacturer has established or participates in an informal dispute settlement procedure which substantially complies with the provisions of part 703 of title 16 of the code of federal regulations, as from time to time amended, the provisions of section 42-10-103 (1) concerning refunds or replacement shall not apply to any consumer who has not first resorted to such procedure. 42-10-107 Statute
of limitations. Any action brought to enforce the provisions of this article shall be commenced within six months following the expiration date of any warranty term or within one year following the date of the original delivery of a motor vehicle to a consumer, whichever is the earlier date; except that the statute of limitations shall be tolled during the period the consumer has submitted to arbitration under section 42-10-106. The Magnuson-Moss
Warranty Act 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 statute gives consumers considerable rights in dealing with manufacturers of lemon cars. A car buyer is guaranteed 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. Law firms have argued successfully to juries that the lemon manufacturers should be given three attempts to fix the defect. Continued attempts to repair beyond the initial three should not be allowed. This is called the "three strikes and you're out" principle. A consumer may pursue legal action in any court of general
jurisdiction in the Due to this particular condition, there is quite a bit of financial pressure on the manufacturer to settle consumers disputes before going to court, as this would keep their expenses down. The narrative information on Magnusson-Moss, UCC and lemon laws on these pages is provided by T. Michael Flinn, attorney. Uniform Commercial
Code Summary The Uniform Commercial Code or UCC has been enacted in all
50 states and some of the territories of the TENDER - The tender provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code contained in Section2-601 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 then 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 to inspect 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. The following is an example of a case of rejection: Mr. Zabriskie purchase a new 1966 Chevrolet Biscayne. After picking up the car on Friday evening, while en route to his home 2.5 miles away, and within 7/10ths of a mile from the dealership, the car stalled and stalled again within 15 feet. Thereafter, the car would only drive in low gear. The buyer rejected the vehicle and stopped payment on his check. The dealer contended that the buyer could not reject the car because he had driven it around the the block and that was his reasonable opportunity to inspect. The New Jersey Court said; To the layman, the complicated mechanisms of today's automobile are a complete mystery.To have the automobile inspected by someone with sufficient expertise to disassemble the vehicle in order the discover latent defects before the contract is signed, is assuredly impossible and highly impractical. Consequently, the first few miles of driving become even more significant to the excited new car buyer. This is the buyer's first reasonable opportunity to enjoy his new vehicle to see if it conforms to what it was represented to be and whether he is getting what he bargained for. How long the buyer may drive the new car under the guise of inspection of new goods is not an issue in the present case because 7/10th of a mile is clearly within the ambit of a reasonable opportunity to inspect. Zabriskie Chevrolet, Inc.v. Smith, 240 A. 2d 195(1968) It is suggested that Courts will tend to excuse use by consumers if possible. 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 nonconformity 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 always is assured that any noncomformities he does discover will be remedied. What is a noncomformity substantially impairing the value of the
vehicle? A noncomformity may include a number of relatively minor defects whose cumulative total adds up to a substantial impairment. This is the "Shake Faith" Doctrine first stated in the Zabrisikie case. "For a majority of people the purchase of a new car is a major investment, rationalized by the peace of mind that flows from its dependability and safety. Once their faith is shaken, the vehicle loses not only its real value in their eyes, but becomes an instrument whose integrity is substantially impaired and whose operation is fraught with apprehension". A substantial noncomformity may include a failure or refusal to repair the goods under the warranty. In Durfee V. Rod Baxter Imports, the Minnesota Court held that the Saab owner that was plagued by a series of of annoying minor defects and stalling, which were never repaired after a number of attempts, could revoke, "if repairs are not successfully undertaken within a reasonable time", the consumer may elect to revoke. Substantial Non Conformity and Lemon Laws often define what may be considered a substantial impairment. These definitions have been successfully used to flesh out the substantial impairment in the UCC. The narrative information on Magnusson-Moss, UCC and lemon laws on these pages is provided by T. Michael Flinn, attorney. Lemon Law Tips KEEP A COPY of all
documentation you have regarding your vehicle and its history. This includes all
repair orders, purchase contracts, warranty book and owners manual that came
with your car. TAKE WRITTEN NOTES of all
conversations you have with your dealership and repair technicians concerning
your vehicle and its “lemon” potential. Include the date, time and what
specifically was discussed. This includes phone calls and in-person contact. ASK ABOUT TSB’s, or
Technical Service Bulletins, instructions from the manufacturer that alert
dealerships of specific defects or necessary repairs in certain models. If
you don’t ask your dealer might not present you with this information, so
speak up and ask your technician to write your request on the repair order. PREPARE A TIMELINE if you
have many repair orders in your possession, to organize each repair attempt
by date, the number of times the vehicle has been in the shop, and how many
days total your vehicle has been out of service. DO NOT BE
DISCOURAGED by your
dealer, repair technicians, or others who might tell you the problems you are
experiencing with your vehicle are minor and that you do not qualify under
the lemon law for any sort of relief. ONLY AN ATTORNEY who is licensed to
practice law in the state where you purchased your vehicle and has some
familiarity with the lemon law, can make that determination! Lemon Law Links Lemon Law www.nhtsa.org The
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration web site features information
on recalls, crash test results, air bag safety, child safety seats and more. www.kbb.com Vehicle buyers
guide from Kelly Blue book. You can research new car pricing, reviews, used
car values. www.autopedia.com The
complete source for automotive related information on the Internet. www.planetfeedback.com A free
service that lets consumers send complaint, compliment, suggestion, or
question letters online to over 20,000 companies, including auto
manufacturers & car dealers. You can also send a copy to your friends
& post your letter on the site for others to read. www.My Car S**ks.com A perfect
place to vent! A humorous collection of photos, rants, links, and a list of
manufacturers e-mail addresses. www.cardetective.com Find out
if your pristine used car is a lemon in disguise. www.pistonslap.com GM engine
problems? Visit the above site for more information. www.auto-advice.com Get tips
on buying new and used cars, including extended auto warranty, financing and
insurance information. Also discusses ratings and reviews, custom cars, and
getting credit report scores before buying an automobile. GM Problems A
consumer's guide to piston slap, engine knock, water leaks, brakes, rotors,
headlights dimming and other problems with GM cars, trucks and SUV's.
Determine if you have a legitimate claim for recovery under the lemon law! Nissan Tire Problems A guide
to Nissan 350z excessive tire noise and feathering. Determine if you have a
legitimate claim for recovery under the lemon law! BMW Problems A guide
to reported iDrive, software, computer, and
electrical problems in 2002 and 2003 7 Series BMW's. Determine if you have a
legitimate claim under for recovery |
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