Lemon Law Basics: North Carolina Lemon Laws
Summary of North Carolina Lemon Law
What vehicles are covered under North Carolina lemon law?
North Carolina lemon law applies to all new and used motor vehicles sold
in the state, with the exception of horse trailers, mopeds, and vehicles
with a gross vehicle weight over 10,000 pounds. Both purchased and leased
vehicles are included.
What protections do I have under North Carolina lemon law?
According to North Carolina lemon law, if a vehicle has a serious defect
that prevents it from conforming to its warranty and the consumer reports
the problem within the express warranty period, the manufacturer has the
obligation to repair the nonconformity. A serious nonconformity is one
that negatively affects the vehicle's use, value, or safety. The manufacturer
has no liability if the nonconformity was caused by abuse, odometer tampering,
or modification by the consumer. If the manufacturer is unable to repair
the nonconformity after a reasonable number of attempts, the vehicle must
be repurchased or replaced at the discretion of the consumer.
According to North Carolina lemon law, the minimum warranty period for
vehicles is one year or 12,000 miles from the vehicle delivery.
What must occur before seeking settlement under the North Dakota lemon
law?
Under North Carolina lemon law, the manufacturer is presumed to have had
a reasonable chance to repair the nonconformity after 4 unsuccessful attempts
to repair the same nonconformity, or after 20 business days in which the
vehicle was out of commission to repair one or a series of nonconformities.
In order for this presumption to apply, the consumer must notify the
manufacturer in writing of the defect, and give the manufacturer up to
15 days to make repairs. The consumer must also give the manufacturer
written notice of intent to file a claim under North Carolina lemon law
at least 10 days before submitting the claim.
Filing a claim under North Carolina lemon law
Before filing a North Carolina lemon law claim with the judiciary system,
the consumer must attempt to resolve the problem with the manufacturer's
settlement board, as long as the board is certified and information about
the lemon law process was included with the warranty at the time of sale.
What are the settlement details under North Carolina lemon law?
If an owned vehicle is repurchased under North Carolina lemon law, the
manufacturer must pay a sum which covers the full purchase price of the
vehicle including charges for service contracts and warranty, dealer preparation
and delivery, and installed options, all government charges such as tax,
tags, and registration, finance charges incurred after the consumer first
reported the nonconformity, and any costs that were a direct consequence
of the nonconformity. A reasonable offset for the consumer's use of the
vehicle may be subtracted from this sum. The offset is calculated by dividing
the number of miles driven by the consumer by 100,000, and multiplying
the result by the purchase price.
If a leased vehicle is repurchased under North Carolina lemon law, the
lessee must receive a sum that includes all payments made on the lease,
tax, tags, registration, and other government fees paid upon obtaining
the lease, and any costs that were a direct consequence of the nonconformity.
The reasonable offset for usage of the vehicle is subtracted from this
total, as calculated above. The manufacturer must also pay a sum to the
lessor that includes 105% of the purchase price minus 85% of the payments
received from the lessee. The lessor may not charge any early termination
fees.
If a vehicle is replaced under North Carolina lemon law, the replacement
must be a new vehicle that is similar to the original. No usage offset
may be applied.
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