Lemon Law Basics: South Dakota Lemon Laws
Summary of South Dakota Lemon Law
What vehicles are covered under South Dakota lemon law?
South Dakota lemon law covers new and used vehicles that are intended
to be driven on public roads. Leased vehicles, motor homes, and vehicles
whose gross vehicle weight is over 10,000 pounds are not covered by the
lemon law.
What protections do I have under South Dakota lemon law?
South Dakota lemon law states that if a consumer notifies a manufacturer
that the vehicle has a serious defect that falls under warranty within
the "lemon rights period" of one year or 12,000 miles, the manufacturer
must repair the nonconformity at no charge. To be considered a serious
nonconformity, the defect must occur during normal use of the vehicle
and must impair its value, use, or safety. The manufacturer is not liable
for nonconformities that occur because of abuse, neglect, or modification
by the consumer.
The manufacturer must repair the nonconformity even if the repairs last
longer than the lemon rights period, but no longer than two years or 24,000
miles after delivery of the vehicle.
If the manufacturer is unable to repair the nonconformity after a reasonable
number of attempts, South Dakota lemon law states that the vehicle must
be repurchased or replaced.
What must occur before seeking settlement under the South Dakota lemon
law?
South Dakota lemon law presumes that the manufacturer has had a reasonable
chance to repair the nonconformity after four unsuccessful attempts to
repair the same problem, or thirty calendar days during which the vehicle
was out of commission for repairs. At least one repair attempt must occur
during the lemon rights period.
Before action can be taken under South Dakota lemon law, the consumer
must give the manufacturer notice in writing of the nature of the nonconformity
and the previous repair attempts. If the presumption described above already
applies, the manufacturer must be given a final chance to repair the defect.
The manufacturer has seven days to direct the customer to a repair facility
and 14 days to repair the nonconformity.
Filing a claim under South Dakota lemon law
If the manufacturer has an informal settlement board that handles lemon
law claims, the consumer must attempt to resolve the issue through that
board before bringing a South Dakota lemon law case to civil court. Claims
must be made within three years of vehicle ownership.
What are the settlement details under South Dakota lemon law?
If a vehicle is repurchased under South Dakota lemon law, the manufacturer
must pay a sum which includes the full purchase price and all dealer and
preparation charges, any government fees like tax, tags, and registration,
any finance charges paid, and any costs such as alternate transportation
which were a direct result 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 on the vehicle before
the first report of the nonconformity by 100,000 and multiplying the result
by the purchase price.
If a vehicle is replaced under South Dakota lemon law, the new vehicle
must be similar and no usage offset may be levied.
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