While NJ already had one of the stronger Lemon Laws in the country, the legislature has revised the statute and it will become the strongest Lemon Law in the country if it is signed by the Governor.
My only question is whether it might be going too far in regard to supposed safety defects which might or might not actually exist. We all know that driver error accounts for a significant number of accidents, and I am wondering if erroneous driver claims such as those bogus “uncontrolled acceleration” incidents will cause problems for manufacturers.
What do you think?
http://www…trong.html
The owner could declare a vehicle a “lemon” if a problem can’t be corrected in a single attempt. That seems a bit extreme.
I’d say there are going to be a lot more lemons in NJ if this goes into law.
You can’t mandate perfection.
I suspect that it doesn’t matter. If a car is in an accident and it is shown to be faulty equipment, a replacement car is chump change compared to the manufacturer’s liability for equipment failure. It might accelerate dealer closures if manufacturers refuse to sell cars in NJ, especially close to DE, PA, or NY.
Chrysler/GM “bankruptcy” trumps lemon laws – California is finding this out the hard way. All lemon law issues are in the “bad” Chrysler/GM while the “good” re-organized companies are starting with a clean slate. It will be interesting to see how this affects other states as well.
Twotone
knee jerk reaction.
Perhaps the Guvnuh had a problem with one of his limos and they couldn’t fix it, and now he’s blowing it outta proportion.
I think that he is driven around in a Suburban or a Tahoe, if my memory serves me properly, and certainly both of those vehicles are extremely reliable.
;-))
Actually, the bill was sponsored in the lower house by a female legislator from Essex County, with whom I am not familiar. I do not recall who sponsored the bill in the upper house, where it passed a couple of months ago. Whether the governor will sign the bill is currently an unknown, but if I was “a bettin’ man”, I would bet that he will sign it. What I am questioning is whether this bill goes too far.
I think so. One strike and you’re out? The cost of cars will skyrocket to absorb the risk. Manufacturers don’t make a profit high enough to absorb this. Just think - in 49 states there’s MSRP and in NJ, there’s MSRP+$1000!
Well, that might be an exaggeration, but expect to pay an extra couple hundred bucks. This will be one of those unintended consequences. I’m sure that the manufacturers and dealers will find a way to work it out so that it is really an invoice add-on. NJites won’t get the discounts they once did. And that might be what puts the dealers out of business near the state lines.
You might be closer than you’d think, but only time will tell. It’d probably be cheaper to buy in NYC than anywhere in NJ if it passes