Significance

• According to the State of Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, "Lemon Law" is a familiar name for a law called Chapter 743b that protects consumers of new cars and motorcycles. It protects consumers who buy or lease a new car or motorcycle and provides an arbitration process for disputes between consumers and sellers of faulty automobiles.
  
  

Definition

• The State of Connecticut DMV defines a lemon as a new vehicle with a defect that does not go away after four attempts to fix it or a new car that cannot be used for at least 30 days because it needs repair during the first two years or 18,000 miles of an automobile lease or ownership.
  
  

Requirements

• According to the Department of Consumer Protection in Connecticut, there are several requirements that a car must meet for its owners to be eligible for arbitration with the car dealer. These requirements include vehicle registration in the state of Connecticut, one or more defects that are not supposed to occur under the manufacturer's warranty, defects that affect the safety and use of the vehicle and failed repair attempts during the first two years of the vehicle lease or ownership or within the first 24,000 miles on the car's or motorcycle's odometer.
  
  

Exclusions

• According to the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, the Lemon Law arbitration program will not help consumers with vehicle problems that were caused by the consumer's mistreatment or modifications of the vehicle or vehicle problems that are not supposed to be covered under the manufacturer's warranty.
  
  

How to Apply

• There is an application form to apply for arbitration under the Lemon Law (see Resource below). According to the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, the applicant must also notify the vehicle's manufacturer of the defect and send a copy of a letter to the manufacturer outlining the problems with the vehicle into the Department of Consumer Protection with the application for arbitration. There is also a $50 filing fee with the application. Individuals applying for arbitration need to have documentation of the problems with the car, receipts to be used as evidence of attempts to fix the car and a specific explanation of how the defects should qualify the car as a lemon.
  
  

Benefits

• If a consumer provides good enough evidence that a car or motorcycle he or she purchased or leased has defects that should be covered under the manufacturer's warranty, the State of Connecticut will enforce the warranty. When there is such a ruling in the customer's favor, the manufacturer will be required to honor the warranty and fix or replace the vehicle.