Lemon Laws Cover Leased Cars, Too

Question: When you lease a car, are you still protected by lemon laws, even though you are not the owner of the vehicle? Also, does investing in extended warranty coverage in any way extend your rights under the law, whether you are leasing or buying?

--F.R.R.

Answer: Whether a leased car is covered by a lemon law depends on the individual state’s law. In California and Connecticut, which have some of the leading lemon laws, leased cars are covered.

In California, for example, vehicles leased after Jan. 1, 1985--just about all cars under current lease--are covered. They must be used primarily for personal or family use and for a term exceeding four months. The obligations of the manufacturer and dealer in these cases are substantially the same as under a sales agreement.

Under lemon amendments to the California Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, a vehicle is a lemon if within the first year or 12,000 miles the same problem cannot be repaired after four or more attempts or the car is out of service for a total of more than 30 days while being repaired for any number of problems.

The law requires that the problems must be covered by the warranty and substantially reduce the use, value or safety of the car. You must also notify the manufacturer directly about the problem. And a complaint must be submitted to a qualified third party, such as a qualified arbitration program.

You can obtain a brief booklet describing the California Lemon Law by sending a self-addressed, legal-sized envelope with 39 cents postage to Lemon-Aid for New Car Buyers, Department of Consumer Affairs, P.O. Box 310, Sacramento, Calif. 95802. Another resource is the Lemon Book, published by the Center for Auto Safety, which is available at many book stores.

Extended warranties often have terms that exceed the coverage under lemon laws. You can file a suit under the lemon law if a problem existed during the applicable period of the law (typically one year) but resurfaced later. In this case, the extended warranty would not come into play.

Q: Is there a service that provides consumers with car repair advice over the telephone for a fee? I am a weekend mechanic, and many times I find myself desperate for some quick advice.--J.N.

A: Unfortunately, back-yard mechanics are left pretty much to their own skill and invention, putting them at an even greater disadvantage to professional and dealership mechanics. Dealerships have the technical service organizations of the manufacturers to offer advice and guidance on diagnosing and repairing problems.

Even an independent garage can contract with organizations that specialize in providing mechanic advice over the phone. For example, Carquest, an organization of automotive parts distributors, operates a service called Carquest Tech-Net.

Such a service would probably have a big market among the motorists who fix their own cars. Unfortunately, no such service exists for these consumers--yet.

Q: A salesman at an auto parts counter was touting ashless oil recently. What is it?--H.B.

A: Ashless oils contain no metallic additives (zinc, calcium, magnesium) and thus leave no ash residues when burned. They are used in two-cycle and propane burning engines. Automobile engines, however--both gasoline and diesel--require oils with metallic additives to prevent wear and keep the engines clean.