The new Chrysler Company has agreed with Iowa and seven other states to honor the law that protects those who buy a car that turns out to be lemon.
Bob Brammer, a spokesman for Iowa’s Attorney General, says the law is important protection for a major purchase. Iowa’s lemon law says if you lease or buy a new vehicle and have very serious problems in the first two years or 24,000 miles, then you have a right to return the vehicle.
If the vehicle has been in the shop three times or more for the same problem, or out of service for 20 days, those are some of the things that define the car as a lemon according to Brammer.
Brammer says attorneys general from Iowa and other states wanted to be sure Fiat and Chrysler Group wouldn’t back out on the law, so the attorney general negotiated with Fiat to be sure the automakers would continue guaranteeing the “lemon law” rights.
Brammer says the time allowed by the law is important, because you don’t always notice problems early on. For example, if someone bought a car six months ago and didn’t notice a problem, but then noticed a problem six months later, they would be covered.
The agreement to honor the lemon law was part of the bankruptcy court order for Chrysler.