Vehicle owners not familiar with the Lemon Law will often seek the help of their selling dealer in resolving their “lemon vehicle” situation, asking the dealer to “take back” their defective purchase. Here the car dealer can take potential advantage of the customer when the customer is most frustrated – and often at their weakest.
The “trade assist” facilitated by the selling dealer is typically nothing more than another vehicle purchase – that is – the consumer is simply trading in their “lemon” vehicle (often losing all earned equity) and is being sold another vehicle! The dealer resells the “lemon” vehicle and ends up selling two cars! The only way the dealer “assisted” the customer was to help him/herself to another sale!
This “assistance” by the dealer often proves financially straining or fatal to the consumer, as the practice of “over allowance” often comes into play. The consumer is “informed” that their vehicle loan is being “paid off” when being traded in, but conveniently the dealer has not mentioned the loss of the down payment, taxes, licensing fees, and monthly payments already made towards the purchase of the car being traded-in in this scenario. This “over allowance” usually shows up in the price of the new vehicle – meaning that the price is inflated, raising the payment on the new car. Remember, the dealer is not the responsible party for your “lemon” vehicle under state Lemon Laws, the automobile’s manufacturer is. There are certain exceptions to the “who is the responsible party,” and a vehicle owner should consult with a qualified Lemon Law attorney to be apprised of his/her potential rights under their state’s Lemon law and other consumer protection laws that may be applicable.
The “Trade Assist” and other car dealership practices to “help” customers “get out” of their “lemon” vehicles
