Lemon Law Question(s)

Entertaining the idea of losing the mini cooper (2007 turbo)... Its been in the dealership twice and they have damn near replaced everything under the hood to fix a CEL that reduces power...wiring harness, ecu, wastegate, vacumn lines, misc grounds etc....bottom line is the first visit they had it for 19 fricken days. 3 days later same issue. Now they have it and it has been a couple weeks. Still have it.

In Virginia if they have the car for 30 or more days within the first 12 months you are eligible. They have surpassed that.

Couple questions, 1. What if you bought/leased the car in another state (my case Maryland) but reside in Virginia? 2. Can a consumer initiate this process by him/herself or is a lawyer required?

Anyone have any input?

Contact the DMV, I'm sure they can answer your questions.

I've done it in Texas and it takes months and months and a very lot of persistence. It turned me off of Fords forever. Had they worked with me legitimately instead of putting up all kinds of artificial road blocks I'd probably have gotten another Ford.

Since your in Va Beach I'm assuming your dealing with CF as they're the only stealership in the area. I've had problems with them myself but not anything like your having. I'd recommend joining and posting your problem on HRMINI.com. Although they aren't connected to CF in anyway it will put you in touch with the MINI community in the Tidewater area.

I would be careful putting much info on the interwebz. I'm not lawyer but I have heard that can cause trouble with your case further down the road if it sees a courtroom. Lawyer like folks please correct me if I'm wrong.

No one has answered the "original" question concerning the purchase of this car in one state and the repairs being made in another...does this have any bearing on the invocation of the Lemon Law in this situation? I ask, because car manufacturers and dealers get very...un-cooperative when a car is bought one place and repaired (even under warranty) at another place. Also, some states don't have the same coverage for leased vehicles that would qualify as lemons, as they do for a purchased vehicle. Reading on other websites I've found that car companies can get very creative at avoiding paying for damages under lemon laws, but most particularly when a vehicle is leased.

carguy123 wrote: I've done it in Texas and it takes months and months and a very lot of persistence. It turned me off of Fords forever. Had they worked with me legitimately instead of putting up all kinds of artificial road blocks I'd probably have gotten another Ford.

my dad did it in texas with an expedition that they couldn't get the driveshaft to balance in. he didnt have any trouble other than it took a while for them to pay him back. they gave him a loaner car to drive while they were dealing with all of the red tape of getting the truck bought back. i guess it just depends on the dealership

I would assume that the car's / owner's state of residence is the proper jurisdiction, not the purchase state.