Lawyers who deal with lemon laws act a lot like a detective in that these lawyers first task when they are retained is to reconstruct the entire history of your car, from the date of production to the time the case is opened. These lawyers will help you to determine:
whether the vehicle was damaged at the time of delivery;
if the financing paperwork can prove that there was an obvious fraud or deception committed against you;
whether repairs were attempted by the dealer beforehand to cover up any defects;
the time actually spent for each repair;
the amount of money that was paid by the manufacturer for warranty repairs;
whether that model has any known defects that the dealers knew about;
Whether there are any actual service file notes that will reveal any unresolved, undisclosed safety concerns and other inquiries.
How Cases are Handled
Basically, lawyers go through an extreme investigation in order to learn everything that they can about your car. Only by investigation can a lawyer know how the concerns, which are typically referred to as non-conformities, have affected the use, value or safety of your car. At least if they specialize.
When the investigation is absolutely finished, a lawyer will confront the manufacturer of the car, present a very thorough statement about your case and then they can demand a full recovery for you. If the manufacturer agrees with your position, and you are satisfied with the offer, the case can generally be resolved very quickly.
It is entirely your own choice as to whether or not to accept or reject any offer. If you choose not to accept the offers made, the case next moves on to litigation which happens by your lawyers filing a lawsuit on your behalf in court.
No matter what you may think, it is not your word against the dealers either. Though this is what the manufacturers want you to feel, it just isn't the case. Lawyers have the means to be able to obtain all documents, repair records, service bulletins and names of witnesses to prove the case in court.
Good lawyers frequently take advantage of the services of Master ASE certified mechanics and appraisers who are can be convinced to act as an impartial aid in understanding the nature of the non-conformities. If it is necessary, the things that they find are then used for purposes of testimony at trial to prove your case in the event it cannot be settled.
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