5) Most of the people that actually go the distance will settle for their attorney fees and a couple of thousand dollars.
Car companies are fully aware that time and money is on their side and if they wait it out, they can get rid of about 95% of lemon law cases without even getting close to the courthouse steps. They are depending on this.
Car companies and lemon law cases Here's a secret tip that should be obvious. Car companies do NOT want to go to court on a lemon law case. The risk of going to court far outweighs what they risk in doing it. Here's the reason's why:
a) Defending a lemon law case is expensive for these companies. By the time a lemon law trial is completed, the car company can easily spend $20,000 defending itself from your claims. These cases are rarely completed with their own attorneys so it is really nothing to them but money out of pocket. With that much money at risk, defending a lemon law case is already very expensive, even if they win.
b) In most cases, the lemon law lets you collect up to three times the damages that you are owed. That means that if your car costs $25,000, they can risk losing $75,000 due to a jury decision, plus their own attorney fees. Since they can replace your car at cost AND still recover some of their loss in selling your old car, replacing your $25,000 car with a new one can cost them as little as $10,000. Their choices are really simple in that they can risk losing $100,000 or settle with you at their cost for $10,000.
c) Car companies do not want to have to deal with the bad publicity from dealing with a lemon law case either. Obviously, your case is likely not going to make headlines the NY Times, but it still registers as newsworthy and can be picked up locally. Public attention to a lemon law case risks more than a loss in court for these companies. It can also represent loss in their public image and can result in a significant loss of sales.
Getting a lemon law attorney After you have received your notice of denial of your lemon law claim from the company, it is time for you to go see an attorney. Any attorney can handle a lemon law case, but it is recommended that you find an attorney who specializes in lemon law cases. (More on this later) The reason for this is that they already know the law, they know the players, they've been through the process before, and they understand the bluffs that the car company will pull out of their hats.
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