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KIRKSVILLE, MO. -- Is there such a thing as a ‘Lemon Law’ that protects consumers when they purchase a vehicle in the state of Missouri?

The answer, yes.

That’s the topic of Tuesday’s “Facebook Story of the Day”

The Missouri New Vehicles Warranty Law, commonly called the “Lemon Law”, protects buyers of new vehicles by enforcing the manufacture’s express warranty.

Unfortunately, the Lemon Law does NOT apply to used cars.

New-vehicle owners must report problems or defects in writing to the manufacturer to use the provisions of the Lemon Law.

“Basically what that does is it gives the manufacture’s an opportunity to correct the problem or defect,” said Jay Benson of The Benson Law Firm in Kirksville. “If the problem or defect is not corrected within the defined vision of the statutes, then the person is entitled to either get a refund of their money, or a vehicle of comparable value.”

Under the law, it is presumed that the manufacturer has been given reasonable number of attempts to correct the problem.

In some cases, consumers may take the manufacturer to court, but getting there can be kind of tricky.

“There’s some fairly new provisions in the law. We now have what we call an alternative dispute resolution,” said Benson. “I don’t like it because, it’s a way that people’s constitutional right to a jury trial or affected. Under Missouri’s Lemon Law, if the manufacturer includes a remedy for arbitration or alternative dispute resolution in its owner’s manual, then the consumer is bound by that. And, that may mean they (manufacturer) are entitled not to go to court.”

All new vehicles sold or leased with warranty provisions are covered under the law, except for commercial and off-road vehicles, mo-peds or motorcycles.

To learn more about Missouri’s Lemon Law and how to protect yourself the next time you purchase a new vehicle click here. 

For more on Iowa's Lemon Law click here