DEAR SUZANNE
By Suzanne Henderson
LETTER 91 – February 2023 | Lost And Found
Dear Suzanne,
I’m the owner of a 2022 Infiniti QX60, which I bought brand new and has a mileage of 5500. I’ve never added any aftermarket parts to it, and I’ve never been in an accident with it. Unfortunately, I’ve been experiencing some electrical issues with the car, which have been pretty frustrating. It all started when I took the car to the Infiniti dealership at around 2500 miles.
The first issue I noticed was that the rear view camera would suddenly go blank whenever I put the car in reverse. This was pretty dangerous, as it left me driving blind and almost caused me to hit other cars or fences several times. The second issue was with the navigation system. This may sound like a small problem, but it ended up causing me a lot of stress and anxiety.
Let me tell you about what happened. My brother had recently moved to a new place, and I wanted to surprise him by visiting with my son. I put the destination into the car’s navigation system and set out on the journey. At first, everything was fine and we were following the directions as expected. But after an hour and a half of driving, we still hadn’t seen any signs that we were getting close. My brother had mentioned that there would be signs pointing out our location after an hour or so of driving, but we hadn’t seen any.
I started to get a bit nervous, but I figured the car’s navigation system would get us there eventually. But after another hour of driving, I realized that we were probably lost. We were the only car on the road, so there was no one to ask for directions. I kept driving, hoping we’d see another car or some kind of sign. Finally, we came across another driver, and they told us we had missed a turn and needed to make a U-turn.
I was surprised because the navigation system hadn’t mentioned anything about a turn. We made the U-turn and eventually arrived at my brother’s place, but the experience left me feeling really uneasy. I reported the issue to the dealership, but they weren’t able to do anything about it.
Overall, it’s been a frustrating experience dealing with these electrical issues in a brand new car. I’m starting to think about getting rid of the car before it becomes even more of a liability. It’s not what I expected when I bought a new car, but I guess these things happen sometimes. But is there anything I can do to keep it from happening again?
Lost And Found.
Your Experience Sounds Wild
Dear Lost And Found,
I’m sorry you had to go through all of that, fortunately, it all worked out well in the end. However, I just want you to know that lemon law is your way of getting back at the manufacturers for selling you a defective vehicle.
The way lemon law works is that you will need at least two visits to the dealership for the same problems or three repair orders for different issues. Moreover, if your car has stayed at the dealer’s for more than a month, all within the warranty period, then it qualifies.
To go ahead, your attorney would need the paperwork for each of your visits as evidence of your car’s defects. The more repair orders you have, the stronger the case. Generally, lemon law cases may take between 3 to 7 months to get settled, at which point, you’d be receiving the settlement.
While the case is ongoing, you can keep on driving it and if you experience any more issues, you can proceed to take it to the dealership for repairs. However, make sure you receive the repair orders for any additional visits. Now, there are three possible outcomes for your lemon case and you have the luxury of picking the one that suits you best.
The first is the buyback offer where the manufacturers repurchase the vehicle from you and so you will be paid back all the payments you’ve made on the car. This includes your down payment, monthly payments, and even taxes and interest. Also, if you took out a loan on the vehicle, the automakers will refund the financial company in full and your credit goes up.
However, what is known as the mileage offset sets back this option. This mileage offset is the automakers’ right to charge you for the period you drove your car without any issues. It is usually based on the number of miles your car was on when you took your car in for the first repairs and with just 2500 miles, you have nothing to worry about. Besides, your attorney can help you maneuver your way into paying half of or nothing from the mileage offset.
The second option is the cash and keep. This option allows you to keep the vehicle while you receive cash compensation for the troubles you’ve been through with the car. Also, your warranty will not be voided or canceled and you would have to keep on making your monthly payments. , In addition, if you later decide to sell the car, you can do so without labeling it a lemon to the next owner.
The replacement offer which is the last option involves the automakers giving you another vehicle with a similar mileage as yours. The problem with this option is that they may give you another lemon which may be worse than your current vehicle.
Now, since you purchased your vehicle in California which is very customer-friendly, you get to have your lemon law case taken on contingency. This means that you will not be charged any attorney fees, rather, all lawyer bills are charged to the manufacturers. Thus, 100% of the settlement will be going over to you.
Suzanne
PS. If you think your vehicle sucks and want to actually do something about it, you definitely can! Find out quickly if you have a case by visiting www.yourvehiclesucks.com right now. This website is owned by our partner law firm Quill & Arrow LLP, California’s #1 “settled” Lemon Law attorneys.
Free Legal Advice About Your 2022 Infiniti QX60 Lemon Law Claim
Dear reader, are your vehicle problems ruining your life? Confused about what legal route to take? We’re here to help! Find information about California’s lemon law protections here, fill out the form on this page, or give us a call at (323) 553-7525 to discuss your situation with someone who understands how frustrating it can be to have a lemon car, and what to do about it.
DEAR SUZANNE is a weekly column written by Suzanne Henderson and published in LemonLawyers.ORG. If you have a defective lemon vehicle and have questions about CA Lemon Lawyer or how to file a claim in California, please write to help@lemonlawyers.org. While not guaranteed, we will try to feature your letter in this column to provide you the answers you need, as well as enlighten other consumers who may have lemon problems similar to yours.
Disclaimer: Suzanne Henderson is not a lawyer and the points discussed here are intended for general information and reference purposes only and not to be construed as legal advice. Please consult a CA Lemon Law Attorney to get proper legal advice about your lemon law claim.
Related Articles:
- Eight Things You Need To Know About California Lemon Law
- How To Avoid Buying A Lemon & What To Do If You Already Bought One
- 7 Mistakes You Don’t Want To Make When Filing A Lemon Law Case
Featured Image:
- 2022 Infiniti QX60 ©Kevauto (CC BY-SA 4.0 License)
