DEAR SUZANNE
By Suzanne Henderson
LETTER 40 – September 2022 | Exhausted
Dear Suzanne,
I own a 2021 Chevy Silverado and it is around 20,700 miles right now. Since I purchased this vehicle brand new from my Chevrolet dealership, it has never been in an accident which makes me wonder what I did to deserve these problems. I’ve had issues spanning from the transmission to airbags, placing huge jeopardy on my safety.
The whole thing started when I noticed some hard shifting in my gears. It was more prominent whenever I changed from drive to reverse. My car just seemed to make a clunking noise whenever I was shifting and it was getting uncomfortable. After a while of observing, I took it to my dealership to check it. And I remember clearly that it was around 12,000 miles on this first visit.
After spending a couple of days at the dealership, they fixed it, but that didn’t last for long. It wasn’t another month later before this hard shifting started again. This time, it came in harder. A couple of times, the car went out of gear on its own. It was then that I took it to the dealership for a second time.
After explaining to them once again, they retained my car and called me back after a few days. This time, the repair wasn’t satisfactory. I kept bugging the technician about how I could still feel a little level of hardness in the gear, but he shoved it off saying nothing was wrong.
Mind you, I was already getting tired of these dealership visits at this point. I live at one end of California while my dealership is so far away at another end. So apart from the stress, it takes me a long time to make a trip down and it is very tiring.
I thought my long journeys were over until I noticed my airbag light flashing. And one thing about me is that I hate to take chances with anything that will jeopardize my safety. Immediately after I noticed the airbag light anomaly, I took it back to the dealership to help me figure out the problem. They said it had something to do with the wiring and as it stood, if the car got into an accident, the passenger seat airbag may not deploy.
Around that time, I was also dealing with a problem with its radio. Irrespective of what I did, it never saved my radio setting. Every time I turned it off and on it was reset. And because I like my audio specifications, it was a huge pain in the neck.
So my third visit to the dealership was for three complaints: the airbag lights, radio problem, and the recurring transmission problem. For the airbag issue, they said it was a wiring problem under the passenger seat. So they dismantled the whole seat and implemented their fix. For the radio problem, they initially insisted that it was normal for car radios to act that way. But this isn’t the first vehicle I’m using and my previous ones were not built that way. After my nagging, they looked into it and got it sorted out. As for the transmission problem, the report was that they could not duplicate the issue which I didn’t dispute.
The third visit is what pissed me off because at first, they didn’t give me a rental. It took a bit of tussle to make them give me the substitute car. Then when I came to pick up my car after the repairs, they lost my keys! As ridiculous as it sounds, it is true. How could they misplace it? They found it later but at this point, I don’t want this car anymore. The passenger seat doesn’t even feel the same anymore. It seems as if the placement is not right. I’m also done with these long-distance visits to this incompetent dealership so I feel like the best bet is to get rid of the root cause — the car. Is it feasible? If yes, how do I go about it?
Exhausted
You May Have A Solid Case Here
Dear Exhausted,
I understand your plight and I agree that long avoidable visits to the dealership are not pleasant. And as much as you are annoyed with your dealership, filling a lemon law case is against the manufacturers and not them because they didn’t produce the vehicle. So you are filing it against General Motors (GM) in this case — their vehicles have been very defective in recent years so I’m not surprised.
The least qualification to tender a lemon case is to have two visits to the dealership for different problems or three visits for the same problem. And I believe your situation qualifies and makes a formidable one. Another reason why you may want to proceed with it quickly is that your car has relatively low miles. Lower mileage makes a better and more profitable result.
So for a lemon case, there are two options for you. The first is the buyback, which helps you to get rid of the car. If you opt for a buyback, it means the manufacturers have to purchase the defective vehicle from you at the price you bought it. If you made down payments, they will refund you. If it is monthly payments, they will also take care of it. And if you took loans to pay it, GM will have to pay the loans for you. Most importantly, all payments to you will include their respective taxes too.
However, they won’t fold their arms and watch your attorneys make them pay these fees. There is something they deduct and we call it mileage offset. It refers to how long you drove the car without any troubleshooting. Your mileage offset is when you took the vehicle in for the first time—you mentioned that it was around 12,000 miles. But your attorneys will also try to counter them and try to get them to waive it in full or half. That is why having good attorneys for your case is important.
The second option is called cash and keep. Opting for this option means you will agree to accept some compensation while you keep the car. If for some reason, you are attached to the vehicle, this is a good option. But the catch is that you are also agreeing not to tag the vehicle a lemon anymore. Meaning that you accept any subsequent problem that may come again. And if you were to resell it, you won’t reference it as a lemon to potential buyers.
What most people that opt for cash and keep do is accept the compensation and then resell the vehicle. Since used cars already have good value, it is usually a profitable step. But you don’t have to make the choice now. Once you commence the case, your attorneys will let you know the amounts that the manufacturer is offering for each option so you can weigh the value.
I must also do well to mention that you don’t need to worry about the costs. California is a customer-friendly state and since you purchased the vehicle there, the law is that the manufacturers will shoulder the attorney fees. Meaning that you only need to contact a good attorney, then sit back and watch it unfold. And when the time is right, you get your compensations while the manufacturers settle the attorneys. Why am I telling you this? So that you can go for the best possible lawyers without worrying about costs. Make it snappy, you have nothing to lose!
Suzanne
Free Legal Advice About Your 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 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 California Lemon Law or how to file a claim in California, please write to [email protected]. 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 California Lemon Lawyer to get proper legal advice about your lemon law claim.
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Featured Image:
- 2021 Chevrolet Silverado ©MercurySable99 (CC BY-SA 4.0 License)
