Undisclosed Lemon Buybacks

Another common practice is the resale of vehicles that were bought back from their original owners under the Lemon Law, and then resold to innocent new purchasers, without proper disclosures.

In the summer of 1996, the California Attorney General took action against Chrysler Corporation for selling repurchased lemons without branding the title, or disclosing the fact to the buyers. Many of the major manufacturers have been found guilty of reselling lemon buyback vehicles without disclosing the history to the consumer.

There is a statutory set of disclosures that must be made the consumer before the sale. There is also a procedure for branding the vehicle itself with a decal in the driver side door well. In addition the title must be branded "lemon law buyback."

The manufacturer must fix the problem that caused the vehicle to be a lemon. The customer gets a 12 month warranty on that problem. The key is to disclose the facts to the consumer, and to fix the problem.