- Eligibility: 4 unsuccessful repairs or 30 calendar days out of service within shorter of 1 year or 15,000 miles.
- Resolution Attempt: Written notice to manufacturer or dealer who has 7 days for final repair opportunity.
- (Manufacturer's informal arbitration process serves as prerequisite to consumer refund or replacement.) Law specifically applies to leased vehicles.
Update: December 2, 2011
Rhode Island may be famous for being the smallest state in America, but that doesn’t mean that everything is walking distance. And if you’re constantly having car trouble, you may have a lemon. Rhode Island has laws set in place to help determine what the consumer is entitled to should the car be a lemon.
An advisor at the state Attorney General’s office clarified what a vehicle requires to make it eligible under Rhode Island’s lemon laws.
“A used vehicle qualifies if it has been in service for 3 times for the same defect within the dealer warranty period or has been out of service 15 days within the warranty period,” she said. “A new vehicle qualifies under the law within 1 year or 15,000 miles, if the vehicle has been service 4 times, for the same defect and the defect still exists.”
It is usually the Auto Arbitration Line of the BBB or Rhode Island’s Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board that usually handles the lemon laws for new vehicles. The advisor added that the statute recommends that consumers should work with the dealership to repair the continuing problem with used or leased vehicles, but leased vehicles follow the standard set for new cars.
The Consumer Protection unit cannot provide legal advice to consumers, but the advisors say that help in the area of lemon laws and other consumer protection issues is something they can give.
“Our unit does take lemon law complaints,” she said. “We help them get to the appropriate state agency to file the official complaint so we try to help every consumer that calls our office, no matter what their problem is.”
For more information, you can reach the Attorney General’s office at (401) 274-4400.
