• Lemon laws protect consumers.lemon image by Aleksei Volkhonsky from Fotolia.com
  
  Lemon laws refer to the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act that protects consumers from defective vehicles still under warranty. If you bought a vehicle that has manufacturing defects or one that requires repeated repairs after purchase and under the warranty period, you have a lemon. If this happens in Nebraska, there is specific information about its lemon law that will help you.
  
  

What is Covered

• Nebraska lemon laws apply to new cars, trucks, motorcycles, RVs, SUVs, vans, boats, computers or other consumer appliances or products. If these types of purchases are still under the manufacturer's factory warranty and need multiple repairs during this time, you may be entitled to a refund, replacement or cash compensation.
  
  

Procedure

• If your vehicle is defective, you must report the problem to the manufacturer, its agent or its authorized dealer. This has to be done under the warranty period or during one year following the date of receiving the vehicle. The manufacturer, its agent or the authorized dealer must try to repair the problem. If after a reasonable number of tries, the problem cannot be corrected without impairing the use or the market value of the vehicle, the manufacturer has to replace the vehicle with a comparable vehicle or accept its return and give a refund. The refund will include the full purchase price, all sales taxes, license and registration fees and any other government charges. There may be a deduction based on your use of the vehicle.
  
  

Reasonable Defined

• Regarding repairs to the vehicle under warranty, "reasonable" is defined in Nebraska as four or more repair attempts by the manufacturer, its agents or authorized dealers within the warranty period or one year following receipt of the vehicle. If the vehicle is out of service for repairs for a total of 40 days or more, you are also entitled to a replacement or a refund.
  
  

First Step

• If you determine that your vehicle is a lemon, you should provide a written notice to the manufacturer prior to filing your lemon law suit.
  
  

Legal Help

• It is often necessary to consult with an attorney because it can be difficult to persuade the manufacturer to honor the lemon law, according to StateLawyers.com. If you had to hire an attorney to help you with your lemon law case and you win, the court will award you attorney's fees.