Any auto dealers give me any Lemon Buy Back info please???

[Rain Man]

Looking for a new Suburban/Yukon XL type family vehicle in MN. Looked at this Suburban. Auction vehicle. Says it's a lemon buy back from CA. Dealer has a form says Chevy replaced ECM because of power loss. Comes up as a title problem on auto check because of the lemon issue as well. Dealer claimed that California lemon laws are brutal and they take everything back and that it's not an issue on this one, blah, blah, blah.

Any dealers have any insight on this? I might consider it more for around the mid-$30K range, but only if it's really not an issue. But having lemon of the title, even if it's from a state that lemons "everything" as he says, not the almost $40K they're asking. I'd say it's more worth the rough trade-in around $36,525 according to NADA?

Thanks!

 

[judger101]

why would you risk buying a lemon vehicle. i just dont get it. sure you are going to have people tell you that CA is strict and it is fine. either spend the extra money or get a lesser model.

 

[frozen falanges]

not a dealer, but i was once a consumer who actually prevailed on a lemon law in the state of washington.

i can tell you from my experience that i wouldnt even give a second glance at a lemon vehicle. what i went through was pure hell for the most part with the wife driving basically an unsafe vehicle. took almost 2 years to get any attention from gm after going out of our way to take the vehicle to several different dealers within a 200 mile range of home. in my mind, when they are bad, they are bad. read that as unfixable.

only way i would consider a lemon buy back would be to use it as a parts vehicle. i would be interested in a dealer standpoint as well.

 

[Goinboardin]

I'm also not a dealer. My dad worked for Ford in MN with the buy back program. He was in charge of making sure the vehicles that were bought back were actually fixed correctly before they were sent to auction. A lemon vehicle is not some untameable monster, its an arrangement of metal that can be repaired. Many of the vehicles my dad dealt with were bought back because some knucklehead mechanic was incapable of diagnosing the real problem, and after 3 tries Ford has to buy them back. So then the vehicles were sent to be repaired by a competent mechanic.

That said, I don't think I would go for a lemon vehicle unless it was a very good price. I don't have much faith in the abilities of a large portion of mechanics out there. So maybe a good one repaired that truck and its fine, but maybe some parts swapper never did find that one loose wire pin, he just swapped out the sensor, and for now that one loose wire pin is making contact, but in a week it may wiggle loose again. Then when you try to diagnose it, you hit a bump in the road and that pin makes contact again so no symptoms.. Intermittent symptoms are hard to diagnose [read: timely and expensive!] Not really what you want to deal with on a recent purchase, especially if you're paying a mechanic to chase the issue.

 

[Dam Dave]

RUN the other way.............................


Lemon laws and red title laws are different in every state, that's why the hauled it Mn to sell it, he has probably been through several auctions to get to Mn RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNnnnn

 

[snowmobiler]

id say run even if it was a brand new 2012 and 40k.

 

[m8magicandmystery]

Cat legal department must be up to date on the "LEMON LAWS" SINCE THE 2012 YEAR..??

 

[WyoBoy1000]

I am a used dealer/mechanic/auto collision etc...
If your not a skilled diagnostic mechanic, run!
If they don't guaranty its fixed, run!
With a branded title, at the best its worth 70% of retail IMO.
I do a lot of salvage rebuilds and they wind up with rebuilt titles, they are worth 70% of retail or whatever you can get.
The banks rarely loan money on them and if they do they loan 50% of retail and require the customer puts money down, rarely if someone has extremely good credit they will give more.
So if you buy it how ever it may be at 70% if you ever sell you will be selling it most likely for less than 50%.
I know gm's quite well and for the right price it wouldn't scare me, but I also know how to test out functions to find problems.
If there is no guaranty, who is to say even if you get it for a screaming deal you won't have retail in it by the time you figure it out and a bad taste in your mouth.
Lastly, the fact you asked the question shows you are uneducated on the ins and outs of the whole process(no offense and its a good idea to ask, just stating the facts), so do you want to learn a lesson or gamble to see if your lucky. who knows you may be lucky.

What was the problem that got it returned. specifically. Talking to the previous owner would be ideal.

I have gone rounds with dealers trying to fix things, they have no clue on how to actually find a problem and fix it, all they do is throw parts at it and call it done. A friend of mine took a duramax in and after $5500.00(plus lost revenue in his business) worth of work still had issues, he was on the road and I heard about it from another friend. I called him got some info from him and the service guy, I told him and dealer what to do(service guy got pis$y), finally they did and it fixed it with a scanner. Should have cost $80 tops, but they continued to say, this will fix it.

 

[Himark]

I am a new car dealer and lemon laws all vary state to state. Just call your local DMV or Dealer license board and get your local laws. As for California being any more strict than others???? I do not know. I would say they are way more strict on emission laws but as for lemon laws I would think they follow national standards fairly close.

We have bought back lots of vehicles over the years and even though WE dont do it GM does. We are still the front line of failed repairs over and over and we still administer the vehicle for GM. Once its labeled a "lemon" it goes to the auction as a "AS IS" and it is for a reason! Our mechanics have exhausted there abilities at this point as well as FACTORY sharpest techs come out to the field and try to repair these cars. Do you REALLY want to take on there left overs??

 

[Himark]

I am a used dealer/mechanic/auto collision etc...
I have gone rounds with dealers trying to fix things, they have no clue on how to actually find a problem and fix it, all they do is throw parts at it and call it done. A friend of mine took a duramax in and after $5500.00(plus lost revenue in his business) worth of work still had issues, he was on the road and I heard about it from another friend. I called him got some info from him and the service guy, I told him and dealer what to do with a scanner. Should have cost $80 tops, but they continued to say, this will fix it.

You obviously are the smartest tech with the best training and remarkable resources that have been wildly over looked by trained field and factory techs...


This must be why after you have tried everything to find a problem you end up taking to a dealer to actually get it fixed!

 

[snowmobiler]

i cant imagine somebody payed very much for that thing rolling through the as is lane.

 

[WyoBoy1000]

You obviously are the smartest tech with the best training and remarkable resources that have been wildly over looked by trained field and factory techs...


This must be why after you have tried everything to find a problem you end up taking to a dealer to actually get it fixed!

I'm the guy the mech. at the dealer asks after he has exhausted all efforts. I have never taken a vehicle to a dealer unless I didn't have access to a scanner, and most of the time I have to advise them what info I want off the scanner.

Maybe you have something better going on but from my experience I haven't found it, not saying its not out there, I'm sure it is. But rare.

 

[Rain Man]

Thanks for all the info everyone. I didn't persue this vehicle, nor will I probably consider any "Lemons" knowing this. Looks like it sold as well anyway. I kind of figured they aren't worth all the possible trouble, but haven't dealt with any. Thought maybe they're a great deal in hiding, and that when they go back to the OEM they come back good as new by chance. Thanks again!

 

[WyoBoy1000]

Sometimes you find a deal, but you can find that deal on one somewhere else without history, or vise verssa.
The resale factor is the killer.