What is a Lemon Law Buyback Title?
What is a Lemon Law Buyback Title?
What is a Lemon Law Buyback Title?
A lemon law buyback title is an industry term for any vehicle title that is branded as a lemon law buyback. Lemon law buyback titles indicate that the vehicle in question was and/or still is a lemon vehicle, that it was previously purchased by another consumer, and that the manufacturer repurchased the lemon vehicle from the consumer because the vehicle’s problems could not be repaired.
Beginning in 1996, states began to require car manufacturers who sold lemon vehicles to consumers to offer consumers the opportunity to buy the vehicle back at the full purchase price. When manufacturers began reselling these lemon buybacks, they were not telling potential buyers about the vehicle’s full history, and often treated the lemon buyback as if it were a brand new vehicle. Further, vehicle history reports were not nearly as easily accessible as they are at present day, and even then, lemon buybacks transferred across state lines are liable to present with incomplete or inaccurate information, meaning consumers had no real way of making an informed decision.
To counteract this growing problem of selling and reselling lemon law buybacks, states began to enact legislation that required manufacturers to state each lemon buyback vehicle’s status as such on the vehicle‘s title. The branding of the vehicle as a “Lemon Law Buyback” on the title gave way to the term “Lemon Law Buyback Title,” which is simply a regular vehicle title that carries the lemon law buyback branding.
To determine if a vehicle has a lemon law buyback title, look towards the bottom of the vehicle’s title in the “Remarks” section. Most states require that manufacturers brand the title lemon buybacks with the phrase “Lemon Law Buyback Title” or something very similar in the “Remarks” portion of the title. You can always ask your dealer for assistance in determining if the vehicle you wish to purchase is a lemon law buyback -- by law, dealers are required to divulge whether a vehicle has a lemon law buyback title to any potential buyer before they purchase it.
If you are preparing to purchase a vehicle that has a lemon law buyback title, we strongly suggest you do some research into the lemon vehicle’s history. There is a good chance the manufacturer has not attempted to or been able to resolve the problems for which the lemon vehicle was returned, which means you could end up purchasing a lemon yourself, and have less or no protection under your state’s lemon laws. Even if your state affords you some protection, you would be better off purchasing a brand-new vehicle with no history of problems, especially without a history a lemon law buyback.
If you have already purchased a vehicle and since then, you have discovered the vehicle has a lemon law buyback title, research your state’s lemon laws to see what remedies are available to you. You may qualify for a lemon law buyback yourself if the dealer failed to tell you the vehicle was a lemon law buyback, which means you would be entitled to a full refund of the purchase price, or an exchange of the vehicle you purchase for a new, non-lemon vehicle of the same or comparable make, model, and year.