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| Don't let that expensive Rv rip off your rights |
New Rv buyers fall in love with the appearance of the new
RV long before they ever see the sales paperwork or the factory warranty. That
can end it up costing you a lot more than you think.
So, what should you look out for?
First, the warranty limitations. Many new RV warranties
now come with a shorter time limit to file any kind of warranty claim against
the manufacturer. That can cost you big money.
If, like many RV's, your Rv goes into the Rv dealer repair shop
too many times and that one year warranty goes by quickly, you could find
yourself with an expired warranty and malfunctions and defects that continue to
exist. And if you wait too long to file a claim after that warranty expires,
you may be stuck on your own - and stuck with the repair bills too.
Some new RV warranties have a sentence buried away in
them which says that you have to file in a claim under the warranty within as
little as one month or three months from when the warranty expires - or your
legal rights are gone. Think it doesn't matter? Thank you again.
No one likes to rush off to a lawsuit or lawyer, but if
you let the manufacturer or dealer drag out your repairs, you could find things
never getting fixed. If the dealer does not get your defects fixed in time or the repairs are done late in your warranty,
then you may have no choice but to go to a lawyer for help. If you don't act
fast, the factory may try to use that short time limit in the warranty to avoid
paying for any repair at all after that.
The moral of the story is simple – get to a lawyer
quickly and file your claim fast. Most lemon RV lawyers will review your case
for free (we certainly do). And the federal lemon law gives you the right to recover your
attorney fees if you have to file a claim.
But wait, there is another problem lurking in the sales
paperwork your dealer used to sell you that nice, new RV that can also cost you more big bucks.
When buying a new RV you almost always will get a
warranty from the manufacturer, but you seldom get a warranty from the selling
dealer. Why not? After all, it is the dealer is who you give your money to.
If they want $50,000 for $100,000 or even more of your
money, they should at least give you the promise that they will stand behind
what they are selling. Almost all dealers use sales paperwork, however, that
says they are selling that expensive new RV to you "as is." Is that fair?
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| Money Talks. So let it talk. |
Think about it this way. The dealer may argue with you about changing their
paperwork, but do you think if you stacked $50,000 in cold, hard cash on the
salesman's desk, he just might agree to give you their own warranty to get
their hands on the cash? You betcha! Well, that check you give them and that finance contract you sign - those are the same thing as a stack of cash to an Rv dealer.
You should insist on the dealer standing behind what they sell (put it in writing on the sales contract itself) or take your money elsewhere.
The moral of the story is easy – tell the dealer you want
them to write on the sales contract that they are giving you their own 90 day
warranty (or some other time limit). And then tell them that you will not sign
the sales contract until they do that. Don't worry, because if they want your
money bad enough they will do anything for it.
That extra warranty from the dealer will create extra
legal rights for you that can give you powerful remedies if, Heaven forbid, your RV turns out
to be a lemon.
No one wants a lemon RV and no one thinks that is what
they are buying when they get their new RV. But there are lemons out there and just
a little extra effort on your part can give you tremendous legal rights to do
something about it if that is what you end up with.
Why? Because it's better to be safe than sorry. Buying a new RV is subject to Murphy's Law. In other
words, as sure as you take the time to protect yourself a little better, you
won't have any problems at all. And as sure as you don't, you will end up
wishing that you did.
Burdge Law Office
Helping Rv'ers Get Rid of Lemon Rv's