# New Car Back at Repair Shop Pt II!!



## Ack (Mar 16, 2002)

Well, here it is now 8 days after picking up my new car and the dealership will officially have my car for 3 of these 8 days!

Today, when I started my car, I got a red brake light and yellow ABS light. . . so I'm figuring I have a faulty ABS sensor.

My main question is this, how long before I can invoke the lemon law on my dealer? This is the third time the car is at the repair shop for two different problems (the first being a faulty idle control assembly). I don't want to have to bring my car back to the dealership every week for a different problem.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

- One unhappy owner


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## geomax (Dec 22, 2001)

Every State has it's own Lemon Laws. There are a ton of websites devoted to this. Just do a Google search. Or, contact your local Better Business Bureau. They can be very helpful it matters like this, especially if thing get nasty between you, the dealer and BMW NA. BBB helped me arbitrate a complaint against VW some years back. I won, too.

I for one am sorry to hear this news about your car. Just plain sucks.

Keep us posted - we'll help you out. 

edit: here's some links to get you started:

http://www.lemonlawamerica.com/

http://www.autosafety.org/lemonlaws.html

http://www.oag.state.ny.us/consumer/consumer_issues.html


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## webguy330i (Jan 9, 2002)

Damn man, it really is starting to sound like a lemon. Here are some useful links for getting this taken care of:

http://autopedia.com/html/LemonLaw/NY_lemonlaw.html
http://autopedia.com/html/HotLinks_Lemon2.html (scroll down to New York)

Note this:

*"...or for a substantial defect within 20 days of receipt of notice given by the consumer using certified mail."*

That could be your ticket out, although what substantial defines is kind of ambiguous.


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## Ack (Mar 16, 2002)

Thanks guys! :thumb: It looks like they need to attempt to repair the same problem 4 or more times or that the car is out of service a total of 30 or more days. :thumbdwn: 

Since this is ONLY the second problem and the third day the car is out of commission, I will have to go thru this for a few more months to accumulate 30 days. 

Being an eternal optomist, this will hopefully be the end of my problems . . . only time will tell. :tsk: 

It looks like I will have to cancel my car audio install until I am sure that the car is ok to drive. No sense putting in all of this equipment only to have to tear it all out a few months down the road. That and the fact that BMW will probably blame all of my future electrical problems on the aftermarket stereo system. :dunno:


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## geomax (Dec 22, 2001)

Ackster said:


> *No sense putting in all of this equipment only to have to tear it all out a few months down the road. That and the fact that BMW will probably blame all of my future electrical problems on the aftermarket stereo system. :dunno: *


This is a good idea. You're right, they may try to use this an excuse not to support warranty repairs.

Oh, almost forgot - have you signed up with BMW CCA yet? Most of us here have. Tons of benefits to being a member. One of which is access to BMW CCA Technical Advisors. These guys make the dealer mechanics look like monkeys. They've been invaluable to me in getting straight answers that I couldn't get from the dealer. You can find one in your area by looking in the Roundel (the pubilication of the CCA). If you don't have one, let me know what area of the city you are in, and I can look one up.


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## Ack (Mar 16, 2002)

geomax said:


> *
> 
> This is a good idea. You're right, they may try to use this an excuse not to support warranty repairs.
> 
> Oh, almost forgot - have you signed up with BMW CCA yet? Most of us here have. Tons of benefits to being a member. One of which is access to BMW CCA Technical Advisors. These guys make the dealer mechanics look like monkeys. They've been invaluable to me in getting straight answers that I couldn't get from the dealer. You can find one in your area by looking in the Roundel (the pubilication of the CCA). If you don't have one, let me know what area of the city you are in, and I can look one up. *


Yeah, actually the day I picked up my car, I enrolled with BMW CCA. I just got my membership materials in the mail yesterday. I haven't had a chance to read thru it yet.

I'll PM you with my other information.

The other thing is, I wonder what NY defines as 30 days out of service. Is this 30 days at 24 hours in the shop for 1 day, or an 8 hour work day, or is it how long the actual repair took. This is what I hate about laws. Their definitions are not very clearly defined (I could just be missing this definition though).

Thanks again!


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## webguy330i (Jan 9, 2002)

Ackster said:


> *The other thing is, I wonder what NY defines as 30 days out of service. Is this 30 days at 24 hours in the shop for 1 day, or an 8 hour work day, or is it how long the actual repair took. This is what I hate about laws. Their definitions are not very clearly defined (I could just be missing this definition though).
> 
> Thanks again! *


I'm pretty sure it means 30 "days", a day being anyday that the car is on the lot waiting for service/being serviced. A day may be constituted by more than 50% of a 24 hour period, but I'm not certain. I would suspect that a day can be whatever you want, so if I drop it off Thursday morning and pick it up Monday morning, that would be 5 days to me (thursday + friday + saturday + sunday + monday).


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## Ack (Mar 16, 2002)

webguy330i said:


> *
> 
> I'm pretty sure it means 30 "days", a day being anyday that the car is on the lot waiting for service/being serviced. A day may be constituted by more than 50% of a 24 hour period, but I'm not certain. I would suspect that a day can be whatever you want, so if I drop it off Thursday morning and pick it up Monday morning, that would be 5 days to me (thursday + friday + saturday + sunday + monday). *


Under this assumption, I should make sure I drop it off on a Friday and not pick it up until Monday. I will be on my way to 30 days in no time!!

Truth is, I hope this is the last of my problems. It just frustrates me to no end that I am having any problems with this car. I would expect these types of issues from U.S. made cars, not a BMW. It's also p*ssing me off that I might have to put off my stereo install while I wait to see if my car is indeed a lemon!


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## webguy330i (Jan 9, 2002)

Ackster said:


> *
> 
> Under this assumption, I should make sure I drop it off on a Friday and not pick it up until Monday. I will be on my way to 30 days in no time!!
> 
> Truth is, I hope this is the last of my problems. It just frustrates me to no end that I am having any problems with this car. I would expect these types of issues from U.S. made cars, not a BMW. It's also p*ssing me off that I might have to put off my stereo install while I wait to see if my car is indeed a lemon!  *


I totally understand. Just remember though that as long as the dealership has done their part, you should try to give them the best rating possible when you get that BMWNA phone call (if you haven't already). Of course if they've screwed up anything or left you displeased, make that apparent. Separate the car problems from the dealership problems though!


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## Ack (Mar 16, 2002)

webguy330i said:


> *
> 
> I totally understand. Just remember though that as long as the dealership has done their part, you should try to give them the best rating possible when you get that BMWNA phone call (if you haven't already). Of course if they've screwed up anything or left you displeased, make that apparent. Separate the car problems from the dealership problems though!  *


I've been really happy with the way my dealership is handling this issue - sending out someone to pick up my car from Downtown/getting the car back to me the same day. I'm just not very pleased with the actual car. Will BMWNA ask how the car is doing or just the dealership? I would like to explain these problems to them.


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## bimmee (Mar 23, 2002)

Geeze, thats just a big time bummer.

Sorry about whats going on there, keep us posted, your info can be very useful for other new owners.


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