As a consumer attorney I get daily phone calls from people who have a quick question regarding some point of consumer law, which I am happy to answer. Two common questions relate to the purchase of used cars - specifically (1) is there a three day period in which a customer can change his mind and return the car for a refund? Absolutely not. The three day right to change your mind applies in the case of door to door sales and in the case of mortgage loans. That’s it. Used cars - no. The second question I get pertains to the state’s lemon law - what is it and can I use it to get out of a bad deal? To understand the Arizona lemon law requires a discussion of what constitutes a warranty, express and implied and the laws under the Uniform Commercial Code or the UCC. Please do not give up here, this stuff is not difficult to understand.
When you purchase a product, a car for example, you may or may not get a written (express) warranty from the business you purchased it from. They may not offer a warranty on the product, or they may offer a warranty if you pay extra for it. Fair enough. No extra money - no written warranty. But what about an implied warranty? An implied warranty is not written, but is created by law in the state in which you live. Under the Uniform Commercial Code, adopted in most states, a buyer of a car gets - for free - an implied warranty that the car will run. If it does not run then under the implied warranty the dealer must fix it! However the law permits dealers to disclaim implied warranties as long as they tell you that. That is why you see in every used car window a big piece of paper plastered there telling you they disclaim ALL implied warranties.
To review - when you purchase a used car from a dealer the UCC gives you an implied warranty by operation of law, you get it - free and automatically. The dealer has the freedom, though, to take the implied warranty away from you by simply letting you know, thus the big paper in the window saying AS-IS! NO IMPLIED WARRANTIES!
Under the Arizona lemon law the dealer’s disclaimer cannot take effect until either 15 days have passed after the sale or the car has been driven 500 miles. Any time that the car is in the repair shop during the first fifteen days or five hundred miles does not count. Example: Harry bought a used car from Shiny New Motors on February 1. On February 3rd the car broke down and Harry took it back to Shiny New. It sat in the shop for ten days awaiting parts and technicians to fix it. The ten days it sat in the shop does not count toward the fifteen days of the implied warranty. Also - Harry drove the car 20 miles to get to the shop for the repairs. Those 20 miles do not count toward the five hundred. For those of you who want to wrestle with the wording of the law here it is:
A.R.S. 44-1267 Used motor vehicles; title; implied warranty of merchantability disclaimer; waiver; burden of proof; remedies
A. Before the seller attempts to sell a used motor vehicle the seller shall possess the title to the used motor vehicle and the title shall be in the seller's name.
B. Except as provided in subsection I of this section and in addition to the requirements of section 28-4412, a used motor vehicle dealer shall not exclude, modify or disclaim the implied warranty of merchantability prescribed in section 47-2314 or limit the remedies for a breach of that warranty, except as otherwise provided in this section, before midnight of the fifteenth calendar day after delivery of a used motor vehicle or until a used motor vehicle is driven five hundred miles after delivery, whichever is earlier. In calculating time under this subsection, a day on which the warranty is breached is excluded and all subsequent days in which the motor vehicle fails to conform with the implied warranty of merchantability are also excluded. In calculating distance under this subsection, the miles driven to obtain or in connection with the repair, servicing or testing of the motor vehicle that fails to conform with the implied warranty of merchantability are excluded. An attempt to exclude, modify or disclaim the implied warranty of merchantability or to limit the remedies for a breach of that warranty, except as otherwise provided in this section, in violation of this subsection renders a purchase agreement voidable at the option of the purchaser.
