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What is the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act?
The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C. §2301 et seq. (“MMWA”) is a federal law (basically a federal Lemon Law) that applies to all consumer product written warranties (including Motor Vehicle, Boat, RV/Motor Home, and Off-road Vehicle warranties). All vehicles are covered by the MMWA so long as they have a written warranty and are consumer products (big rig trucks or tractor trailers for example are excluded).
There are no exceptions depending on the type of consumer vehicle like in the Minnesota Lemon Law and the MMWA can be used to assist you if the Minnesota Lemon Law is expired on your vehicle so long as you've had original manufacturer warranty repairs that are too numerous or that have taken too long to complete.
In some situations, the MMWA uses the standards in State warranty law for limited written warranties and implied warranties to determine when there is a warranty breach entitling you to compensation. For the vast majority of States across the nation, including Minnesota, a product warranty is breached under the MMWA if defect repairs are untimely, repetitive, or unreasonably numerous.
The MMWA applies to the entire time your manufacturer's warranty is in effect, e.g., 3 year/36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty or 5 year/60,000 mile powertrain warranty, etc.
What Can I Get for an MMWA Breach of Warranty Claim?
The main type of compensation for an MMWA limited warranty breach is diminution-in-value CASH money instead of a Minnesota Lemon Law refund or replacement. Diminution-in-value means that your vehicle was not worth what you paid for it at the time of purchase (the sales price) because of its defects and repair history.
Basically, you overpaid for your vehicle. You should get some of your money back from the manufacturer because you did not get the "new" (or relatively new) vehicle value you paid for, but instead got the equivalent of a very high mileage roughly "used" worn down vehicle that should have cost you substantially less.
This cash compensation is provided to you with you keeping your vehicle, so it is called "Cash and Keep." Cash and Keep compensation has no effect on your remaining warranty coverage and does not cause your vehicle to be labeled as a Lemon. You also keep the same loan and financing terms if your vehicle is financed.
If you want to trade out of or sell your vehicle upon resolution, then the Cash and Keep can facilitate you doing that without taking a big financial hit. In fact, depending on mileage and the amount owed on your vehicle and its trade in value, in some instances, Cash and Keep is a better financial result for you then a Lemon Law Buyback because of the usage fee deduction for mileage.
Under certain circumstances, it may also be possible to obtain compensation for your aggravation and inconvenience caused by repeat repairs and/or your loss of use of the product. These are called incidental and consequential damages. Although this type of compensation is typically disclaimed (excluded) in your manufacturer's warranty, the disclaimers can be overcome if failure of essential purpose (failure to complete proper repairs within a reasonable opportunity) is proven.
Additionally, you are entitled to seek attorneys' fees for MMWA claims and our Firm requests attorneys' fees on your behalf from Motor Home, Car, Motorcycle, RV, Boat, and Off-road Vehicle manufacturers as part of out-of-court MMWA settlements.
As always, with our FAIR FEE GUARANTEE our attorneys' fees will NEVER exceed your out-of-court compensation.
Can My Motorhome/RV, Car, Motorcycle, ATV, UTV, Boat, and/or Offroad Vehicle Case be Settled Out-of-Court?
Yes! Fortunately, just like for our Minnesota Lemon Law cases, the vast majority of our clients' RV/Motor Home, Car, Motorcycle, and Offroad Vehicle MMWA cases (at least 95%) ARE SETTLED OUT-OF-COURT without any lawsuit being filed.
Those are pretty good odds in your favor to be compensated without ever having to step foot in a courtroom.
To see if your vehicle qualifies for Free legal help please enter the information requested in our FREE Lemon Law Evaluation page and then we will contact you to discuss your potential MMWA breach of warranty claim and compensation options.