My Used Car's a Lemon! Am I Stuck With It?

Lemon laws protect new car buyers in every state in the nation, but it's far more common for used car buyers to get stuck with an unreliable vehicle, or to incur repair bills that cost more than the car. For such unfortunate consumers, it often goes downhill from there.

Owners of lemons, as these cars are often called, must still make car payments while their vehicle sits idle. One-sided arbitration clauses — built into practically every dealer's vehicle sales contract — work to keep many used car buyers from taking a case to court. Finally, a buyer may have to prove ... Back to article