One of the last things that anybody thinks about when driving a shiny new car off a dealer's lot is that their new pride and joy just might have a defect that will cause endless havoc. But it happens, and in many cases that defect cannot seem to be repaired even after countless attempts.

Luckily, state governments, with a bit of federal backing, have enacted consumer protection laws (lemon laws) assisting buyers in retrieving new replacement vehicles or a return of monies for flawed vehicles meeting certain conditions.

Colorado's Lemon Law (a.k.a. Warranties Act) comes into play when a new car, truck, or van under warranty has some sort of recurring malfunction that hinders the vehicle's function and skews its value more than normal appreciation loss.

If, within a year's time, every valiant effort has been made to fix the defect (and it has to be the same defect) the buyer may be able to apply the Lemon Law. Colorado statute defines "a reasonable number of attempts" as four or a total of 30 days (not consecutive) in a shop within the year time frame.

Your vehicle manual will list the manufacturer representative to contact so you can begin the complaint process. It is extremely important that you document everything during this time period, especially the frequent visits to the service garage.

Note: Motorcycles and motorhomes are excluded from the Lemon Law.

The state Attorney General has provided further information on Lemon Law claims, as well as a document containing the official language for the law.

The following organizations can provide more information on filing complaints:

• Better Business Bureau (BBB) Auto Line: 1-800-955-5100

• The Colorado Attorney General Consumer Line: (303) 866-5189, (303) 866-5230, or 1-800-332-2071

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