We had a lemon '02 Most Reliable Automobile Maker In The Known Universe Ever Made By Man Or God Honda Odyssey that developed a permanent oil leak from a casting defect after less than a month of ownership. We got it replaced (not easily) and we are now pushing 100k miles with no problems, no leaks, no repairs. Just like they're supposed to be.

I wouldn't pass on a vehicle make just because of stories of a handful of lemons. All makes have lemons and all of them have recalls. You have to consider overall reliability.

 

I also had a Honda Civic that should have been a lemon but I bought it barely used... wonder why... and I was young and didn't know what to do. Sooooo glad I bought an aftermarket warranty because I would easily guess $10,000 in repair was done to that car. Once the warranty ran out it cost me a few grand until the thing was finally totalled in a rather dramatic fashion.

You'll also notice how many people who state their MINI was a lemon gladly replaced it with another.

 

That is one reason manufacturers would rather buy a car back than be forced to under the lemon law. If it's been lemon lawed it's branded as so. If they buy it back it hits the used car lot & some poor person buys it. Sort of a dirty deed eh?

 

I used the Lemon Law in PA to sue BMW for a specific problem that my '02 MCS had.....the 'stumble'. Fortunately, after 13 months v.36 solved the problem, but I did receive a settlement for the safety risk it presented before it was fixed. I did retain a lawyer and it was well worth it.

 

We live in Ohio, they do have a great Lemon Law. My daughter had a dodge neon that was bad, I handled all items without a lawyer. As said above Dodge bought the car back for full MSRP and we purchased a new jeep at the sister dealer. It probably ended up on a used car lot.... But it worked for us. The dealers were discounting Neons when we bought however discounts on jeeps were few and far between. The dealers in Ohio seem to act quickly if you follow the letter of the law.

OHIOLYMINI

 

Thanks everyone for your input. I should be hearing from my dealership within the next day or two. Apparently, they've now received the official notification to rebuy my MINI. So the dealership needs to work out the numbers and call me.

In the mean time I was reading through the details of Ohio's lemon law and noticed that it has the 12 months or 18000 miles WHICHEVER IS EARLIER. Hadn't noticed that "earlier" bit until now. Guess I may be out of luck since I noticed the problem in the 12th month and called to schedule an appointment in the 13th month (didn't know it'd turn out to be a lemon and it seemed like a minor glitch at that time).

Not much more I can do until they present their offer to me. At that time, if it appears too low, I am considering using the Ohio Lemon Law as leverage - mentioning it and waving the Lemon Law docs in the air - and hope they up their offer.

Let's see... thanks again for all your help!

-MediocreFred.