Some problems are difficult for a dealer to fix, perhaps because they are difficult to replicate. If the problem in question is frightening–perhaps the car cuts off in traffic or on the highway for no evident reason–some owners decide to just park the car and deal with it later. If the problem is more minor, the owner might decide to just live with the problem until they have time to take the car to the dealer again. And they never have the time. The problem with waiting too long to get problems resolved (or not): lemon laws only apply for a limited time. Wait too long, and you lose the ability to force (or at least fairly easily force) the manufacturer to buy back a car the dealer cannot fix.

The first step if you have an unresolved problem with your newish car: read your state’s lemon law to learn how long the car is covered, and how many repair attempts and/or days in the shop are required to qualify.

Next, don’t put off taking the car into the dealer. You want them to have to make the required number of repair attempts within the required time period.

Finally, make sure that whenever you take the car in, that the attempt is documented on paper. Too often if there’s no record, a repair attempt doesn’t count for the purposes of a lemon law buy back.