Lemon Laws

Lemon Laws
I saw this story the other day, about a man in Germany so fed up with his lemon of a BMW (a $160,000 lemon, btw) that he had been trying, unsuccessfully, for 5 years to get fixed, that he took it to the Frankfurt Motor Show and smashed it with a sledgehammer.

Happily I’ve never been in this situation, but the story reminded me of my grandfather, who was well known in Stockton back in the day, as he was a local businessman and on the city council as well. Grandpa used to buy a new car every year or two, and he paid with cash. In my mind, he bought Cadillacs, though that may not be the case. One year, he was unhappy with the car he had bought, as it had problem after problem that he didn’t think a brand new car should have. Perhaps we didn’t have lemon laws back then, so Grandpa took matters into his own hands. He went to the dealership and told them they needed to take the car back. They refused, and said it was his car now. He said, “Well then, I guess I’m going to go get a paint job then”, and they said, “What do you mean, Mr. Ward?” He said, “I’m going to get a big lemon painted on the side, and park it in front of your dealership every day. Whenever anyone asks, I’ll tell them exactly why, and who sold the damn thing to me.”

They took the car back.

3 Comments

  • Rainbow Motel

    This is the perfect solution. Advertising is everything. I’ve also heard that it is sometimes possible to learn what day the car was assembled on. Friday cars are the worst because workers are rushing into the weekend. Monday cars are assembled without it. It’s worth looking into.

  • Nance

    Good for him! I’ve had several cars that I’ve really liked and that I’ve been sad to let go when it was time. One was my little Jeep Cherokee. That thing was terrific to drive and ran for the longest time. Cars are nothing but utilitarian to me; I don’t have a “dream car” or anything, but that car gave years of good service and easy driving.