I won a lemon law a few years ago.
What our State (Maine) said was you had to have the same problem fixed 3 times. After the 2nd failed attemp to fix it I had to write a letter to the dealership, a "Demand to fix" letter. This gave them one more chance to fix the problem and if by this time it was not fixed I could start the paper work for the lemon law. I also wrote GM asking for a new Van, I was laughted at pretty much, But that was ok because then I got MAD.
I wrote the letter after 4 attempts to fix the same problem because I didnt know the law.
These 3 attempts in my state had to all happend in a 12 month time frame or x amount of miles ( I cant remember the number of miles but think it was 12K)
Save all your paper work, Call your Lemeon law dept in your state, They were a big help to me and by this point I had already had the same problem fixed so many times they just sent me the paper work to ask for a hearing.
I had major problems, "complete" brake loss 5 times, universal joints replaced 3 times, 3 wheel barrings replaced,ABS not working. My list went on and on but won just for the brakes.
I did hire an attorney that went to the hearing with me only because I got a letter from GM saying they were sending a TOP rep, I felt they were trying to bully me and they DID so the attorney was just a procautioin but well worth the $750.00 she cost me (non refundable from GM). You dont need one if you cant aford one.But you need to have facts and stay strong.
We had the hearing in an office at the Motor Vehicial dept. The hearing judge asked both sides what the problems were and what happend each time my van needed to be fixed. I was very thankful he asked me questions about the brakes because GM tried to down play it. I also had a witness with me who was in my van one time when I lost my brakes and they asked her alot of questions.
I also took my Van to just a regular car repair shop and had this guy tow my van to the hearing and he spoke also about trying to fix my brakes with no success.
I remember the GM Rep was laughting at us for having the van towed because they were trying to down play the brake failures and at this point I had not driven my van for 6 weeks, it was parked in my driveway. He said "There is no way I am paying for a perfectly normal van tow to this hearing. My attorney spoke up and said the van had to be at the hearing and there was no way my client was going to drive it! We offered the Rep a chance to drive it but he declined !!!
Also find out (this is important) If your car dealership has factory trained macanices (sp) If they dont this will work in your favor because each dealership that sells new cars must have at least one in the shop. I found out later my dearlership did not.
Judge said we would hear by letter his decision in 2 weeks, we heard in 5 days and I won.
What I got......
GM had to take back the van,(they came to my house with a flat bed trailer, gee no one wanted to drive it) They had to pay off my loan in full and send me a check for the value (minus the payoff) of what the van was worth new minus miles over a certian amount (this cost me $2,500 in miles I did drive alot). They also had to give me back my regestration money (not the tax) I have to say I was thrilled. I had almost $10k in my pocket to put down on another van. More then I had down on this one. I also got the tow fee back and the cost of the rental car I had to get
Please PM me if you need anything. It was alot of work but well worth the hassell of it for me.
Oh and if this door not closing is any sort of safety problem like I am sure it is this needs to be stressed !!!! If possibel rent a car untill its fixed.
I also want to add that I went all the way to the owner of the dealership for help, in fact it was he who suggested I read my lemon law paper work, I really think he was just kidding because when I did start following the steps needed he got really scared and tried to talk me out of it saying "No one ever wins lemom laws" LOL
Good luck
