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Show Utah lemon law in effect i By DENNIS HINKAMP ' We have a very fickle love affair with our cars. Although we seemingly cannot do without them, they draw more consumer complaints com-plaints than any other product we own. Since April of this year, Utah has had what is commonly known as a "lemon law" in effect. Since then, the Utah Department of Consumer Protection has received hundreds of inquiries about the Utah lemon law. It seems there is a great hoard of people out there who have cars they'd like to get rid of. Donald Cope, who investigates most of the potential lemon law cases for the state, says most of those who inquire do not really have a case. He says it is unfortunate, but many of the peftple are unhappy with their car because they were not careful buyers. discovered that the owner was using regular unleaded instead of the premium unleaded gasoline specified in the owner's manual. The Utah lemon law was enacted to protect consumers, but they must understand the limitations of this new legislation. To qualify a consumer con-sumer must meet these minimum requirements: ' -The auto must have been bought in Utah. -The law applies only to private autos and pick-up trucks. Motorcycles, Motor-cycles, tractors, motor homes, mobile homes and trucks weighing more than 12,000 pounds are excluded. ex-cluded. -The complaint must be for a "substantial" defect that the dealer has attempted to fix four times or the consumer must have lost use of the car for a total of 30 work days. |