A lot has been reported lately about an ubiquitous and popular sport-utility vehicle (SUV) that appears to have a problem with sudden acceleration and has figured in several accidents already. There were at least 97 reported cases and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has already been pressured to step in to investigate.
On July 15, 2014, President Aquino signed Republic Act 10642, also known as the Philippine Lemon Law, referring to defective motor vehicle products. Lemons have, likewise, been synonymous with defects. Since the passage of the Lemon Law, many consumers have complained and criticized the said law, claiming that while it is supposed to benefit the consumers, it has become more of a safety blanket for car manufacturers and dealers.
The prescriptive period stated in the Lemon Law only provides for 12 months after the date of the original delivery of a brand-new motor vehicle to a consumer, or the first 20,000 kilometers of operation after such delivery, whichever comes first. Only in this period can a car owner avail himself or herself of the Lemon Law. The said period, however, is confusing and inconsistent with the warranties provided by most car manufacturers, which provide a warranty for the car for at least three years, or 100,000 km, whichever comes first. Also, a period of 12 months is very short since car manufacturers should at least guarantee that the car would function properly for the same period of time that they provide warranties. In most instances defects in the car become evident after more than a year of use.
Another bizarre provision of the Lemon Law also mandates that before one can demand for a replacement of the defective or lemon vehicle, there must at least be four separate repair attempts. This means that one must at least bring the defective car in the same car dealer or casa at least four separate occasions to give the car manufacturer more than adequate time to repair the same. It is amusing that the Lemon Law would unreasonably require the purchaser of a defective car to endure driving the same with great risk of endangering the driver, passengers or the unsuspecting commuters in order to avail himself or herself of the Lemon Law rights. Notably, the defects of the Lemon Law surfaced and become more pronounced after the recent spate of complaints about the popular SUV.
Most of the complainants cannot use the Lemon Law because the period has either prescribed, or the unreasonable but mandatory four repair attempts have not yet been made on the defective vehicle.
Worse, after complying with the mandatory four separate repair attempts, the purchaser of the defective car cannot still lodge a complaint with the DTI because the purchaser must give the manufacturer, distributor, authorized dealer or retailer a Notice of Availment of Lemon Law Rights. This notice gives the manufacturer, distributor, authorized dealer or retailer a comfortable period to make a final attempt to resolve the problem to consumer satisfaction. If the consumer is not satisfied, only then can he or she go to the DTI to complain. It is interesting to note that the Lemon Law vested exclusive jurisdiction to deal with this cases with the DTI such that a consumer cannot immediately go to the regular courts to complain.
To top it off, the consumer is threatened to suffer or shoulder all the expenses of repair and damage to the manufacturer, distributor, authorized dealer or retailer if after the investigation, the complained defective car turns out to not be defective at all.
It is also important to mention that not all motor vehicles are covered by the Lemon Law. As defined in the law, motor vehicles refer only to four-wheel road vehicle that carry passengers but excludes motorcycles and buses, among others. It is still puzzling that despite the proliferation of the motorcycles and the like, the consumers thereof cannot avail themselves of Lemon Law rights.
It is easy to see how the provisions of the said law are heavily tilted in favor of powerful car manufacturers, distributors and authorized dealers. The Lemon Law, sad to say, reeks of inadequacy of consumer protection for purchasers of brand-new vehicles. All these are becoming self-evident with the recently publicized complaint against the omnipresent SUV.
As it turns out, the Lemon Law is a “lemon” in itself.
For comments, you may e-mail me at lpkapunan@kapunanlaw.com.