What Is A Lemon Car - Exactly

The term "Lemon" has become a way for today's consumer to identify a "bad car" or a car with issues across the board. Did you know this is not exactly what a lemon is? It is a common misconception that a car with problems is a "Lemon." We will explain exactly what the meaning of the term is below.


What Exactly Is A Lemon?
A lemon is a car that at the time of problems was/is under manufacturer warranty experiencing the same problem consecutively (three times in a row over a short period, where previous attempts have not fixed the problem) or where defects have caused a new vehicle to be out of service for a prolonged period (typically thirty days or longer) for repairs. Contrary to common knowledge, a lemon cannot become a lemon once it is outside of the manufacturer's warranty, period. However, once a car is branded a lemon, it will be just that for the remainder of its existence.

The primary objective of the lemon law is to force manufacturers to repair defective vehicles or exchange them. Depending on the jurisdiction, a process similar to vehicle title branding may also be used to warn subsequent purchasers of the history of a problem vehicle. This portion of a vehicle's history is, however, often not retained with the vehicle title when exporting vehicles to another jurisdiction.

How to Avoid a Lemon

The best way to avoid a lemon is to order a vehicle history report, ask for a copy of the title (not always easy to get with common title delays) and a pre-purchase vehicle inspection to make sure that the title is clean and the vehicle is not experiencing any of the same problems that may have been reported on the history report.

See More Car Buying Tips

Aviod Buying a Flood Damaged Vehicle With A Pre-Purchase Auto Inspection

As incredible as it may seem, it's possible for a dealer or an individual to legally acquire a car that's been flood-damaged and totaled that doesn't reflect the damage. In most states , totaled cars' titles bear a salvage title, but a dealer can wholesale the car out to a state that issues the fresh title without tagging the car as salvage. Look for signs that the car has recently been titled in multiple states, a clue that the owners are attempting to clean up a negative notation on the title, such as salvaged or totaled, by shuffling it into and out of areas where damage disclosures differ or don't exist. Which states? It doesn't matter because once the title has been laundered; it can be re-titled in any state, clean as a whistle.


A Vehicle History Report

Order a Vehicle History Report. Some reports will indicate "Storm Area Registration/Title." While it may not have been damaged by the storm, or it may have been moved to safety during the storm, we recommend a thorough professional inspection of the vehicle to confirm no such damage.

Professional Auto Inspection

Give us a call and ask for a thorough examination anywhere in the United States. We find evidence of flood damage more often than most people do, so we know exactly what to look for. If you suspect a car or truck has been involved in a flood, have a professional from Auto Inspex inspect the vehicle. The worst part about a flooded vehicle is if the vehicle still has a new car warranty, the warranty is void if your dealer finds evidence of flood damage, even if the damage is not listed on the title. Water leaves lasting damage.

Having The Correct Tire Pressure

Keeping your car's tire pressure at the optimal level is important to the life of your tires and will improve your gas mileage. Under-inflation is the most common, so we will start there.




Not Enough Tire Pressure

An under-inflated tire can't maintain its shape and becomes flatter than intended while in contact with the road. If a vehicle's tires are under-inflated by only 7 psi it could weaken the tire's internal structure and eventually lead to tire failure. Lower inflation pressures will allow more deflection as the tire rolls. This will build up more internal heat, increase rolling resistance and reduce the tire's tread life by as much as 25% while increasing the probability of irregular tread wear. Drivers would also find a noteworthy loss of steering precision and cornering stability. While 7 psi doesn't seem excessively low, it typically represents about 23% of a passenger car tire's recommended pressure.

Too Much Tire Pressure

An over-inflated tire is stiff and the size of its footprint in contact with the road is reduced. If a vehicle's tires are overinflated by 7 psi, they could be damaged more easily when encountering potholes or debris in the road, as well as experience irregular tread wear. Higher inflated tires cannot isolate road irregularities as well causing the vehicle to ride harsher and transmit more noise into its interior. However, higher inflation pressures reduce rolling resistance slightly and typically provide a slight improvement in steering response and cornering stability.

More Auto Inspection Tips

Tire Balancing

Tire balancing is important to keeping your vehicle in good mechanical condition. This is one of the many things we check on a used car inspection through Auto Inspex.

When a tire is installed on a wheel rim, it is followed by a balancing process. The purpose of the balancing is to eliminate any vibration which might be caused by any mismatch between a tire and the wheel. First, you may wonder why there might even exist a mismatch requiring tire balancing when you're buying new tires. Tire balancing can correct vibration caused by as little as .25 of an ounce of mismatched weight. If it is only attended to when there is a noticeable vibration in the ride or is felt via the steering wheel, it may have already caused considerable stress on your vehicle

-Always balance new tires when they are installed

-Check tires for proper balance whenever tire rotation is performed at intervals of 4,000 to 6,000 miles.

-Have any tire which is repaired, balanced again to compensate for the weight change produced by the patch or the damage being fixed.

Sometimes the wheels and tires on a vehicle may be in balance but you can still feel a vibration. Here are some of the other causes of vibration:

-Wheel alignment is out
-Low Tread
-Bent wheel
-Wheel-to-axle mounting error
-Brake component issues
-A tire is out of round
-Drive train component issues
-Suspension issues
-Wheel bearing

The Penny Test

Abraham Lincoln has made a contribution to car care. The Lincoln penny test has become the standard method of determining when it's time to get new tires. The procedure is as simple as placing a penny in the shallowest tread of the tire. If your tires are wearing uneven you might have a balancing or inflation issue.

So why use the penny? The exact distance from the tip of Lincoln's head to the rim of a penny is 2/32 of an inch. In most states legal tread depth is 2/32 of an inch. Insufficient tread can be hazardous to drive on in adverse road conditions.

-Take out a penny and hold it by the body of Abraham Lincoln.

-Place Lincoln headfirst into one of the grooves on the tire where the tread is lowest.

-If you can see above any part of his head, you will need a new tire. The less of his head you see the better off you are!

On a side note: George Washington is aiding as well. The same test done the same way means you are at 4/32” of the thread depth.