The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2301 et seq. (“MMWA”) is a federal law (basically a federal Lemon Law) that applies to all consumer product written warranties (including Motor Vehicle, Boat, and RV/Motor Home warranties).
In some instances, the MMWA incorporates State warranty law for limited written warranties and implied warranties.
For a majority of States across the nation (including Nevada), a product warranty is breached under the MMWA if defect repairs are untimely, repetitive, or unreasonably numerous.
Unlike the Nevada Lemon Law, which has a 1 year period of coverage, the MMWA applies to the entire time your manufacturer’s warranty is in effect, e.g., 3 year/36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty or 5 year/60,000 mile power train warranty, etc.
The main remedy for an MMWA limited warranty breach is diminution in value CASH compensation damages instead of a refund or replacement. Diminution in value means that a vehicle was not worth what was paid for it at the time of purchase (the sales price) because of its defects and repair history. Basically, you should get some of your money back from the manufacturer because you did not get the “new” vehicle value you paid for, but instead got the equivalent of a “used” worn down vehicle that should have cost substantially less.
Under certain circumstances it may also be possible to obtain compensation for the aggravation and inconvenience of repeat repairs and/ or your loss of use of the product. These are called incidental and consequential damages. Although such damages are typically disclaimed in the warranty, the disclaimers can be overcome if failure of essential purpose (failure to complete proper repairs within a reasonable opportunity) is proven.
Additionally, you are entitled to seek attorneys’ fees for MMWA claims and our Firm requests attorneys’ fees on your behalf from manufacturers as part of out of court MMWA settlements.
Fortunately, the vast majority of RV/Motor Home, Motor Vehicle, Boat, and Offroad Vehicle MMWA cases (at least 95%) ARE SETTLED OUT-OF-COURT without any lawsuit being filed.
Please make a submission on our FREE Lemon Law Evaluation page and we will contact you to discuss your MMWA breach of warranty case. If we cannot assist you or do not practice where you reside, we may be able to help you locate local counsel.*
