Florida Hurricanes and Lemon Law Claims: A Complicated Mix
Florida drivers deal with something that drivers in most other states never face: hurricane season. When a storm threatens, evacuation orders go out, dealerships close, and repair appointments get canceled. If your new vehicle already has a defect, a hurricane can throw your lemon law timeline into real uncertainty.
This post explains how Florida's Lemon Law, Chapter 681 of the Florida Statutes, works in general, and how a storm-related repair delay might affect your claim.
A Quick Look at the Basics
Florida's Lemon Law covers new vehicles and demonstrator vehicles that are sold or leased in Florida. Used vehicles are not covered under this law.
To have a valid claim, a few things generally need to be true:
- The defect must substantially impair the use, value, or safety of the vehicle.
- The problem must occur within the lemon law rights period, which is 24 months from the date the vehicle was originally delivered to you.
- The manufacturer must have had a reasonable number of attempts to fix the problem.
Two common thresholds trigger the right to send written notice to the manufacturer:
- Three or more repair attempts for the same defect without a fix, or
- 30 or more cumulative days that the vehicle is out of service for repairs (60 days for recreational vehicles).
After written notice is sent through what the statute calls a Motor Vehicle Defect Notification, the manufacturer gets one final opportunity to repair the vehicle. If the problem still is not fixed, the consumer may seek a refund or a replacement vehicle.
A refund under the statute generally includes the purchase price plus collateral and finance charges, minus a statutory offset for the miles the consumer drove the vehicle.
For a deeper look at how days out of service are counted, see our post on days out of service under Florida's Lemon Law.
How a Hurricane Evacuation Order Disrupts the Process
When the governor or a county issues a mandatory evacuation order, most dealerships in the affected area close. Service departments shut down. Repair appointments are canceled. Parts shipments stop.
This creates a problem for consumers who are already in the middle of a lemon law claim. You may have had a repair appointment scheduled, and now it simply cannot happen. The clock on your 24-month lemon law rights period, however, does not automatically stop.
Here is what many consumers worry about during a storm delay:
- Will missed repair appointments count against me? Generally, a repair attempt only counts when the vehicle is actually delivered to the dealer for repair. A canceled appointment is not a repair attempt.
- Will the days my car sits at a closed dealership count as days out of service? This depends on the specific facts. If the vehicle was already checked in before the closure, those days may still count. If you could not drop it off because of the storm, that period is less clear.
- What if the storm pushes my claim past the 24-month lemon law rights period? This is one of the most serious concerns. Florida law does not contain an automatic "pause" provision for natural disasters in Chapter 681.
What the Statute Does and Does Not Say
Chapter 681 of the Florida Statutes does not include an explicit provision that extends the lemon law rights period because of a hurricane or state of emergency. Courts and arbitration boards look at the specific facts of each case.
That said, there are a few practical points many consumers and attorneys consider:
- Document everything. Keep records of every scheduled appointment, every cancellation notice from the dealer, and every communication about the delay. Emails, text messages, and dealer paperwork all matter.
- Track the reason for the delay. If the dealer canceled the appointment because of a mandatory evacuation order, get that in writing if you can. A printed evacuation order from the county or state also supports your record.
- Do not wait to reschedule. Once the storm passes and the dealership reopens, reschedule as quickly as possible. Delays after the storm lifts are harder to explain.
- Send written communication to the manufacturer. If a storm is delaying your ability to complete repair attempts, notifying the manufacturer in writing about the circumstances creates a record of why the delay occurred.
The Role of Arbitration
Before most lemon law cases go to court, consumers go through an arbitration process. If the manufacturer sponsors a certified arbitration program, that step usually comes first. After that, consumers have the right to bring their case before the Florida New Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board, which is run through the Florida Attorney General's office.
An arbitration panel looks at all the evidence, including documentation of why repairs were delayed. A well-documented storm delay, with supporting records, gives the arbitration panel the full picture of what happened and why the timeline looks the way it does.
To learn more about how arbitration works, see our post on what to expect at an arbitration hearing.