Proving Intermittent Defects: When Your Car Acts Up for You but Not the Dealer

Every owner of a problem car knows the routine. The car jerks, stalls, or flashes warnings all week. Then it arrives at the dealership and behaves like a show car. The repair order comes back stamped "could not duplicate," and you drive home knowing the problem is waiting for you at the next red light.

Intermittent defects are the hardest lemon law cases to document and some of the most common. Here is how Florida drivers can prove a problem that refuses to perform on command.

"Could not duplicate" does not erase the visit

Start with the legal point that matters most. Under Florida's Lemon Law, Chapter 681 of the Florida Statutes, the thresholds are:

1. Three or more repair attempts for the same defect, or
2. Fifteen or more cumulative days out of service for repair.

A visit where you reported the defect and the dealer inspected the car counts toward that history even if no fix was made. You presented the car for repair of the nonconformity. What the technician failed to find does not undo what you reported. Make sure your complaint is written on the repair order in your words, every single time. Our guide to the three repair attempts rule goes deeper on counting.

The defect must also be reported first within the Lemon Law Rights Period, the 24 months after delivery. Report early, even when the symptom seems small.

Build evidence the dealer cannot shrug off

Intermittent problems need a recording habit. Use this checklist:

1. Keep your phone ready and capture video the moment the symptom appears. Include the dashboard, any warning lights, and enough surroundings to identify the car and date.
2. Keep an incident log. One line per event: date, time, location, speed, weather, what happened. Five entries between two dealer visits tells a story no "could not duplicate" can hide.
3. Photograph every warning message before it clears. Many faults store no permanent code, so your photo may be the only proof the warning existed.
4. Ask the dealer to check for stored and pending trouble codes at every visit and give you the printout. Intermittent faults often leave digital footprints even when the symptom hides.
5. Request that a technician ride along while you drive. Symptoms that hide in the service lane often appear on real roads with you behind the wheel. Get the ride-along noted on the repair order.
6. Ask whether the dealer can install a flight recorder. Manufacturers have data loggers for exactly this situation. If they decline, ask them to note that on the repair order too.

Make the paper trail tell one story

Fragmented records kill intermittent defect claims. Five visits described five different ways can look like five minor issues instead of one persistent defect. Keep the thread visible:

• Use the same core phrase every visit, like "intermittent stall while driving, ongoing since March"
• Ask the writer to reference your earlier repair orders on each new one
• Keep your own folder with every repair order, sorted by date, with days out of service tallied

Check whether the manufacturer has published a technical service bulletin matching your symptom. A TSB proves the defect pattern is real and known, which is exactly what an intermittent case needs. See our post on technical service bulletins for how to find and use them.

Electrical gremlins are the most common intermittent offenders, and they have their own playbook in our post on electrical problems in new cars.

The process once your record is built

When you reach three documented attempts or 15 cumulative days out of service, send the manufacturer a written Motor Vehicle Defect Notification by registered or express mail. The manufacturer has 10 days to direct you to a repair facility for a final repair attempt, then up to 10 days after you deliver the car to fix it.

If the defect persists, you can request a hearing before the Florida New Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board. This is where your videos, logs, and photos earn their keep. Board members are used to manufacturers saying a problem cannot be found. They are also used to watching a 15-second video that shows the problem happening.

If the Board finds the car qualifies, it can order a replacement or a repurchase covering the purchase price, collateral charges, and finance charges, minus a reasonable offset for the miles driven.

The mindset that wins intermittent cases

Treat yourself as the data recorder the car never had. The dealer sees your car for a few hours at a time. You see it every day. Consistent, dated, boring documentation beats dramatic descriptions every time. An arbitrator does not need you to be an engineer. They need you to be organized.

Think your car qualifies?

If your car keeps misbehaving everywhere except the service lane, take our free 2-minute case check or call Recalde Lemon Law at (305) 792-9100. We can review your log and repair orders and tell you whether your intermittent defect already meets the Chapter 681 thresholds.