More than 40 years after Connecticut passed the U.S.’s first lemon law, Quebec has introduced Canada’s first legislation to protect consumers from unreliable cars. And it’s now the gold standard for consumer care in North America.
The law introduced by the Quebec National Assembly says that anyone who has bought a new vehicle that has been subject to three unsuccessful attempts to repair it in three years or 60,000 km (37,000 miles) can ask a court to cancel the sale, reduce the price or force the automaker to buy the vehicle back.
A key part of the law is that it shifts the burden of proof from the vehicle owner to the automaker. Instead of an owner hiring an independent engineer to come up with evidence that the car is faulty, the owner can use evidence that a fault hasn’t been fixed within the allowed timeframe to have it classed as a lemon. And once that happens, the car is marked out as a lemon forever, much like a crashed car will always have a black mark on its record, even if it’s put back on the road.
The new lemon law only covers new cars, but the legislation is now part of Quebec’s decades-old Consumer Protection Act, which already offers some cover for used cars. That coverage is about to get an upgrade. Currently, pre-owned vehicles up to two years old and with no more than 40,000 km (25,000 miles) on the clock are covered, but Canada’s Driving says both of those values will double in spring 2024.
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Other incoming benefits to consumers include a right to access replacement parts and information about how to carry out a repair, and also the option to have a leased car inspected free of charge 30 to 60 days before the customer is due to hand the keys back, giving them time to get repairs done. If the lease provider doesn’t offer a free inspection, they’re not allowed to charge for repairs once the lease has ended.
Drivers aren’t the only Canadians the law is designed to protect. It’s also designed to fight against planned obsolescence of electronic goods and household appliances. It all sounds great, provided you live in Quebec. Canadians living in other parts of the country aren’t covered by the new lemon law, or at least not yet.