What To Do
To successfully sue for car rental expenses and other incidental expenses after a lawsuit, you should keep all your receipts and notes concerning the vehicle in order, preferably itemized and totaled. If you've sent any letters to the manufacturer or the dealer in attempts to resolve the problem, include them as well, along with any information given to you by mechanics.
Allowable reimbursements on car rental generally include mechanics fees, mileage incurred during drives to and from the mechanic, and roadside assistance fees related to the mechanical problem that started this whole process rolling.If you have a new car with problems, you should visit one of the many technical service bulletin databases available online to see if the problem has been addressed in a bulletin or recall notice by the manufacturer. Often, even with the best designers creating new cars, your car may not have been perfectly engineered, and you may find that those small engineering flaws cause big problems. If there's not a TSB or a recall notice, do a Google search for the word Problem followed by your car's make and model, and see if other people have had the same issues.
If it turns out that your car has a problem, you may be entitled to have it fixed or bought back through small claims court because of your state's lemon law. Lemon laws are designed to protect consumers from the wrongdoing of large corporations. As a last resort you may choose to bring civil suit against a manufacturer that makes no efforts toward a reasonable solution to the problem. Solid proof that the problems in your car are due to errors by the manufacturer, and you're likely to receive a settlement, perhaps even before the case goes to trial.
Incidental expenses like car rental and your repeated trips to the mechanic aren't likely to be covered in the lemon law suit, unfortunately. For these expenses, you'll need to go to small claims court.
What To Do
To successfully sue for car rental expenses and other incidental expenses after a lawsuit, you should keep all your receipts and notes concerning the vehicle in order, preferably itemized and totaled. If you've sent any letters to the manufacturer or the dealer in attempts to resolve the problem, include them as well, along with any information given to you by mechanics.
Allowable reimbursements on car rental generally include mechanics fees, mileage incurred during drives to and from the mechanic, and roadside assistance fees related to the mechanical problem that started this whole process rolling.You won't need an attorney to file suit in small claims court. You can get the paperwork by going to your local courthouse and asking the clerk for it, he or she may even help you fill it out properly. If not, you may want to consider contacting Legal Aid, or a similar agency, in your area.
When filling out your paperwork, be very precise. Tell the court exactly what the problem was and how it was ultimately resolved. When you list the name of the company against which you are making the complaint you should be sure to list the legal name of the business. The legal name is the name that is listed on their registration with the Secretary of State and not a dba name ("doing business as"). The court may throw out the lawsuit if the name is not exactly perfect. To find out for certain, just call the business you're suing and ask. If you can't find out that way, ask the court clerk what you should do to get the precise name.
If you're suing an out of state corporation, you may find that your state does not allow it unless they have an in-state branch. You can get around this problem by suing both the dealer you bought the car from and the manufacturer.
Ultimately, you are entitled to the damages incurred when your car turned out to be faulty through no fault of yours. Those damages include car rental expenses. Don't give up on it. Fight for what is yours.
