Should I buy a lemon?

It's almost like you're pretty knowledgeable about this stuff!

 

Oh crap he’s right! What have I gotten myself into?

 

That's a very good point. Trying to sell or trade-in a car at a later time that has "lemon buy back" red mark on Carfax is going to be fun. Or even getting it insured in certain states. It is probably even worse than having a salvage title.

 

Both are going to impact resale substantially, since they're branded titles. But if you buy a salvage/BB at a good price and keep it long term, you can save money overall. As mentioned, it's a calculated risk that is probably not practical for a mainstream buyer.

 

a few points of clarification

A buy back does not necessarily have to be a lemon law trade in, buy back or return. There are many possible outcomes to a lemon lawsuit, most of them are a waiting game as the manufacturer waits for you to void the case, get impatient or inadvertently give over evidence of abuse. In the ensuing 3-18 months the lawsuit takes, you’re usually offered non-binding arbitration, minimal financial compensation, re-re-repair + some form of customer goodwill, a trade for a similar value model, cash settlement or ... you go to trial. A number of possible outcomes from a trial - if it’s close the judge could order you to negotiate more, he may telegraph to one or the other party they should be more flexible, you can go to the jury and lose, or you can go to the jury and win, or at some point the manufacturer may offer to settle.

typically, trade ins / like value vehicle replacement, repurchase and cash buy out occur within 1 week of the trial date. Manufacturers know they can repair the vehicle for very little cost and resell it.

If you go to trial and prevail OR, your settlement specifies, the vehicle may get the “scarlet letter” title; identifying it as a manufacturer buy back. If that’s on the title it’s the equivalent of salvage in terms of value.

Each state and territory has their own lemon laws, but they’re based on model legislation, so contain some similarities. Some states will flag the vehicle title - see above, but not all. Additionally, if you settle prior to suing, OR, the manufacturer agrees before any papers are filed to replace your vehicle on customer goodwill, the title is not flagged. I can’t speak for carfax, oasis, etc.

I would say that selling a scarlet letter titled vehicle in the open market will definitely be a challenge and you’d better get a good purchase price because resale won’t be brilliant. I’ve never heard of insurance coverage being a problem though.

So not all buy backs are lemons, and not all lemons are buy backs. That last sentence from @FordTechOne I quote above encapsulates it all. If you’re not sure and aren’t able to readily find out, find another truck.

 

I had zero problems with insurance and zero problems getting an extended warranty out to 140k miles. Carfax notes the manufacturer buyback event but shows clean or positive checkmark for lemon and salvage title. Oasis report shows all transactions for the truck so easy to see what you are getting. Title is silent. My state only brands titles on salvaged, rebuilt or unsafe vehicles.

My truck was discounted about 23% from anything similar in my region. I plan to drive it roughly 140k miles and I plan to take a similar 23% hit when I sell it or trade it - albeit on a truck worth considerably less at that point through the usual depreciation.

My dogs a shelter dog too - guess I just have a thing for the abused and neglected!

 

I think use case also has to factor into this decision.

Are you buying the truck as a toy/weekend warrior where if any gremlins are still present it won't be a big deal to address it.

Or would this be your only vehicle/DD where reliability has to be bulletproof to get you to work on Monday.

 

Short answer: No.











Long answer: HELL No!

Less you are gutting it to build something from the ground up.

 

I bought a buyback in '10, I racked up a bunch of trouble free miles commuting daily and enjoying many off-roading adventures. I sold it 5 years later and I got great resale for it. In my experience any off-road vehicle that isn't beat up or excessively modded will fetch a good price.

 

I had a 2017 that Ford could never get right, so take that into consideration.