Rocky road has a happy ending for California family

Tabita and David Laymon with Baby Abigail enjoy their new minivan

Little did Californians David and Tabita Laymon know when they bought a used 1998 Ford Contour that they would soon be in the fight of their lives against one of the world's largest multi-national corporations, Ford Motor Corp.

Tabita was about 4 months pregnant when they entered a car dealer's lot in Pasadena, California, while visiting Tabita's parents and sister. They explained they wanted to be sure their car was safe and dependable because they were expecting a new baby. The salesman steered them to the Contour, claiming it was perfectly safe and reliable--excellent for family transportation. It had only 8,000 miles on the odometer, and still included nearly all of the original Ford warranty, so it seemed like a good deal. They paid the dealer, said good-bye to Tabita's family, and took off for their home in the university town of Davis, CA, in their newly acquired car.

The automotive honeymoon was short-lived. A few hours into their trip, the electrical system malfunctioned. The lights on the dashboard went out. The speedometer stopped working. The car started to jerk violently. Intermittently--especially when they went up even a slight incline--the car sputtered and bucked like a wild bronco.

Alarmed, they immediately took the faulty Contour to a Ford dealership. The dealer kept the car--their only transportation--for weeks. Finally, the dealer said its mechanics could not find the root cause of the problem, and urged the Laymons to come pick up the car. Thus began a long saga of failed repairs and frustration. Doing without the car for extended periods was a hardship. It was David's only way to get his job programming computers in a neighboring community. The couple worried about whether the Contour would run in a medical emergency or when their baby was due. But when they sought help from the dealership and from Ford, all they got were rude treatment and the run-around.

"It's almost like intimidation--what they do to you," says Tabita. "I am a firm believer in honesty. And if someone is in customer service, they should try to be helpful. Instead, we found the opposite." Desperate for relief, they sought the services of lemon law expert Mark Anderson of San Francisco, who filed a case against Ford on their behalf. "We have never been involved in a lawsuit before," say David and Tabita. "But we couldn't just unload this lemon, and let someone else be stuck with it. That would just not be right. They also tried to lowball us. We would have had to lose about $10,000 in the transaction."

Ford tried to wait them out, underestimating their determination and resolve. It took from July, 2000 to January, 2001 for Ford to finally repurchase their lemon. Under California law, Ford will now have to cure the defects before the vehicle can be resold, and it must have a permanent sticker trumpeting the fact it is a "Lemon Law Buyback."

With assistance in the form of a low-interest loan from the CARS Foundation, the Laymons were able to obtain safe, reliable transportation--an economical rental car--while Ford stonewalled. David could get to work, where he was offered a promotion, and Tabita could drive with Abigail to the grocery store and pediatrician's office. "We could not have done it without help from the CARS Foundation. Thank you!" say the Laymons. It was a stressful ordeal, but now the Laymons are happy with their new "peach"-- a used minivan--just in time for David to transfer to a bettter job, and for Abigail's new baby brother to arrive.