WHAT IS A LEMON?

"Lemons" got their odd nickname because they are a sour deal for consumers. They leave a bitter taste in your mouth. A lemon car has defects that can drive you crazy – or threaten your life. Common problems range from the annoying and inconvenient or cosmetic (for example, really bad paint) to the terrifying.

In most states, to qualify as a lemon, the problem has to be serious enough that it "substantially impairs the use, value, or safety." State laws generally require you to give the manufacturer's agent – the dealer – an opportunity to fix the problems. But you don't have to keep going back and back forever. After all, you did not buy a new product so you could spend your life in the car repair shop.

In about a dozen states, if the defect is life-threatening – for example, bad brakes, steering wheels that lock up, or cars that intermittently die in traffic – the company is allowed only 1, or at the most 2, attempts to repair the car before it is deemed to be a lemon. At that point, the company should give you a refund or replacement. The states with special provisions against unsafe lemons are: Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Iowa, Hawaii, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Ohio, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington.

Check out the lemon law in your state by clicking on "www.cartalk.com" and going to the lemon law for your state, or checking with your state attorney general's office.

BEWARE OF "LAUNDERED" LEMONS

It seems that old lemons never die. They just get passed on. For years, auto manufacturers claimed they would not dare re-sell lemons, and even told lemon owners not to worry – their bad car would be crushed or towed to a tech college for an "auto autopsy." Balderdash. They now admit to federal regulators that about 95% of the cars they repurchase go right back on the road. Sometimes, the defects have not been fixed. And sometimes, the people who buy them as used cars are kept totally in the dark.

Lemons have interesting "migratory patterns." CARS tracked lemon cars from Hawaii to Virginia, from Maine to Massachusetts, from Florida to Texas. Many states have outlawed "lemon laundering," but manufacturers still persist in breaking the law. CARS estimates that each year manufacturers buy back over 100,000 lemons, then resell them – often without the required disclosures.