Before we say anything else, please let us say we’re sorry that you’re looking for information about the North Carolina lemon law. We’re sorry because this probably means you’re having serious trouble with your car. And we’re also sorry because North Carolina’s lemon law is one of the less helpful for the consumer that we’ve seen. But we’ll tell you what we know about it and give you some advice on how to make the best of a frustrating and maddening situation.

New cars, pick-ups, motorcycles and most vans are covered by our state’s lemon law. This coverage extends for two years from when you buy the car, or up to 24,000 miles.

Your car may be a lemon if what the manufacturer has done to fix it—usually through the garage at the local dealership—have failed. You’ve had four or more problems with the same thing in the first two years you own it, or it’s been in for repairs more 20 days or more in a twelve-month period. This problem must be something that’s covered by the manufacturer’s warranty.

Is this you? If so, you may be eligible for some sort of refund from the manufacturer. The formula for this is a little confusing:

Purchase price – the purchase price x current mileage divided by 100,000 = your refund. Huh? How much did you pay for the car? That’s your purchase price. Multiple that by the number of the miles on your car and divide that number by 100,000. Let’s say you paid 10,000 for the car and it has 12,000 miles on it. Multiplying those two numbers gives you 12,000,000. Dividing that by 100,000 gives you 1,200. Subtract 1,200 from your purchase price. $8,800 is how much the manufacturer should give you.

As the North Carolina lemon law says, it’s meant to encourage a settlement between you and the car’s manufacturer that doesn’t unduly burden or benefit either side. Frustrating.

If you think your car’s a lemon, you should do a couple of things. First, see what the owners manual from your car tells you to do. This information is obviously going to be skewed in favor of the manufacturer, but your case will be stronger if you jump through the hoops spelled out here.

Next, document everything that happens (to you car, to you, etc.). Keep all the paperwork you get from repairs. Keep track of work hours you’ve lost and things like that. Make notes of everyone you talk to, who they are, their name, what they said, when they said it, etc.

The third thing you can do is pursue arbitration or legal action. This is a pain and an expense, but what else can you do?

The North Carolina lemon law needs to be re-written to make things easier for the consumer. But until that happens, it does you some things you can do. Good luck.