posted 03-22-2001 04:08 PM                  

Lawyers File Suit Over Chrysler 'Lemon' Cars

DETROIT (Reuters) - A group of car buyers has sued Chrysler
over its practice of fixing and reselling defective vehicles
returned to the company by unhappy customers.

The suit stems from documents, uncovered in a North Carolina
case against the automaker, that show Chrysler has resold
about 41,000 "lemons" over the past several years.

The suit alleges that Chrysler, a unit of DaimlerChrysler AG,
resold lemons without telling customers what they were buying.

"Recycling lemons, at the highest possible price, with the
littlest possible disclosure, is a standard business practice at
Chrysler," said Doug Abrams, lead attorney in the lawsuit,
which seeks class-action status.

Chrysler says it has strict procedures for handling such sales,
including requirements that dealers tell buyers about the
history of such cars.

All states have versions of lemon laws, which require
automakers to pay customers or buy back vehicles that have
chronic defects that are not fixed despite repeated work on
them. All but three states require that consumers be told when
they are buying a vehicle that has been bought back under
"lemon laws."

Consumer groups say automakers buy back about 100,000
vehicles in the United States annually, and resell about 95
percent.

The suit alleges that the seven plaintiffs bought Chrysler
vehicles from authorized Chrysler dealers without being told
they were lemons. It alleges that the plaintiffs "would have
elected not to purchase the vehicles in the first instance if they
had received proper disclosure."

According to the documents released in the North Carolina
case, Chrysler buys back most of its problem vehicles before
they pass all the way through the legal process. The company
said such vehicles are repaired and sold with a one-year,
unlimited-mileage warranty.