Lemon Law Lawyer Blog

Most everyone has heard of “recalls.” Recalls are, generally speaking, warning notices from manufacturers to consumers of a “known defect” in a certain year, make and model of vehicle. Closely related to “recalls” are technical service bulletins, known in the industry as TSBs.

TSBs are documents that manufacturers provide to their dealerships alerting the technicians that certain models may have a tendency to exhibit specific defects. These service bulletins usually recommend a method for repairing the defect. TSBs can be short and simple, or long and quite technically complex.

Lemon law cases can be made stronger by the existence of a TSB that relates directly to defect in question. A solid TSB that is, as we say in the law, “on point” can defeat the following, common types of defenses: 1) the manufacturer or dealer claims that your car is “operating normally” or “within specifications;” 2) the manufacturer or dealer claims that you caused the problem by aggressive driving or after-market modifications; or 3) the manufacturer or dealer claims that they have repaired your car successfully, when it is clear that they haven’t even applied the TSB yet.

In some situations, the dealer will have performed the repairs suggested in a TSB on your vehicle, but the car still acts like a lemon. There are a couple of obvious reasons for this. 1) the dealer may not have performed the TSB correctly; 2) the TSB may not actually be a sufficient fix – in this case, look for updated TSBs from the manufacturer; or 3) The dealership is performing the TSB correctly, but has mis-diagnosed the real problem with your vehicle. This list is not comprehensive, but it should provide you with a starting point.

Sometimes, the dealership will disclose the TSB to the consumer, but oftentimes dealerships never reveal to their customers that the vexing problem for which they keep coming back is a “known problem” that affects many more cars than just theirs. Fortunately, everyone can gain access to most manufacturer’s TSBs. To do this, you go to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website, and choose the year, make and model of your vehicle using a series of drop down menus. The site will provide lists of all TSBs as well as all recalls and all consumer complaints.