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Next week will be an anniversary of sorts for John and Cara Nyehart. It was two years ago that the Beaverton couple bought their dream car. Responding to the ad campaign sponsored by the Vancouver Auto Dealers Association--"cars simply sell for less in Vancouver"--the 19-year-olds bought a red 1996 Mitsubishi Eclipse at Dick Hanna Mitsubishi and drove it home to Beaverton. Within weeks, their dream turned into a nightmare. The car made strange noises, all the struts had to be replaced and the paint flaked. And that was only the beginning. John Nyehart, who attempts to drive the Eclipse to work, says the car has "caused problems in my marriage, in my family--it's just a headache." Nyehart has taken the car for repairs more than 20 separate times, for problems ranging from faulty brake lights to multiple replacements of the main engine fuse. To Rick Troutman, service manager at Dick Hanna Mitsubishi, the situation is remarkably clear. "There's no such thing as a lemon," Troutman says. The car may not have been exactly what Nyehart wanted, he adds, but it was the car that the manufacturer designed. Nyehart, not surprisingly, has lost patience with the dealership. "It's horrible. I won't go back there," he says. For its part, Mitsubishi has also told Nyehart that it will no longer replace the car's main engine fuses--more than a dozen have blown--under the car's warranty, reasoning that someone must be vandalizing the Eclipse. Savvy consumers may think that Nyehart is lucky. After all, Washington's "lemon law," which protects consumers from faulty cars, is one of the nation's strictest, while Oregon's law is notoriously weak ("Stuck With a Lemon," WW, Jan. 25, 1996). Under Washington's law, Nyehart would have up to 30 months from the time of purchase to prove to a state-appointed panel that his car had serious, recurring problems that accompanied it from the factory. The problem is, Washington's law covers only cars bought and registered in-state. Oregon's lemon law, meanwhile, only covers cars bought here. In other words, the Nyeharts are lost in space, suspended in limbo between the two states. They might as well drive their car into the Columbia. Unlike other durable goods, automobiles are regulated by each state. A toaster is a toaster no matter where you buy it, but a lemon is not a lemon unless you buy it here. Jason Reynolds, director of the Oregon Consumer League, says Oregon car buyers get a raw deal: "This is an area that is dreadful, awful for consumers." Oregonians purchase 25,000 new and used cars a year in Clark County, according to the Vancouver Auto Dealers Association. Paul Corning, administrator of Washington's lemon law, says he's seen people in Nyehart's situation over the past 10 years, but not many. Having determined that neither state's lemon law applied, Nyehart's attorney wrote a letter to Mitsubishi asking for a refund or replacement car. Mitsubishi refused. Nyehart now plans to file suit in federal court against Mitsubishi. Even that avenue is uncertain, though, says Nyehart's attorney, Truman Stone, because Nyehart can't afford legal fees. Meanwhile, Nyehart has become well-acquainted with local tow-truck operators. When his main engine fuse blows, the car won't move. The Eclipse is Nyehart's only means of transportation, and he can't get rid of it. He tried trading it in, only to find that the car's value is about $7,000 less than his outstanding loan amount. Since the Nyeharts bought their dream car, the couple have had their first child, complicating matters even more. There's no place in the two-seater for the baby to sit, so they have to wedge her car seat in the way-back, where she is uncomfortable and possibly unsafe. For a young couple struggling from paycheck to paycheck, the shiny red Eclipse is a mocking reminder of their expectations. Of the car he once coveted, Nyehart now says, "I hate it, I want to bash it with a baseball bat. I used to feel pride when I looked at it; now I want to throw up." |
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