Recent automobiles are covered by an “anti-lemon” measure. It allows the owner or long-term lessee to petition the court to declare an automobile as seriously defective when certain conditions are met. Such an automobile is thus deemed to have a hidden defect.

Conditions

In order for an automobile to be declared “seriously defective,” the following conditions must be met:

• One or more defects appeared while the automobile had travelled a maximum of 60,000 kilometres and a maximum of 3 years had gone by since its initial sale or long-term lease.
• The defect or defects in question make the automobile unfit for the use for which it is normally intended or significantly decrease its usefulness.
  • The defect or defects in question have been the subject of attempts at repair under the manufacturer’s warranty in one of the following situations:
• 3 unsuccessful attempts at repair were made for the same defect;
• 1 or 2 unsuccessful attempts at repair for the same defect were made while the manufacturer or dealership responsible for performing the warranty had the automobile in its possession for more than 30 days. Days for which the manufacturer or dealership can demonstrate it was unable to perform the repair due to a lack of parts do not count, provided that a replacement automobile was made available to you free of charge;
• 12 attempts at repair for unrelated defects were made, regardless of whether or not such attempts were successful.

You may have purchased the automobile from a merchant (new or used automobile dealership) or from an individual.

Recourse options

If your automobile meets the conditions to be declared a “seriously defective automobile,” contact the dealership and manufacturer, and notify them that the vehicle has a hidden defect.

You can ask the dealership and manufacturer to:

• reduce your obligations (e.g., decrease the price paid);
• cancel your contract;
• pay you for damages, if you have suffered a loss, such as having to pay expenses (you must be able to prove and justify the amount).

If the negotiation fails, you will have to send them a formal notice.

You can then petition the court to have the vehicle declared a “seriously defective automobile” and submit the requests listed above. You can also claim punitive damages. Refer to the page titled Potential Solutions to find out more about this subject.

Legal warranties

Does your automobile have a significant issue, without necessarily fulfilling the conditions to be declared a “seriously defective automobile”?

Other warranties provided for by law may be useful to you. These warranties allow you to demand that your automobile be fit for the use for which it is normally intended and have a reasonable lifespan, given the price paid, the contract and the terms of use.