Properly Written Repair Orders...

What I am talking about here is the “customer complaint/symptom” part of the dealer service department Repair Order. This is where you verbally tell the Service Advisor what the issue(s) is/are, and they transfer it to the warranty Repair Order.

First, did you bring a list of the symptoms? Do this. Be prepared. Don’t leave it to memory. Second, you need to keep your worded complaint consistent on each Repair Order. For example, let’s say your transmission is not shifting correctly. Be SURE to have the word “transmission” as part of the overall complaint wording. “customer states that the transmission does not shift correctly”. Or, if it’s an intermittent problem: “customer states that intermittently the transmission will not shift correctly”.

What’s all the hoopla about the wording you say? Well, think about it. If you have 4 different Repair Orders about the transmission, and the wording does not stay consistent, or (worse yet) the word transmission is not included, you just handed the automobile manufacturer a powerful defensive argument tool of “not the same symptom” (or similar). Or, if the word “transmission” was not there at all, they could cry “not the same complaint” (or similar).

REMEMBER: If you tell the Service Advisor about “lemon law”, you can very likely come back with a “no problem found” or “could not duplicate customers concern” on the invoice, which hurts your potential lemon law case, not help it. Remember the old expression “loose lips sink ships”? Stay on-topic about the problems and symptoms, without slipping off into “my car is a lemon” conversations.

When the Service Advisor hands you the Repair Order, which is computer printed out – READ IT before signing it. It must note what you stated. If it does not, politely tell the Service Advisor to re-write and re-print it out with what you stated. If he will not, then ask for a different Service Advisor, or find a different dealership to perform the warranty work who will enter the information correctly. When you are handed a properly executed Repair Order, sign it, and get a copy of it before you leave the Service Department!

The key here is to generate and compile properly executed Repair Orders and Invoices. If you are going to prepare a lemon law claim, then correct warranty repair documentation is your greatest ally.

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The California Automobile Lemon Law Insider
1960 Deermont Road
Glendale, California. 91207
Ph: (818) 548-6070

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