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Buying Cars as Gifts: A Good Idea?

» Posted February 10, 2017Resources | Share This Post

Every year, car commercials abound during the end-of-year festive season. NY Daily News did a roundup of the best and worst of these holiday ads, all of which were designed to convince people to buy cars as holiday gifts. Many of the ads were by luxury car makers, and they showed off the vehicles with perfect large red bows in the driveway and touted vehicle safety features. Unfortunately, this rosy picture ignores the record numbers of vehicle recalls in recent years and that many cars can end up having serious safety problems.

While the California Lemon Law provides some protection to consumers who have purchased vehicles that turn out to have serious defects, it is still a big deal and a major hassle to buy a car that ends up having issues. You do not want to rush into buying a car, especially if it is a holiday, birthday or “just because” gift for someone else, all due to a catchy ad.

Why Buying a Car as a Gift Can be a Bad Idea

Buying a car as a gift can be a bad plan for lots of different reasons. One big problem is that people end up being swayed by the cute television ads. One of the favorite ads cited by NY Daily News involved a role reversal where the parents were excited about the gift, and the kids were the ones who were slow to get up in the morning but happy to see their parents’ joy. While some of the ads have nice messages or are heart-warming, a car is too big and important of a purchase to make just because of a compelling ad.

Many of the ads also tout the arrival of the new models for the upcoming year. When you buy a new untested model line that has not yet been driven by actual consumers, you could experience a number of unexpected problems.  Your heartfelt gift could turn into a mess of auto problems and frustration for the owner, perhaps requiring repeated repairs and safety recalls. Your gift recipient could be left to deal with the problems your spontaneous car purchase has caused.

If you do buy a car and end up having problems with it, you need to know what your rights are under the California lemon law. The Bickel Law Firm, Inc. can provide assistance when you have serious issues with your car, so give our firm a call today for a free consultation on the lemon law.


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"Had nothing but problems with my car. Jordan did a great job with getting Honda to listen and ended up settling. Im so glad Bickel helped me."
Posted By: Rob Sanders

BICKEL SANNIPOLI APC