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§ 818.508. Warranty obligations

Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes and Consolidated StatutesTitle 63 P.S. Professions and Occupations (State Licensed)Effective: October 24, 2019

Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes and Consolidated Statutes
Title 63 P.S. Professions and Occupations (State Licensed) (Refs & Annos)
Chapter 22A. Board of Vehicles Act (Refs & Annos)
Chapter 5. Recreational Vehicles (Refs & Annos)
Effective: October 24, 2019
63 P.S. § 818.508
§ 818.508. Warranty obligations
Currentness
(a) General rule.--Each warrantor shall:
(1) Specify in writing to each of its dealer obligations, if any, for preparation, delivery and warranty service on its products.
(2) Compensate the dealer for warranty service required of the dealer by the warrantor.
(3) Provide to the dealer the schedule of compensation to be paid and the time allowances for the performance of work and service. The schedule of compensation must include reasonable compensation for diagnostic work as well as warranty labor.
(b) Time allowances and compensation.--Time allowances for the diagnosis and performance of warranty labor must be reasonable for the work to be performed. In the determination of what constitutes reasonable compensation under this section, the principal factors to be given consideration shall be the actual wage rates being paid by the dealer and the actual retail labor rate being charged by the dealers in the community in which the dealer is doing business. The compensation of a dealer for warranty labor may not be less than the posted labor rates actually charged by the dealer for similar nonwarranty labor as long as the rates are reasonable.
(c) Reimbursement.--The warrantor shall reimburse the dealer for warranty parts at actual wholesale cost plus a minimum 30% handling charge and the cost, if any, of freight to return warranty parts to the warrantor.
(d) Audits.--Warranty audits of dealer records may be conducted by the warrantor on a reasonable basis, and dealer claims for warranty compensation may not be denied except for cause, such as performance of nonwarranty repairs, material noncompliance with the warrantor's published policies and procedures, lack of material documentation, fraud or misrepresentation.
(e) Warranty claims.--The dealer shall submit warranty claims within 45 days after completing work.
(f) Warrantor notification.--If a dealer receives a written or verbal complaint from a consumer relative to a warranty repair, the dealer must notify the warrantor about the complaint in writing within 10 days of receiving the complaint if the dealer cannot satisfy the consumer's complaint.
(g) Disapproval of warranty claims.--The warrantor shall disapprove warranty claims in writing within 45 days after the date of submission by the dealer in the manner and form prescribed by the warrantor. Claims not specifically disapproved in writing within 45 days shall be construed to be approved and must be paid within 60 days of submission.
(h) Violation.--It is a violation of this chapter for a warrantor to:
(1) Fail to perform any of its warranty obligations with respect to its warranted products.
(2) Fail to include, in written notices of factory campaigns to recreational vehicle owners and dealers, the expected date by which necessary parts and equipment, including tires and chassis or chassis parts, will be available to dealers to perform the campaign work. The warrantor may ship parts to the dealer to effect the campaign work, and, if the parts are in excess of the dealer's requirements, the dealer may return unused parts to the warrantor for credit after completion of the campaign.
(3) Fail to compensate its dealers for authorized repairs effected by the dealer on merchandise damaged in manufacture or transit to the dealer, if the carrier is designated by the warrantor, factory branch, distributor or distributor branch.
(4) Fail to compensate its dealers in accordance with the schedule of compensation provided to the dealer under this section if repairs are performed in a timely and competent manner.
(5) Intentionally misrepresent in any way to purchasers of recreational vehicles that warranties with respect to the manufacture, performance or design of the vehicle are made by the dealer as warrantor or cowarrantor.
(6) Require the dealer to make warranties to customers in any manner related to the manufacture of the recreational vehicle.
(i) Violations.--It is a violation of this chapter for a dealer to:
(1) Fail to perform predelivery inspection functions, as specified by the warrantor, in a competent and timely manner.
(2) Fail to perform warranty service work authorized by the warrantor in a competent and reasonably timely manner on a transient customer's recreational vehicle of a line-make sold or serviced by that dealer.
(3) Fail to accurately document the time spent completing each repair, the total number of repair attempts conducted on a single unit and the number of repair attempts for the same repair conducted on a single vehicle.
(4) Fail to notify the warrantor within 10 days of a second repair attempt which impairs the use, value or safety of the vehicle.
(5) Fail to maintain written records, including a consumer's signature, regarding the amount of time a unit is stored for the consumer's convenience during a repair.
(6) Make fraudulent warranty claims or misrepresent the terms of a warranty.

Credits

1983, Dec. 22, P.L. 306, No. 84, § 508 [63 P.S. § 818.508], added 2018, Oct. 24, P.L. 816, No. 134, § 21, effective in 365 days [Oct. 24, 2019].
63 P.S. § 818.508, PA ST 63 P.S. § 818.508
Current through Act 10 of the 2024 Regular Session. Some statute sections may be more current, see credits for details.
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