Research Journal Part II: Statutory Research

The Oregon Revised Statutes Index

Looking under the term "Lemon Law" gives a cross reference to "Motor Vehicles, Warranties, New Vehicles (Lemon Law). Several subtopics are listed under this, but before all the detailed subtopics, "(generally)" is given first and points to statutes 646A.400 et. seq. (which lasts through 646A.418 before turning to "Vehicle Protection Products," which do not apply in this case). While it is possible to research other related terms - "warranties" or "motor vehicles, repairs," for instance, searching on these terms for laws relevant specifically to new motor vehicles consistently leads back to this specific set of laws. In addition, a quick reading of one of these statutes reinforces their sufficiency, as will be discussed below.

The Statutes

It is clear from reading through ORS 646A.400-418 - entitled, "Warranty Regulation and Enforcement (Enforcement of Express Warranties on New Motor Vehicles)" that they are mostly directly applicable to this case, providing for the availability of consumer remedies for vehicles that fail to conform with their express warranties, time limitations, what those remedies entail, settlement procedures, and so forth. This is with the exception of 646A.405, which explains the notices required by sellers for buyers if a vehicle has been purchased back because of a defect; this statute is probably not relevant to the current situation.

One statute - the last one, 646A.418 - makes clear that while other potentially relevant statutes may be used to pursue remedies, but that if these are the statutes to be used for remedy, no others may be, and vice versa. This shows that reading through the statutes as they are located can help provide guidance as to whether pursuing research under other laws is necessary or helpful.

The search for the relevant statutes, then, was relatively straightforward, and maybe took about an hour to research, an hour to read through and determine which sections were relevant, and half an hour to document the process here. Next: researching case law.