Making Law from Lemons:  Connecticut's Landmark Consumer Protection

In 1980, John J. Woodcock III of South Windsor was elected to the Connecticut State Legislature, and New London resident Dan Brochu bought a new car.

They could not have imagined their paths would cross and their actions would result in the establishment of the Lemon Law—an unprecedented consumer protection law—not only in Connecticut, but across the nation.

Since the enactment of the Lemon Law 25 years ago, consumers have recourse when the car of their dreams turns into a nightmare. According to the State Department of Consumer Protection, more than $53 million has been returned to lemon owners since the bill was signed into law in 1982, providing relief to 5,000 people. Each year the department receives nearly 200 lemon law applications, with half going to arbitration.

“The Lemon Law started as an idea to address a very serious consumer problem: defective new vehicles and no recourse for folks when they bought them,” Woodcock said. “The law has led to a change in the relationship between the consumer and an automobile manufacturer, so that the consumer now has a better chance if they have a problem with a new car. It leveled the playing field.”

For consumers, students or historians interested in the twists and turns taken en route to the passage of this historic legislation, all roads all lead to Central Connecticut State University (CCSU).

In 2003, Woodcock donated his public policy collection related to Connecticut’s Lemon Law to the archives of the William A. O’Neill Endowed Chair in the Center for Public Policy and Social Research (CPPSR) at CCSU.

“I wanted the archives to serve as an inspiration and guide for how individuals can bring about major change in public policy,” said Woodcock. “I felt that at CCSU, students, professors and academic researchers could all benefit from the material. The collection is all primary source material, which is very significant in academics.”

The saga began in 1980 when Brochu paid $6,500 for an Oldsmobile Omega that “turned out to be a classic lemon." According to a September 1982 Consumer Reports article, water pooled inside, the electrical system failed, paint peeled and the manual transmission slipped. After the car had been in the dealer’s shop for repairs 135 days during an 18-month period, Brochu took his protest to the State Capitol.

The protest caught the attention of then newly elected State Representative Woodcock, who proposed what became the first “Lemon Law” enacted in the United States. Today, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have lemon laws.

As a first-term legislator, Woodcock learned of many complaints involving poorly constructed new vehicles, and identified the need for legislation that would provide direct legal recourse against automobile manufacturers. In 1980, California had attempted to pass a similar law, but automobile dealers and manufacturers thwarted the bill’s passage. 

After studying the California experience, Woodcock built support among his colleagues. It is unusual, then and now, for freshman legislators to propose and shepherd such far-reaching and groundbreaking proposals.

The initiative built support, gathering allies and overcoming opposition, and was ultimately approved and signed into law by Governor William O’Neill on June 4, 1982.  

An Act Concerning Automobile Warranties provided “for a statutory warranty of two years or 24,000 miles, whichever is less, on new cars sold in this state and . . . require[d] the replacement of vehicles under warranty when repeated attempts to repair them are unsuccessful.” The so-called Lemon Law II passed in May 1984 establishing an independent arbitration procedure within the Department of Consumer Protection.

Woodcock’s Lemon Law Collection can be found in the Special Collections Room of CCSU’s Elihu Burritt Library. Oral history interviews are being conducted to capture first-hand accounts and personal perspectives, available at www.ccsu.edu/cppsr.

“The lesson of the Lemon Law for students is that when citizens are clamoring for change, government can take action to benefit society,” said Steven Kliger, CPPSR executive director.  “Citizen empowerment translates into government action.”