Documenting Evidence in a Utah Lemon-Law Case

Utah’s lemon-law framework rewards detailed documentation in two ways: the § 13-20-5 presumption tracks (4 attempts or 30 business days OOS), and the § 13-11-19 UCSPA non-disclosure case (deceptive conduct supporting actual damages, with the $2,000 statutory floor as the minimum).

Repair orders — every visit, every detail

Each visit must produce a written repair order with:

• Date in / date out — for 30-business-day OOS count.
• Mileage in / mileage out — for distinctive mileage-during-repair exclusion under § 13-20-5.
• Customer complaint — verbatim. Match across visits for same-defect tracking.
• Technician notes — what they did, what they found.
• TSB / recall application — record bulletin numbers.
• Parts and warranty codes.
• Disposition — every attempt counts under § 13-20-2(2) definition.

Business-day OOS tracking

Utah’s distinctive 30-business-day OOS threshold requires careful counting:

• Business days = Monday-Friday excluding federal/state holidays.
• Exclude routine maintenance downtime (oil changes, tire rotations) per owner’s manual.
• Include repair-related days only — not consumer-elective extended visits.
• Track partial days — vehicle in shop AM-PM same day = 1 business day.

Build a spreadsheet:

Visit	Date In	Date Out	Business Days	Cumulative
1	Mar 3 (Mon)	Mar 10 (Mon)	6	6
2	Mar 24 (Mon)	Apr 4 (Fri)	10	16
3	Apr 14 (Mon)	Apr 25 (Fri)	10	26
4	May 5 (Mon)	May 9 (Fri)	5	31 ✓

Cumulative 31 business days = presumption met.

Mileage-during-repair exclusion documentation

Utah’s distinctive consumer-favorable formula excludes mileage during repair periods:

• Mileage at delivery — typically near-zero on new vehicle; excluded.
• Mileage during repair visits — vehicle in dealer hands; consumer typically not driving; excluded.
• Mileage between visits — counts toward offset.

Track first-report-miles carefully: this is the mileage at the first repair attempt for the nonconformity. The offset is calculated from first-report-miles MINUS mileage-during-repair-periods.

UCSPA non-disclosure pleading evidence

For the UCSPA actual-damages case (with the $2,000 statutory floor as the guaranteed minimum), document the deceptive conduct:

• Manufacturer misrepresentations — advertising, warranty statements, brochures.
• Dealer misrepresentations — sales-pitch claims, written representations.
• Undisclosed defects — manufacturer knowledge of pattern defects (TSBs, recalls).
• Misrepresented warranty status — sold as “new” or “CPO” when not.
• Buyback non-disclosure under § 13-20-7.
• “As-is” disclaimer violations under § 70A-2-316.

This evidence builds the actual-damages showing, which can exceed the floor. UCSPA recovery is the greater of actual damages or the single $2,000 statutory floor — the floor itself does not multiply per act.

Manufacturer communications

• Customer-relations call logs — date, time, rep name, content.
• Email and letter correspondence.
• Voicemails — save and transcribe.
• Customer-relations file/case number.

Photos and video

• Dashboard warning lights date-stamped.
• Defect manifestation (video preferred).
• Odometer readings at each event.
• Repair facility scenes.

Financial records

For the refund calculation:

• Purchase or lease agreement.
• Bill of sale itemized.
• Loan documents.
• Rental car receipts — incidental damages recoverable.
• Towing receipts — incidental damages recoverable.

Vehicle history

• NHTSA VIN-based recall report.
• Carfax / AutoCheck report.

For UCSPA non-disclosure cases (buyback resale, salvage, flood, CPO misrepresentation), vehicle-history-report data is often the entire fact pattern.

Independent inspection

For contested cases:

• Written report from ASE-certified master technician.
• Photos of the defect.
• Cost estimate of correct repair.
• Expert testimony if needed at trial.

Costs typically recoverable as expert-witness fees under Magnuson-Moss § 2310(d)(2).

Bottom line

Utah cases reward careful business-day OOS tracking (for the distinctive 30-business-day presumption), mileage-during-repair documentation (for the distinctive offset exclusion), and thorough UCSPA non-disclosure documentation (to maximize actual damages above the $2,000 statutory floor). The documentation discipline pays directly in settlement value and fee-recovery anchoring.

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