Legal Links

Lemon Law
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) Contains the Department of Transportation database of consumer complaints, defect investigations, recalls and summaries of technical service bulletins organized by model and year.
http://www.nhsta.dot.gov/cars/problems
Center for Auto Safety For selected models, this site has information on defects, service bulletins and actions you can take.
http://www.autosafety.org
Lemon-Aid A companion to the Lemon-Aid book series, this site lists a variety of hidden warranties and major defects for selected models. Has links to owner-run gripe sites.
http://www.lemonaidcars.com
Kelly Blue Book Vehicle buyers guide from Kelly Blue book. You can research new car pricing, reviews, used car values.
http://www.kbb.com
CarFax Vehicle history report by VIN number. Not perfect but a great way to check history of your car; will show possible odometer rollbacks, salvage title, flood damage, etc.
http://www.carfax.com
Automotive Leasing Guide (ALG) Used by the car industry to set residual rates for leases. Check out the section Leasing 101 - a good tutorial with questions and answers on leasing a vehicle.
http://www.alg.com/
Autopedia AUTOPEDIA(R) - The AUTOmotive encycloPEDIA - is a free comprehensive Internet source for automotive related information, where consumers can find information related to Autos, Boats, Trucks, Minivans, Motorcycles, RVs, SUVs and the Lemon Law for all 50 of the United States of America.
http://autopedia.com/
Vehicles
Keys to Leasing Site run by the Federal Reserve Board; Excellent information on what leasing is; explanation of terms; rights and responsibilities; leasing costs and a sample lease form with explanations.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/leasing/
Automotive Learning Online This is a great site! Learn for yourself whether or not the mechanic is telling the truth. Contains graphics and explanations of all parts of the vehicle.
http://www.innerbody.com/default.htm
Consumer's Checkbook A great buying and leasing service. Provides detailed information on cars of your choice, comparisons, and will do the haggling for you.
http://www.checkbook.org/index/cars&trucks.htm
Understanding Consumer Vehicle Leases Written by the California Department of Consumer Affairs. An excellent and thorough discussion of car leasing.
http://www.dca.ca.gov
Understanding Consumer Vehicle Leases Written by the California Department of Consumer Affairs. An excellent and thorough discussion of car leasing.
http://www.dca.ca.gov
Automotive Appraisal The Automotive Appraisal Services Group.The one-site stop for all your auto-truck-SUV-SUT-RV-motor home appraisal needs.
http://www.automotiveappraisals.com
Product Defects
Consumer Product Safety Commission A government regulatory agency designed to prevent defective products from being sold to the public. Contains latest news and reports on unsafe products.
http://www.cpsc.gov/
Consumers Union Publishers of Consumers Reports, check out all of the latest on product and service issues being tracked by CU as well as product specific information and warnings.
http://www.consumersunion.org/aboutcu/about.htm
Computers
Consumer Reports A new free service is available called Help for Problem PC's. Includes procedures to follow to get retails and manufacturers to fix a problem; info on consumer protection laws and form letters.
http://www.consumerreports.org/main/home.jsp (click on Computers tab and then look for Help for Problem PCs link)
Other Sites
Class Action at Central Notice A search engine database of class action lawsuits for consumer protection.
http://www.notice.com/classactions/
Consumer World Covers a variety of consumer needs, from consumer complaints, researching laws, credit cards, airfares, purchasing a car, etc.
http://www.consumerworld.org/
National Institute of Consumer Education Presents information about fraud, credit, finance, bankruptcy, leasing, and more. Designed to make the consumer more alert and aware.
http://www.nice.emich.edu/
U.S. Consumer Gateway This site contains links to a broad range of federal information resources available online. Includes info on credit, privacy, telemarketing, and a variety of scams. It is designed so that you can locate information by category. Each category has subcategories to direct you to areas within individual federal web sites containing related information.
http://www.consumer.gov
Federal Consumer Information Center Place to order free brochures on hundreds of consumer topics.
http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov
Consumer Education for Teens A site developed under a special project by the Washington State AG's office, this site is perfect for the teen in the house. Areas covered include, credit cards, music buying services, health clubs, college scholarships, etc.
http://www.wa.gov/ago/youth
Consumer Action A site run by a well-respected national consumer education and advocacy organization providing free assistance and multilingual publications to consumers all over the country.
http://www.consumeraction.org/CA_Home_English.html
NoLo Press The ever popular place to get do it yourself guides for all sorts of consumer issues. Does not replace lawyers!
http://www.nolo.com/index.html
PlanetFeedback.Com A free service that lets consumers send complaint, compliment, suggestion, or question letters online to over 20,000 companies, including auto manufacturers & car dealers. You can also send a copy to your friends & post your letter on the site for others to read.
http://www.planetfeedback.com
Public Records Search A free site for searching for about any kind of record you can think of throughout the U.S. Check out the consumer links page - this has enough links to keep you busy for a year.
http://www.investigate-claims.com
FTC Consumer Protection Run by the FTC, great articles on a variety of significant consumer issues, i.e. credit, car buying and leasing, privacy, e-commerce, senior citizen scams, etc.
http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/consumer.htm
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/menu home.htm (multi-language articles)
Consumer Information Center Run by the California Department of Consumer Affairs, you can read up on a variety consumer topics and keep track of the top ten scams being reported to the agency.
http://www.dca.ca.gov/r_r/
Bureau of Automotive Repair/Smog Check BAR registers and regulates approximately 35,000 California automotive repair facilities, and licenses lamp and brake inspection stations. During the 1998/99 Fiscal Year, BAR negotiated refunds, rework, and adjustments valued at more than $4.8 million from auto repair shops on behalf of consumers. Also implements the Smog Check program.
http://smogcheck.ca.gov/StdHome.asp
Bureau of Electronic & Appliance Repair Provides safeguards to California consumers in their transactions for repairs of electronic equipment and major home appliances, as well as for the installation of home antennas, including satellite antennas, and auto radios and stereos. The Bureau also administers the Electronic and Appliance Repair Dealer Registration Law, and has authority to establish regulations to carry out this law.
http://www.dca.ca.gov/r_r/electron.htm
Hearing Aid Dispenser Bureau Protect hearing-impaired consumers from fraudulent or incompetent fitting and selling of hearing aids by, among other things, ensuring that licensees are knowledgeable in the technological advancements of the industry; prepare, administer, and grade an examination designed to evaluate competence for all professionals who fit and sell hearing aids; and enforce the Hearing Aid Dispensers Licensing Law.
http://www.dca.ca.gov/hearingaid/
Arbitration A homemade site which discusses all the evils of mandatory arbitration. Includes a discussion forum on the topic.
http://www.arbitrationsucks.com
Legal Research Links The mother of all research sources. Sponsored by CEB, it provides links for any legal research subject possible, i.e. links to newspapers, tv stations, law libraries, government databases, law journals, and every Federal and State court on the web. Have fun!
http://www.ceb.ucop.edu/LegalResources/guide.html