It happened– you bought a car that’s a lemon. It stopped working within the time frame for it to be declared a lemon. Now it’s time to bring in counsel. When you’re looking for an attorney for lemon cars, you want to find one that will help you. But you have to help yourself, too. That means you shouldn’t make any avoidable mistakes. Here are some that people make:

Don’t Be Openly Angry At Repair Techs or Manufacturer Representatives

Yes, it’s very frustrating that something happened to make your car a lemon. That’s not the fault of either the repair person or the manufacturer representative. They aren’t the ones that assembled your car. Being loud to them is not going to make them likely to help you. They surely know that you are frustrated, but keep it together.

Although things like the law should be impartial, it does help if you present yourself as a likable claimant. If the jury finds you likable, your chances of getting a good settlement go up. The jury is make up of human beings, too.

The same thing goes for threatening them. If just yelling at people puts you on the proverbial “naughty list,” then actually threatening people is going to make you look even worse. Again, the situation is frustrating, and the repair person may say something that seems to put the blame on you. Keep it together. You need a complete repair report, and threatening people isn’t going to get you that.

Don’t Bash the Manufacturer on the Internet

Doing things like the above is going to give your attorney a headache. Going even further and doing it pubically on the internet may have them rethinking keeping you as a client. If there’s one thing that will make manufacturers dig their heels in and refuse to give you any help, it’s bashing them online. They have a reputation to uphold and having it ripped in front of millions of people is going to put them in a defensive position.

Don’t Trade or Sell Your Vehicle

If you do this, you’re going to have any reputable lawyer put your claim right into the “Do Not Take” file. Just like any other kind of litigation, you’re going to be screwing up the chain of custody. The manufacturer, even if a lawyer DID take your case, can just say that it was the fault of the person that you sold it to. This is a big no-no.

Don’t Stop Having It Repaired

Yes, it’s annoying to have to make back-and-forth trips to car repair shops. Yes, it’s easy to just throw up your hands and stop going. The thing is, if you do that, then you give the manufacturer the chance to say that you didn’t have warranty repairs, so that should mean that your claim is thrown out. The judge might be inclined to agree. Avoid having that happen and just keep the streak of visits so that you can show that you did try your absolute best.

If you avoid doing any of the above, it’s not going to guarantee that you win the case. But you’re giving yourself the best chance of a good resolution. Then you’ll know that you gave it your best shot.