The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act is a federal law that requires written warranties for consumer products to disclose their terms and conditions in common language. It aims to provide consumers with complete information about warranty coverage and encourage companies to comply with warranty agreements. It does not cover oral warranties or warranties on products sold for commercial purposes. Some consumers have criticized the law for not doing enough, particularly in cases where automobile warranties are voided due to unauthorized modifications.
The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act is a federal law passed by Congress and signed into law by President Gerald Ford on January 4, 1975. Its full name is the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Federal Trade Commission Improvement Act. The law was originally intended to cover written warranties for automobiles, but also governs written warranties for household products and other personal consumer products. In the years since 1975, most states passed so-called lemon laws to supplement the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, which did not address the issue of refunds to consumers who purchased defective products.
Senator Warren G. Magnuson and Representative John E. Moss sponsored the Magnuson-Moss Guarantee Act in Congress. Both men were members of the Democratic Party. Magnuson represented Washington state in the Senate from 1944 to 1981. Moss represented his California congressional district from 1953 to 1978.
Under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, written warranties for consumer products must disclose their terms and conditions in the common parlance. Written warranties can guarantee certain things, including the performance of a product or that defective products will be repaired or replaced by the manufacturer. Manufacturers and sellers of consumer products are not obligated to offer written warranties. It does not apply to oral warranties, nor does it apply to warranties on services or products sold for resale or for commercial purposes.
The goal of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act was to provide consumers with complete information about the terms and conditions of written warranties for the products they purchased. Other goals of the law included helping consumers make comparisons in order to purchase products with the best combination of price, features and warranty coverage to meet their individual needs. It was thought that the law would promote competition based on warranty coverage and help increase customer satisfaction because consumers would know what to do if something went wrong with the products they purchased. Congress also intended the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act to encourage companies to comply with warranty agreements in a timely and comprehensive manner that minimized delays and expense incurred by consumers.
In the age of the internet, some consumers have criticized the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act on websites for not doing enough. Their complaints typically center on taking an automobile to a dealership for major repairs, only to be told that the warranties have been voided due to unauthorized work done on the vehicles. Typically, these are owners who have modified their cars’ emission systems.
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