§ 322C.18 — Warranty obligations

Iowa § 322C.18

• Jurisdiction: Iowa
• Title VIII: TRANSPORTATION
• Ch. 322C: TOWABLE RECREATIONAL VEHICLE DEALERS, MANUFACTURERS, AND DISTRIBUTORS

Text

1. A warrantor shall do all of the following:
a. Specify in writing to each dealer what obligations the dealer has, if any, for the
preparation and delivery of, and warranty services on, the warrantor’s products.
b. Compensate the dealer for warranty services the warrantor requires the dealer to
perform.
c. Provide the dealer with a schedule of compensation and time allowances for the
performance of warranty services. The schedule of compensation shall include reasonable
compensation for warranty services performed by the dealer, including diagnostic services.
2. a. Time allowances for the performance of warranty services, including diagnostic
services, shall be reasonable for the service to be performed.
b. In determining what constitutes reasonable compensation under this section, the
principle factors to be given consideration shall be the actual wage rates being paid by the
dealer and the actual retail wage rates being charged by other dealers in the community
in which the dealer is doing business. The compensation of a dealer for warranty services
shall not be less than the lowest actual retail wage rates charged by the dealer for similar
nonwarranty services, as long as the actual retail wage rates are reasonable.
3. A warrantor shall reimburse a dealer for any warranty part, accessory, or complete
component at actual wholesale cost to the dealer plus a minimum of a thirty percent handling
charge, nottoexceedonehundredfiftydollars, andplusthecost, ifany, tothedealertoreturn
such part, component, or accessory to the warrantor.
4. A warrantor may conduct a warranty audit of a dealer’s records within twelve months
after the payment of a warranty claim. A warrantor shall not deny a dealer’s claim for
warranty compensation except for good cause, including performance of nonwarranty
repairs, material noncompliance with the warrantor’s published policies and procedures,
lack of material documentation, fraud, or misrepresentation.
5. Adealershallsubmitclaimsforcompensationfortheperformanceofwarrantyservices
to the warrantor within forty-five days after completion of the warranty services.
6. A dealer shall immediately notify a warrantor in writing if the dealer is unable to
perform warranty services, including diagnostic services, within ten days of receipt of a
written complaint from a consumer.
§322C.18, RECREATIONAL VEHICLE DEALERS, MANUFACTURERS, & DISTRIBUTORS 12
7. A warrantor shall deny a claim submitted by a dealer for compensation for the
performance of warranty services, in writing, within thirty days after submission of the
claim in the manner and form prescribed by the warrantor. A claim not specifically denied
as required by this subsection shall be deemed approved and shall be paid within sixty days
of submission of the claim.
8. A warrantor shall not do any of the following:
a. Fail to perform any of the warrantor’s obligations with respect to its warranted
products.
b. Fail to include, in written notices of a factory campaign to towable recreational vehicle
owners and dealers, the expected date by which necessary parts and equipment, including
tires and chassis or chassis parts, will be available to dealers to perform the factory campaign
work. The warrantor may ship parts to a dealer for purposes of factory campaign work,
and, if such parts are in excess of the dealer’s requirements, the dealer may return unused,
undamaged parts to the warrantor for credit after completion of the factory campaign.
c. Fail to compensate the warrantor’s dealers for authorized repairs performed by the
dealer on merchandise damaged in manufacture or in transit to the dealer by a carrier
designated by the warrantor, factory branch, distributor, or distributor branch.
d. Fail to compensate the warrantor’s dealers in accordance with the schedule of
compensation provided to the dealer pursuant to this section, if the warranty services for
which compensation is claimed are performed by the dealer in a timely and competent
manner as required in this section.
e. Intentionally misrepresent in any way to consumers that warranties with respect to the
manufacture, performance, or design of towable recreational vehicles are made by the dealer
as warrantor or co-warrantor.
f. Require the warrantor’s dealers to make warranties to a consumer that are in any
manner related to the manufacture of a towable recreational vehicle.
9. A dealer shall not do any of the following:
a. Fail to perform predelivery inspection functions, as specified by the warrantor, in a
competent and timely manner.
b. Fail to perform warranty services, as authorized by the warrantor, in a competent and
timely manner on any transient consumer’s towable recreational vehicle of a line-make sold
or serviced by the dealer.
c. Fail to accurately document the time spent completing each repair, the total number of
repair attempts conducted on a single towable recreational vehicle, and the number of repair
attempts for the same repair conducted on a single towable recreational vehicle.
d. Fail to notify the warrantor within ten days of a second repair attempt on a towable
recreational vehicle which impairs the use, value, or safety of the vehicle.
e. Fail to maintain written records, including a consumer’s written or electronic
verification or signature, regarding the amount of time a towable recreational vehicle is
stored for the consumer’s convenience during a repair.
f. Make fraudulent warranty claims or misrepresent the terms of any warranty.