Cassidy,

I don't think your car is a lemon. All your problems seem to stem from;

a) the car was in an accident and the selling dealer did not inform you or properly fix things

b) the dealer you are working with is TOTALLY BAD! Whatever they touch turns to cr@p

You can't blame a car or call it a lemon if someone else compromised it.

One of the most reliable cars I ever owned was a little Chevy Cavalier. The thing ran like a clock until I tried adding coolant at 33,000 miles. The cap was stuck and I could not open it. It took a very burly mechanich with a big wrench to finally open it. When I got it back, the coolant level was all the way to the top of the container, about 2 inches above the "do not fill above this line" mark on the bottle. I asked about this and was told it will go down after I drive it for a week. Two days later I had a blown head gasket, The dealer "fixed" that and within 4 weeks I had another blown head gasket. In the space of two months this "dealer" caused the replacement of the engine, transmission, and complete exhaust system. Each time they "fixed" something, they broke something else.

When I had enough, I got in touch with GM and insisted on another dealer to work on the car. They got in touch with one of their top local dealers who called me and made an appointment to bring it in. They had the car for 3 days and replaced the entire power train. I insisted on a new zero deductible 3 yr warranty from GM. At first they were reluctant to offer it, and said that everything was fixed properly (the warranty was set to expire at 36,000 miles) and everything would carry a 12 month warranty. I reasoned, if everything was fixed, then the only thing the warrnty would cost GM was the time and effort to issue it.

That warranty was never used and I finally sold the car to a friend at a little over 100,000 miles. Years later the little car still runs perfectly.

Everyone told me that my car was a lemon, I didn't think so and I was proved right. I am not saying there are no "new" cars that qualify for lemon status, but more often than not, I feel it is the dealer who actually creates the majority of them.