2023 Elite trunk leak - lemon law?
We bought a new 2023 Odyssey Elite last summer, currently with less than 5000 miles on it, and had loved just about everything about it. However, while vacuuming the trunk a couple months ago we noticed ~2 inches of water in the trunk, which had been hidden by the cargo mat. Likely it had been there for 6+ months.
Since that discovery, the van has been back and forth from the dealer. First they said a seal near a tail light hadn’t been installed in the factory and they fixed that. After we got the car back it still leaked and then they said the entire rear door seal was defective so they replaced that. We also noticed there was mold on the rear carpet so they replaced that. We also found moisture in the carpet in floor of the drivers seat. Not clear if that is related to the trunk leak or another issue but they have declined to investigate this further.
We haven’t gotten the van back yet after the latest repair to see if the leak has truly been fixed. But regardless, the time the car has been in the shop now exceeds the requirements for buyback or replacement under our state’s lemon law.
We can’t decide if this is something we should pursue. We have 2 main concerns about keeping the van: 1. I assume having documented water leak and water damage in the vehicle’s history would have a substantial impact on resale value. 2. There was already evidence of mold in the carpet and I don’t want to have worry about mold issues with young kids (for some reason when they had the car for the first repair they decided to stow the third row seats into 2 inches of standing water and leave it like that for a few days and the seats got soaked)
On the other hand, pursuing the lemon law would be an additional time and emotional investment without a clear guarantee that it would work out in our favor. And we’ve otherwise liked the van, so if everything is truly resolved, is it easier to let bygones be bygones? Am I overestimating the significance of my concerns above?
Or does it make more sense to try to jump ship when we can and avoid any potential for future mold and continued leaks?