Everything you need to know about Lemon or Not
Modern cars are not just a brand and a model. Over the years, the same model can be produced with dozens of combinations of engines, gearboxes, electronics, and software.
Some of these combinations develop serious and expensive problems over time - problems that cannot be seen in ads or during a short inspection.
This service helps you analyze a specific model, year, engine, and transmission to understand known risks and decide whether the car is worth visiting at all.
It is not a VIN check - it is a smart filter that helps you avoid costly mistakes before you spend money on trips, reports, and inspections.
Lemon Credits are the internal points of the system, used inside the service only.
They allow you to pay only for the checks you actually need, step by step.
You don't have to overpay for a full package if you lose interest in a car after the first evaluation. One credit equals one meaningful check.
In English, a "lemon" refers to a defective product, especially a car that has persistent problems despite being new or recently purchased.
Our service helps you decide whether a specific car model, year, and configuration is likely to be a "lemon" - a vehicle with hidden mechanical issues - or a reliable choice.
The punctuation in this phrase is crucial and changes everything: "Lemon... Or not?" reflects the uncertainty and the careful analysis we provide to help you make an informed decision.
Even a professional inspection in a car workshop cannot reveal systemic weaknesses of a specific model or drivetrain.
Many problems appear only in traffic jams, heat, long trips, or after a certain mileage.
This service helps you avoid scenarios like breakdowns far from the city, overheating in traffic, or costly repairs shortly after purchase.
Catching a high-risk variant early can save you hundreds of euros in wasted trips, inspections, and unexpected fixes.
Registration allows us to save your checks, shortlists, seller questions, and inspection checklists and make these available to you over time.
It also protects the service from abuse, since each check requires real computing resources and paid data access.
We do not sell your data and do not send spam.
No.
This service works before VIN reports.
It helps you narrow the choice to one or two strong candidates, so you can run VIN checks only where they truly make sense.
Traditionally, buyers choose based on looks, mileage, and a clean history.
But even a car with a perfect history can be one version away from expensive engine or gearbox failure.
This service adds engineering reality to attractive listings.
Yes, and we recommend it.
VIN checks can reveal rolled-back mileage or serious accidents that may change your final decision or price negotiation.
The ideal flow is:
It is designed for everyday car buyers, whether you are looking for the most affordable used car, a typical option around €15,000, or a more expensive car up to €25-30k, and want to avoid unpleasant surprises during purchase. At the same time, a high price is not a guarantee of quality: even premium cars can include both excellent and very problematic examples.
Cars produced since 2000s contain many complex systems that were released in different, often problematic, configurations.
We help you spot the red flags before you waste time and money on a bad deal.
Yes - very often.
Different engines, gearboxes, years, or updates (and "facelifts") can completely change reliability.
One wrong choice can turn driving pleasure into constant repairs, lost time, and stress.
Knowing which variant to avoid can save you €500 to €1,000 or more in the first year alone.
Because it uses computing resources, paid data, and ongoing infrastructure.
We intentionally made it affordable, flexible, and without subscriptions.
You pay only when you actually use it.
A single check can help you avoid repair bills of €500 or more - the cost of the service is a tiny fraction of what a wrong choice can cost.
A single check costs a fraction of what a bad purchase can cost you. Replacing a failed dual-clutch gearbox, turbocharger, or timing chain on a used car typically runs between €800 and €2,500 or more - not counting towing, rental cars, and lost time.
This service helps you filter out high-risk variants before you spend money on trips, VIN reports, or workshop inspections. Even skipping one unnecessary trip to see a problematic car can save you a day and €50–€100 in travel and inspection costs.
Think of it as an inexpensive insurance step: for the cost of a couple of coffees, you can avoid variants with known expensive failures and focus your budget on cars that are genuinely worth seeing.
Most buyers who use the service say the first check already paid for itself.
VIN report providers pay for expensive access to many external databases and must sell full reports at once.
This service solves a different task: early filtering and technical risk assessment.
It helps you avoid overpaying for unnecessary checks, while providing a safeguard against a lemon car: both in terms of a poorly designed or failed model and current state of the car analysing the video-record.
Payment gateways charge high fees on microtransactions.
Packages allow us to keep prices fair and the service sustainable without hidden fees.
No tool can guarantee 100%, but we significantly reduce risk by highlighting known issues and red flags. As a second safeguard, you can check both engine and exterior with our AI-assisted service when on the site!
The service uses modern AI models trained on large automotive datasets and verified processing algorithms.
It does not provide absolute guarantees, but it significantly reduces the risk of a bad decision.
We clearly show confidence levels and potential risk areas.
No. It is an analytical decision-support tool, not a legal or mechanical warranty.
Yes. The service is fully optimized for mobile use - designed mobile-first so you can use it while standing right next to the car.
Some car portals strictly prohibit automated reading of their pages. Because of this, you will need to put car details in the provided text box yourself. The text form is completely free-form - we will process it and let you adjust, filling the missing fields. You can also dictate whole or part of the description by audio. Remember, that every little detail may be crucial to our analysis. Later you will be able to reinforce this with the video-report from the site.
LemonOrNot offers a two-level referral program that rewards you for inviting friends and sharing your car reviews. Each user receives a unique invite code that you can share with others. When someone registers using your invite link, they become your Level 1 referral, and you earn credits when they register or make purchases.
The program has two levels: Level 1 (direct referrals) are people you invite directly. Level 2 (indirect referrals) are people invited by your Level 1 referrals - essentially friends of your friends. You earn credits for both levels, creating a network effect that rewards community growth. Reward amounts are configurable and may vary.
When you share a car review with friends using the "Ask for an opinion" feature, you can earn credits in two ways: First, when your shared review receives 2 unique views from different visitors (your own views don't count), you earn credits. Second, when someone leaves their first opinion on your shared review, you earn additional credits. These rewards are one-time only per review.
When you share your Top 5 car search results using the "Share my top-5" feature, you earn credits when your shared list receives 3 unique views from different visitors (again, your own views don't count). This is a one-time reward per shared car search. Sharing helps you get feedback from friends while earning credits to use for future car reviews.
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