Lemon Law for California

In the twenty five years or so since the first lemon laws were passed, consumer protection law has improved a great deal. The manufacturers of defective automobiles used to have all of the say in whether a car with a problem would be fixed, replaced, or even considered at all. When California passed the first lemon law in 1982, other states took notice, and now all 50 states offer some degree of consumer protection for people who buy new, defective cars.

In the eyes of the California legislature, that law doesn’t go far enough. The state has recently signed into law a new Car Buyer’s Bill of Rights, which is designed to extend and enhance the rights granted by the lemon law.

The new bill, ten years in the making, offers new protections, including the following:

A two day return privilege for buyers of used cars - Consumers are no longer stuck if the vehicle dies five minutes after they leave the dealership. The new law permits them to return the vehicle on a no-questions-asked basis for up to two days after they take possession of it. The dealership is permitted to charge for the privilege, as preparing a returned car for resale does take time and resources. Fees are expected to charge between $75 and $400 for this service, although the amount is negotiable.

The law requires auto dealers to provide potential customers with a comparison list showing the total price of the car both with and without additional options. 

Buyers who finance their purchase through the dealer must be provided with a copy of their credit score.

The law provides maximum markups for interest on loans offered through the dealer. The financing is actually done through other lenders, but dealers often take a cut of the financing.

Cars sold as certified used cars must meet new, tougher regulations that prohibits cars with certain types of damage from being sold as certified.

Few states offer any type of protection for buyers of used cars. For buyers of second hand vehicles, the matter is usually regarded as “buyer beware.” Unless the dealer offers some sort of warranty, buyers are stuck if the vehicle breaks down at any time after it leaves the dealer’s lot. The California law goes a long way towards making it easier to return a car that offers some sort of problem immediately after purchase.

As with the lemon laws, this sort of legislation will probably expand to other states. It seem unlikely that a similar bill of rights will be passed in all states, as some states’ lemon laws come pretty close to being hostile to the consumer already. But it does represent a step in the right direction. Consumers in others states would benefit tremendously if their legislators took California’s lead. The greater the protections are for consumers, the less likely that dangerous or defective vehicles will be offered for sale to the public.

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Auto lemon laws were first written in the early 1980’s, after a number of people went through well publicized problems with defective vehicles that they have purchased through major auto manufacturers. In the days before such legislation, people who had repeated problems with their cars had to count on charity from the auto makers; they had no legislation requiring the manufacturers to “make them whole.” One woman picketed her dealer for months before she finally got relief; her efforts led to the passage of California’s lemon law.

Today, every state has a lemon law on the books, and while the effectiveness varies from state to state, they all have the intention of helping people get their problem vehicles replaced. Unfortunately, the laws are usually written in such a way that they can’t help everyone. Some people will continue to be stuck. One example is the police force of McSherrystown, Pennsylvania. The police in this town recently purchased a 2005 Ford Crown Victoria that has had repeated problems with defective brakes. The problem showed up with only 4000 miles on the odometer, and in the next 20,000 miles, the vehicle was in the shop seven times to repair the defective brakes. Each repair has, so far, been unsuccessful.

One would think that this vehicle qualifies as a lemon if any car does. After all, who needs to make sure that their car works dependably more than the police? Making matters worse is the fact that the problem is with the brakes! It’s a fundamental safety issue; surely the lemon law of the state of Pennsylvania will cover that, won’t it?

Unfortunately, it doesn’t. Pennsylvania’s law is no different from most; the law was written specifically to protect consumers with defective vehicles. While that covers the vast majority of cars and small trucks on the road, it leaves out those vehicles that belong to charity organizations, churches, nonprofit agencies, small and large businesses, municipalities, and, as it happens, police departments.

These laws were written with the understanding that most consumers would lack the financial resources to absorb the financial shock of owning a defective vehicle. It was similarly understood that businesses and other non-consumer interests would be able to afford to deal with such problems. That’s not necessarily the case with small town police departments. The Los Angeles Police Department might be able to weather such a storm, but McSherrystown, which has fewer than 3000 residents, is simply stuck with a car that has bad brakes.

At last word, the borough solicitor was going to attempt to contact the dealer and see if they would be willing to provide a replacement. There is no law that prevents a dealership or manufacturer from doing so simply because it is good business, but it remains to be seen if they’ll do it or not.
Lemon laws are great. But you shouldn’t automatically assume that they will protect you in all cases. After all, they won’t protect the police.

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[ To Learn more our services and areas of practice, please visit our website at www.LemonLawIntel.com ]