Lemon Law for California

The automobile lemon laws were designed to protect car buyers from irreparable manufacturers’ defects in automobiles that should be ordinarily be covered under warranty.

So How Did The Lemon Laws Come About?

Consumer demand for lemon law protection started to swell from around 1972, when more than one million people were found to have paid for vehicles that had problems that dealers could not, or would not, repair. Connecticut and California were the first states to adopt an automobile lemon law, and other states were quick to follow. They’ve had a dramatic effect on vehicle quality and today, with the increased accountability demanded by lemon laws, claims have dropped to about 100,000 new cases a year.

So What Is Covered Under Lemon Law?

Every state now has an automobile lemon law and the specifics of each vary widely. However, as a general guideline, you are considered a candidate for protection under the lemon law if you have a serious problem (or, in certain cases, a string of minor problems) that falls under your car warranty. A problem is usually considered serious when it threatens the use, value, or safety of the vehicle.

Some examples of serious problems that would probably be covered include brake failure, transmission problems, and repeated non-starts. The lemon law in most states will not cover thing like funny noises, loose cup holders, and peeling paint - most times that’s just fair wear and tear.

The type or ownership of vehicles is also important when it comes to protection under the lemon law. In some states, leased vehicles are covered as well as wholly owned vehicles. Others exclude automobiles purchased for business purposes or special kinds of vehicles such as RVs and motorcycles. Even used vehicles may be covered if they come with a car warranty.

Inevitably, some shady car dealers try and write a clause in sales contracts that states that no lemon law claims can be made against the vehicle. These provisions are totally invalid and can be ignored - as long as your vehicle has a car warranty and qualifies under the other automobile lemon law provisions, you will be covered no matter what you originally signed.

Before any lemon law comes into effect you must give the manufacturer ample opportunity to repair the problem in question. This is usually defined as a specific number of repair attempts (for example, four attempts to repair the same problem) or a certain amount of time when the vehicle is out of action (for example, four weeks). A life-threatening vehicle defect may require only one attempt at repair before falling under the lemon law.

So What Happens if I Qualify for the Automobile Lemon Law?

If you believe that you qualify for protection you must file a claim with the manufacturer within a certain period of time. Usually, the case will then be brought for arbitration with the manufacturer. If you win your case, you will most often receive a replacement vehicle or a refund of your purchase price minus a fee for vehicle use.
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[ To Learn more our services and areas of practice, please visit our website at www.LemonLawIntel.com ]

Most consumers never have any sort of problem with perpetually defective vehicles, as the quality of most autos in this country is quite good. When cars or trucks do turn out to be defective, the owners of those vehicles have recourse through both Federal law and the laws of their state. Each of the fifty states now has a lemon law on the books to protect consumers from problems associated with habitually defective vehicles.
What does a consumer with a problem vehicle do? The first step is usually to look for information in order to find out whether or not the problem or problems are covered by law. There are a number of places that one can go for that kind of information; this Website is one of them. While the many Websites on the Internet are a good starting point, many of them (including this one) have trouble keeping up with the many changes that take place each year in the laws of the various states.

The next obvious place to look for current information would be the Website of the state itself, or perhaps the Website of the state’s Attorney General’s office. After all, the Attorney General’s office is usually responsible for upholding and enforcing the law, so they should have accurate information, right?

Unfortunately, that is not necessarily the case. Recently, a television station in Memphis, Tennessee, discovered that the official Website of the state of Tennessee had incorrect information regarding the state’s lemon law. Not only that, but the erroneous information had been posted on the site for more than four years! Legislators made changes in the law in 2003 that made the law more favorable to consumers. Unfortunately, the people responsible for noting those changes on the state’s Website failed to do so.

This was potentially harmful to consumers, as the changes to the law reduced the number of repair attempts that were necessary for a vehicle to qualify as a lemon from four to three. It is quite possible that during the past four years, a number of people who had three, but not four, repair attempts might have been discouraged from seeking relief under the law due to the incorrect information.

It’s worth noting, by the way, that the information posted on this site has been correct all along.
What does this mean for consumers with problem vehicles? Before taking any action regarding a potentially defective vehicle, you should check with more than one source of information in order to make sure that the information you have is both correct and current. It might be wise to consult with an attorney who specializes in vehicle law; they tend to be pretty good at keeping up with changes. You might also contact your state’s Attorney General’s office directly; a phone call can clear up a lot of misinformation in a hurry.

Having the wrong information when something goes wrong with your car can cost you thousands of dollars. Be careful to make sure that the sources you have are up to date and accurate. If you can, check with more than one source. It’s better to be safe than sorry, as having the wrong information could be expensive.

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