Lemon Law for California

Build Dates : January 01 2005 - February 28, 2005  
NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number : 05V055000

Date Owner’s Notified: 20050222  
Date Received by ODI: 20050214  
Date Added to Databse: 20050215

Manufacturer’s Involved: GENERAL MOTORS CORP.
Manufacturer’s Responsible for the Recall: GENERAL MOTORS CORP.
Manufacturer Campaign Number: 05023

Component: POWER TRAIN:MANUAL TRANSMISSION:SHIFT PATTERN INDICATOR
Potential Number Of Units Affected : 7194

Summary:
Certain sport utility vehicles equipped with an automatic transmission, fail to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 102, “transmission shift lever sequence, starter interlock and transmission braking effect.” Under certain vehicle starting conditions, the shift lever position indicator located in the instrument panel cluster may not illuminate. If the shift lever position indicator does not illuminate, the driver may not know which gear the vehicle is in.

Consequence:
The vehicle may move in an unintended direction resulting in possible injury to others outside of the vehicle.

Remedy:
Dealers will reprogram the instrument panel cluster free of charge. The recall began on february 14, 2005.  

Report Initiator: MFR  

Build Dates : February 24, 2004 - November 02, 2004
NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number : 05V163000

Date Owner’s Notified: 20050721  
Date Received by ODI: 20050422  
Date Added to Databse: 20050422

Manufacturer’s Involved: GENERAL MOTORS CORP.
Manufacturer’s Responsible for the Recall: GENERAL MOTORS CORP.
Manufacturer Campaign Number: 05037

Component: SEAT BELTS:REAR
Potential Number Of Units Affected : 1359824

Summary:

On certain crew cab pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, the 2nd row center occupant seat belt routing may make it difficult to position the lap portion of the safety belt low around the hips of occupants, especially smaller occupants, seated in this position. Appropriate use of a child seat or booster seat, as recommended for small children, does improve the fit condition for this user group. In addition to instructions on proper infant and young child restraint (with child seats or boosters), special verbiage for restraining older child is included in the ownerїs manual. Also, the suggested seat belt fit/routing for adults, irrespective of seating position, is described in the ownerїs manual text.

Consequence:
A lap portion of the seat belt routing that is not low and snug on the hips can allow the lap belt to ride up on an occupant’s abdomen instead of fitting low around their hipbones, and therefore, can expose them to more risk of abdominal and internal organ injury.

Remedy: 
Dealers will cut open the guide loop, remove a portion of the loop, and then the remaining two sides should be folded over and secured with a retainer free of charge. The recall began on july 21, 2005. 

Report Initiator: MFR  

Generally, depending on your state, the Lemon Law does not require that all the repair visits occur during the period prescribed in the Lemon Law. In many states, if your repair visits occurred within the warranty period, with at least one (1) repair attempt occurring during the Lemon Law period, you will be afforded the protections of the Lemon Law. Automobile manufacturers and dealers have created some confusion regarding this fact—perhaps due to their own misunderstanding of the Lemon Law. As such, many consumers are left with the misconception that they have no remedy under the Lemon Law unless their repair visits occurred within the period identified in the Lemon Law. The truth is that you may have a very strong Lemon Law claim even if your problems occurred well after the period identified in your state’s Lemon Law, so long as at least one of the repair attempts occurred within the period prescribed by your state’s Lemon Law.

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

The Lemon Law in all 50 states requires that the manufacturers (through their authorized dealers) must be given a reasonable number of opportunities to repair a vehicle. Though the laws do not always identify a specific number, generally 3–5 repair attempts is generally a minimum, but depending on the problem fewer or more repair attempts may be necessary. Please note however that vehicle defects that may lead to serious bodily injury or death to the driver, passenger, pedestrians, or other drivers, will generally only require one (1) repair attempt. For example, a defect as severe as a brake system failure may only require two visits, while problems with an LCD display or a CD player may require 4 or more repair attempts.

It is important to note that, in most states, if a vehicle spends 30 or more cumulative days in the shop for warranty repairs, it may satisfy the Lemon Law automatically, without any regard to the number of repair attempts. (Some states will require 30 or more “Calendar Days”, while others require 30 or more “Business Days”). In general, it is best to assess each matter on a case-by-case basis.
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[ To Learn more our services and areas of practice, please visit our website at www.LemonLawIntel.com ]