Lemon Law for California

If you have a problem with a mechanic over a car repair, complain to the Bureau of Automotive Repair. The agency may send a representative to help resolve the dispute. If a mechanic is breaking the law, the BAR can take action.   

The California Lemon law applies to cars purchased for private and business use. If, during the duration of the car’s warranty, there’s a defect covered by the warranty that substantially reduces the use or value, you are entitled to get a refund or replacement. The following must be true:

-The dealer attempted to fix the same defect at least four times. 

-The vehicle is out of service for 30 days during the warranty period, not counting  delays outside the control of the dealer and the manufacturer 

-The Better Business Bureau also assists in Lemon Law Disputes.

What should I do before buying a used car? 

There is a list of questions to ask, and you should always take the car to a diagnostic center or repair facility for an overall inspection by a technician. 

There are a number of agencies that offer assistance with used car problems.

There are no “typical” defects that form the basis of a California Lemon Law claim. Any defect that “substantially impairs the use, value, or safety of the vehicle” may qualify. Mechanical and driveability problems often are considered “substantial.” The defect must be one that the dealer or manufacturer has not repaired under warranty after a reasonable number of attempts. 

An automobile (“auto”), car, SUV, truck, or any vehicle that has any of the following problems may indicate a substantial defect under the California Lemon Law:

    * Brake problems
    * Transmission issues
    * Problems with fuel system components or leaking fuel
    * Accelerator controls, or gas pedal, that break or stick
    * Seats or seat backs that fail
    * Vehicle components that break, fall apart, or separate
    * Steering defects
    * Check engine light or other dashboard light malfunction
    * Airbag problems
    * Repeat repairs
    * Engine stall
    * Electrical issues
    * Days out of service at the dealer
    * Any unsafe condition or dangerous condition

Lemon cars involve both safety- and non-safety-related issues. Problems related to safety include issues with:

    * Airbags
    * Steering and alignment
    * Transmission - sudden lack of acceleration, slipping, over-revving
    * Stalling or shutting off
    * Headlights
    * Brakes

Other times, the problem is not related to safety, such as a transmission noises, grinding and clunking; electrical problems with the radio, locks, windows or air conditioning; or cosmetic issues, such as defects in car molding. Contact us if you have experienced any of these problems during the warranty period of your vehicle.
The Law Protects You From Lemons

California Lemon Law and federal consumer warranty law protect people who buy or lease an automobile and experience problems during the warranty period. These laws offer the following remedies:

    * The manufacturer repurchases the car from you.
    * The manufacturer replaces your car.
    * You can receive a cash settlement, which may include repair supervised by the manufacturer’s representative.

Dealers and manufacturers will try to give you the runaround. They may try to blame outside causes or ask your insurance to cover the issue so that they do not have to pay you back.

Next to a house, a car or truck is the largest purchase the average consumer will make in a lifetime.
That being true, every consumer should take time to know as much about their vehicle as possible: Not just how it works, or how to maintain it, the consumer needs to know the law as it pertains to their vehicle(s). This includes the Lemon Law, both state and federal. The California Lemon Law (in California, the Song Beverly Consumer Protection Act) would never have been created unless there was a serious need.

Considering the amount of misery doled out by manufacturers and dealers to car owners when their cars have persistent defects, it is astonishing that individuals continue to show loyalty to the brand. It is amazing that they keep trying to work with the dealership long after the dealership and manufacturer should have replaced their lemon vehicles without being compelled to do so.

In this Blog we want to talk about everything California Lemon Law related. Here is a short list of the possibilities:
• What defines a Lemon vehicle in California?
• What is a defect? And what is substantial (regards defects)?
• How does a Lemon get manufactured?
• Finding resources for help with your Lemon car, motor home, boat or motorcycle, such as NHTSA, Bureau or Automotive Repair and consumer watchdog groups.
• Arbitration: Is it a good thing or a bad thing?
• Lemon Laundering: Is it still going on in California? How does it affect your lemon vehicle?
The list goes on and on. Please feel free to suggest topics of interest to you, the reader.

This is where many consumers get themselves into trouble – unknowingly. If a consumer wants to pursue his/her California lemon law rights by attempting to “settle” their “case” themselves, they can expose themselves to a “settlement” that is substantially less monetarily than is afforded by the California lemon law statute. Why? If a consumer attempts to deal directly with the automobile manufacturer seeking a  “buyback” of their vehicle, the automobile manufacturer has no “rule book” on lemon law to follow, but rather, can simply make any offer that they think the consumer may think is “reasonable”, or that they simply will accept.  Worse yet, many vehicles have substantial safety and driveability issues that make them a unsafe lemon. Even if the automobile manufacturer was to offer a lemon law “buyback”, that does not necessarily mean the vehicle is being repurchased as a California Lemon Law buyback wherein the vehicles title is branded “lemon law buyback”. Rather, the vehicle is simply repurchased as a “goodwill” buyback, with the consumer signing a settlement document that releases the manufacturer from all “California lemon law buyback” responsibility, allowing these defective vehicles to be resold to unsuspecting consumer(s) without any “lemon law buyback” disclosure!

Having our law firm handle your lemon law case assures you that when vehicles are repurchased, they are repurchased pursuant to our California lemon law, not by a “goodwill” offer. You can eliminate all this time, hassle, downside and pitfalls by having California’s largest lemon law firm handle all this for you by simply calling us.

1. A motorcycle is typically excluded from the California Lemon Law.  However, there are still express and implied warranties that may apply, and your particular situation depends upon your personal facts.  Although the “lemon law” may not be available to you, if your motorcycle doesn’t perform as it should, then you do have rights. 

2. Not all recreational vehicles will fall into this small provision of the California Lemon Law.  If you are inquiring about a towable RV, then no, it is not going to fit into the “lemon” category (however, you may still have a good choice of other solutions available to you).  In essence, if the chassis for propelling the coach is under a certain weight (exclusive of all habitability additions), then you may have a lemon law claim.

3. It depends on the gross vehicle weight of the truck.  Also, an important consideration is that Federal Law may step in to assist you in this claim  Although California has some of the most pro-consumer regulations in the country, there are times where the Federal Laws will govern to fill in the “gaps.”  However, there are pitfalls with these types of vehicles, one of which is determined by whether the vehicle is part of a “fleet.”  See “My vehicle is registered to my business” below.

If you meet the requirements of the California lemon law (Song Beverly Consumer Warranty Act - Civil Code section 1790 et seq.) and your vehicle is found to be a lemon, you are entitled to either your money back or a new replacement vehicle.

Money back means your down payment, payments you made (including interest), DMV registration fees, un-reimbursed repair costs, and the payoff on your loan or on the lease. In exchange, you return the lemon vehicle to the manufacturer.

To be fair to manufacturers, the California lemon law allows manufacturers a Use Deduction for your use of the vehicle. This amount is calculated based upon a specific formula stated in the California lemon law. The manufacturer is only entitled to a deduction for your use of the vehicle, which occurred before the date the manufacturer was notified of the defect.

 The California lemon law also provides for a civil penalty of up to two times your damages (money you expended out of pocket for the lemon vehicle) if the manufacturer unreasonably refused to buy back your lemon vehicle. The civil penalty is intended by the Legislature to encourage manufacturers to buy back lemon vehicles without litigation. It is hard to get a manufacturer to pay any civil penalty during settlement, but we have been successful in getting a “civil penalty” in some cases without going to trial.

The California lemon law has certain requirements to prevent lemon laundering or recycling of lemon vehicles. According to the California law, the manufacturer must:

• Tell the buyer that the vehicle was repurcased due to the lemon law;
• Put a “lemon law buyback” decal on the lemon vehicle; Brand the title with the words “lemon law buyback“;
• Have the new buyer sign a disclosure form showing that the consumer was informed that the vehicle was a lemon law buyback;and
• Provide a one-year warranty for the defects that caused the manufacturer to buy back the lemon vehicle in the first place.

The California “lemon law” presumption is merely a legal device which is only meaningful if negotiations with the manufacturer fail, and you must resort to litigation. It then allows the consumer/plaintiff to establish at trial that she or he has met the plaintiff’s required burden of proof that the vehicle is a lemon and shifts the legal burden to the manufacturer to prove otherwise. That’s all it does. And note too, it is not necessary to satisfy the presumption before filing a lemon law claim.

The “lemon law” presumption states that if you have 1. purchased or leased a new car, truck, motorcycle, or motorhome, for 2. personal or small business use, and 3. if during the first 18 months or 18,000 miles you brought the vehicle to a dealer for repair of the same or similar problem four or more times, or only two or more times if the manufacturing defect results in a condition that is likely to cause death or serious bodily injury, or if it was out of service for a total of more than 30 days within that time, and 4. if the problem is still not fixed, then 5. the legal presumption is established.

The presumption is neither a requirement nor a prerequisite. There are many situations which do not exactly meet the “lemon law” presumption, but which may still entitle you to “lemon law” protection. So long as the defect substantially affects safety, value, or use, and occurred within the new car warranty period, and cannot be repaired after a reasonable number of repair attempts, the vehicle is entitled to these legal protections. One of our attorneys will be glad to review your situation to see whether it is covered.

Just because a law is on the books, doesn’t make it good, or necessarily enforceable.  The California Lemon Law is a noteworthy exception. It was well written, and highly enforceable. It works!

“Building” your “case” is really nothing more than getting good documentation, putting the manufacturer on written notice, categorizing your information into a useful and structured format, and getting good advice from an experienced attorney. Whether you choose to “do-it-yourself”, or turn it over to a lemon law attorney to do it for you, you can feel great in knowing that California has one of the strongest, and best lemon laws in the nation.