Lemon Law for California

NO. It is not necessary to keep the car. However, there are certain procedures you should follow when selling it or trading it in to preserve your rights. If you sell the car you should have the buyer sign a written disclosure that states that he knows about the problems you have had with the vehicle. Before you sell the vehicle it is also advisable to get an expert inspection done to verify the existence of the problem in order to “preserve your evidence.” Finally, before you sell the vehicle, you should notify the manufacturer that you believe the vehicle is a lemon and that you are selling it (or trading it in).

We know, you probably think this comes off as a sales page trying to get you to buy some kind of info-product and not a guide to recognizing a “lemon car” before you buy it. We purposely wrote that headline that way to get your attention.

Why, you ask? Well, because this is probably the most important thing we can teach you. After all, if you can learn to successfully avoid buying a lemon car in the first place you’ll be soooooo much better off. 
We’ll teach you how to successfully get out from under a “lemon car” if you do happen to end up with one. But, it’ll still be a big hassle that will cost you lots of time and cause pleanty of headaches before you’re done.

So, even though you can use your states automobile lemon laws to get some justice after the fact, it’s much better to just avoid the whole ordeal to start with. Agreed?
Ok, so with that in mind, here’s a checklist to help you tell if that shiny car you’re itching to buy is a “lemon” waiting to happen.

Check out this checklist before you buy your next car:
• Before you shop for a car, you should take the time to do enough research to know what you want. This is where it pays to do good research. You’ll often find out if the model of car your interested in has any well known defects or other known issues. There are lots of automobile review sites online that cater to consumers by giving alerts to these known issues. Start your research here.

• Don’t get too attached to a car before you buy it. It’s easy to let emotions sway your decisions, which could keep you from paying attention to the signs that are telling you the car you’re looking at could be a “lemon”.

• You should always buy used cars from lots that are connected to new car dealerships. They keep only the best trade-ins. Also, since they’re connected to large dealerships they may be a little easier to deal with if you happen to get a lemon vehicle.

• Don’t buy a used car from anyone without having it thoroughly checked out by an independent mechanic first. I know most people don’t like spending money on a car they don’t even own yet but look at it this way. The small amount you spend now can save you thousands of dollars and many months of headaches trying to fix the situation.
Besides, this should be the absolute last step before you sign on the dotted line. Make absolutely sure that everything else looks good before you take this last step. That way you’re not paying to have several cars checked out, and you’ll appreciate the peace of mind you’ll get from having a qualified mechanic tell you your new car isn’t gonna fall apart on you.

• The average yearly mileage that you should find on a used car is 15,000 miles. This is important for a couple reasons. First, most used cars start to break down once you pass 100,000 miles. Second, it gives you a good idea of how hard the previous owner drove the car. If it’s 2 years old and has 60,000 miles you can safely assume the previous owner drove it pretty hard, and the harder a car is driven the more wear and tear it’s parts get. Obviously, this will speed up any mechanical breakdowns.

• You’ll want to run the cars VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) to see if it’s been in any accidents or had any major repairs or recalls. The VIN number is what you’ll use to get all of the records for everything that has ever happened to that individual car. You should definately do this before you start buying a car whether it’s used or new. It could certainly save you a lot of time and money later.
If you follow this point by point system of buying it shouldn’t be too difficult to avoid getting stuck with most lemon cars.

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.

Various states across US have different lemon laws. Lemon law California differs from those in other states. It is important to know the fine intricacies of Lemon law California. Lemon law California is also known as Motor Vehicle Warranty Rights Act. The California lemon law states that any vehicle purchase is a major consumer purchase. If such a vehicle turns out to be defective or if is found to cause serious injuries or even hardships to the consumer due to its defects, then a consumer is entitled to be made aware of his rights. Under the consumer rights if the defects or hardships are proved in the Federal court of law and if the vehicle is under warranty period, then a consumer can call for a lemon law suit.

Lemon law California and Federal warranty law protect consumers from being stuck with ‘Lemon’ automobiles, computer lemons and other defective consumer products. According to Lemon Law in California, if any car or computer is turns out to be a Lemon, then a consumer may be entitled to your money back, a replacement or a cash settlement.

According the Lemon law California, the owner of a motor vehicle or the owner’s designated agent may make a complaint concerning a defect in a motor vehicle that is covered by a manufacturer’s, converter’s, or distributor’s warranty agreement applicable to the vehicle. Any complaint regarding a lemon vehicle must be made in writing to the applicable dealer, manufacturer, converter, or distributor. The written complaint about a Lemon must specify each defect in the vehicle that is covered by the warranty. The owner may also invoke the board’s jurisdiction by sending a copy of the complaint to the board. Any case regarding the lemon vehicle, if not resolved by owner and dealer or manufacture privately is entitled for a hearing.

Before filing a suit for any damaged vehicle for lemon law California certain points must be ensured for proper proceedings in a federal court of law. All copies of documentation concerning the car and all the repair records should be kept in proper order. A track of details such as when was the vehicle serviced, where the vehicle was purchased from, from whom the vehicle was purchased etc. Technical service bulletins concerning the car should be called for. The VIN or Vehicle Identification Number for a lemon vehicle should be noted specifically. This VIN number is a series of 17 numbers and letters that are unique to each vehicle. It is located on a metal plate at the lower corner of the front windshield on the driver’s side. There are various attorneys who specialize in lemon law California such attorneys should be specifically consulted for filing any lemon law suit.

A vehicle report history should also be kept in order for any reference before filing the suit for lemon law California. A vehicle report history can be easily obtained from the internet. Various agencies provide free vehicle history report in California. A vehicle history report can be generated by providing the VIN to any of the websites pertaining to vehicles in California. The vehicle history report easily reveals any problems that might not be visible to untrained eye. This could be major damage from collision, fire, hail or water damage, odometer rollback or tampering, lemon or junk status, and much more.

Lemon law California states all the provisions to prevent a consumer from being stuck with a lemon. The best way to get rid of lemon car is to act and file a suit as soon as possible.

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

Vehicle owners not familiar with the Lemon Law will often seek the help of their selling dealer in resolving their “lemon vehicle” situation, asking the dealer to “take back” their defective purchase. Here the car dealer can take potential advantage of the customer when the customer is most frustrated – and often at their weakest.
The “trade assist” facilitated by the selling dealer is typically nothing more than another vehicle purchase – that is – the consumer is simply trading in their “lemon” vehicle (often losing all earned equity) and is being sold another vehicle! The dealer resells the “lemon” vehicle and ends up selling two cars! The only way the dealer “assisted” the customer was to help him/herself to another sale!
This “assistance” by the dealer often proves financially straining or fatal to the consumer, as the practice of “over allowance” often comes into play. The consumer is “informed” that their vehicle loan is being “paid off” when being traded in, but conveniently the dealer has not mentioned the loss of the down payment, taxes, licensing fees, and monthly payments already made towards the purchase of the car being traded-in in this scenario. This “over allowance” usually shows up in the price of the new vehicle – meaning that the price is inflated, raising the payment on the new car. Remember, the dealer is not the responsible party for your “lemon” vehicle under state Lemon Laws, the automobile’s manufacturer is. There are certain exceptions to the “who is the responsible party,” and a vehicle owner should consult with a qualified Lemon Law attorney to be apprised of his/her potential rights under their state’s Lemon law and other consumer protection laws that may be applicable.

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