The California Lemon Law (officially known as the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, found in California Civil Code sections 1790 et seq.) is a law designed to protect consumers who purchase or lease warranted motor vehicles. If a motor vehicle is determined to be a "lemon," the motor vehicle's warrantor must repurchase or replace the motor vehicle from the buyer.
The following will discuss the Lemon Law's applicability to motor vehicles. The Lemon Law applies to all warranted consumer goods. The Lemon Law's applicability to consumer goods is almost identical to its applicability to motor vehicles.
In order to have a valid Lemon Law claim, the following elements must be met:
1.) The vehicle must be used some of the time for personal, family or household purposes. If a vehicle is used exclusively for business purposes, the Lemon Law may not apply, but other laws may provide certain remedies.
2.) The vehicle must have problems covered by a warranty. There is a simple rule: no warranty means no Lemon Law case.
3.) The warrantor must be unable to repair the vehicle's warranty problems after a reasonable number or repair attempts. What constitutes a reasonable number of repair attempts will vary depending on the problem. For example, if a vehicle's brakes fail, two repair attempt may be enough to establish a reasonable number. Generally, safety-related concerns will require fewer repair attempts than those which are not safety-related.
Also relevant to determining whether there has been a reasonable number of repair attempts is the number of days the vehicle is out-of-service due to warranty repairs. The more days out-of-service, the better the chance of establishing a reasonable number of repair attempts.
There is a common misconception concerning the Lemon Law, that it only applies to vehicles that are less than one year old and have less than 12,000 miles on them. This belief is not true! The Lemon Law applies to vehicles regardless of how old they are or how many miles they have. As long as the vehicle is having warranty problems, the Lemon Law may apply.
Even if the warranty has expired, the Lemon Law may apply. If the vehicle is still having problems that were complained about during the warranty period, a valid Lemon Law claim may exist.
4.) The vehicle must contain a non-conformity covered by the warranty that substantially impairs the vehicle's use, value or safety to the buyer/lessee. The Lemon Law, generally, will not apply to vehicles with trivial or minor defects. Nevertheless, each case must be judged independently taking into account the particular needs and expectations of the particular vehicle's owner/lessee.
If the above-mentioned elements are met, the vehicle is a lemon. The vehicle's owner/lessee will be entitled to a replacement vehicle or a refund of the vehicle's purchase/lease price.
If you would like more information concerning the Lemon Law, you may contact Barnes & Farrell via the following:
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