You're Safe with Drake - California's Premier Personal Injury Attorneys
If you have bought or leased a car in California and wind up in the repair shop for repeated problems, the California lemon laws might help you get your money back. Many of us seek the best deals when it comes to purchasing consumer goods to fit our everyday needs.
Unfortunately, many of these items are defective and fail in a very short period of time. Over 150,000 automobiles sold every year in California are lemons. If you believe that your vehicle is a lemon, do not give up! You have rights!
In California as well as in most other U.S. states, consumer protection laws offer remedies for those people that have purchased or leased consumer goods that fail to perform. In California, these are the California Lemon Laws.
The Lemon Law Basics
You may be aware that you have legal rights when purchasing a vehicle with a warranty. But you may be asking yourself, How does the lemon law work in California?
The California Lemon Law offers protection for consumer goods that are purchased or leased for personal, family, or home use. The California lemon law applies to the majority of consumer products, with the exception of clothing and consumable goods, such as fruits, vegetables, cosmetics, and over-the-counter drugs.
In California, if a manufacturer can not repair a consumer good after a reasonable number of repair attempts, then it must either replace or refund the consumer's money for the defective item.
The lemon vehicle law in California applies explicitly to automobiles with existing warranties.
CA lemon law rules generally cover many types of vehicles, including:
The lemon law also covers the chassis, chassis cab, and drivetrain of a motor home. The lemon law covers leased vehicles, pre-owned vehicles, and also financed vehicles. The lemon vehicle law in California covers both new and pre-owned vehicles under warranty.
What Do the California Lemon Laws Do?
The California lemon laws require that the manufacturer of consumer products:
California's vehicle lemon laws protect consumers who have bought or leased warranted new and used cars.
If a manufacturer or seller of a warranted vehicle is not able to repair the vehicle in a reasonable number of repair attempts, then it must repurchase or replace the vehicle, cover the consumer's incidental as well as consequential damages and pay for the consumer's reasonable attorneys fees and costs.
What amounts to an affordable number of attempts differs and depends on the seriousness of the defect. Normally, safety-related defects will require less repair attempts than those problems that are not safety-related.
What Counts as a "Lemon" Under the Lemon Vehicle Law in California?
What counts as a lemon under the lemon law in California depends on the circumstances.
You need to meet multiple criteria for your car to qualify as a lemon, including:
Furthermore, the defects can not arise from normal wear and tear or the owner's failure to take care of the car properly. Speak with a seasoned lawyer if you are unsure if your vehicle defect counts under the lemon law in California.
Our Legal Rights as Consumers
We as consumers are oftentimes unsure of our rights when it comes to the buying of defective products.
Many of us might be so unsure that we simply throw the product away and buy a replacement at our own cost and blame ourselves for not deciding well in the first place. The California Lemon Laws are here to protect us from defective products and provide us with financial compensation.
The California lemon laws offer the following kinds of solutions to lemon vehicle owners:
In addition, if a car manufacturer willfully violated California's lemon law, then a vehicle owner might have the ability to recover civil penalties against the automobile manufacturer.
The civil penalties may be as much as two times the amount of the actual damages. An attorney can help you better understand whether the car manufacturer of your vehicle willfully broke the law in your circumstance.
What Is the Time Limit for Filing Under the Lemon Law in California?
There is a time limit for every kind of claim under the law by which you need to file your claim. California lemon law has a couple different time limits you will have to keep in mind.
First, the problems with your car have to have taken place during the warranty period. However, if the issue or problem occurs after the warranty period, you likely do not have a case under the lemon law.
Second, the California lemon law rules have a statute of limitations for filing a claim. Under the lemon law statute of limitations, you typically must file your court complaint within four years of discovering the defect.
Even though you have four years to file a complaint, you should not wait until the last minute. You may want to consult with a qualified lemon law attorney as soon as you believe that your car is defective.
What Should I Do If I Think I Have a Lemon Vehicle?
If you think that your car might be a lemon, you can take some steps to help you with a possible lemon law case:
Fortunately, California's lemon law makes the vehicle manufacturer responsible for paying for a consumer's lawyer fees in a lemon law claim.
Get In Touch with a Seasoned California Lemon Law Attorney
If you or any member of your family, have purchased or leased a defective automobile or various other consumer goods and the seller or maker is not prepared to cooperate when it comes to providing a refund or replacement, then you should be speaking to a California Lemon Laws lawyer, that will assess your case and provide you with a thorough evaluation of your case.
Do not get discouraged if your consumer goods fail to conform to your expectations. Rather, make sure to protect your rights and receive the proper remedies that you are entitled to under California's lemon laws.
.png)