HOME: Is Your Car  Lemon?

The California "lemon laws" protect consumers of motor vehicles and provide remedies if they have repeated problems with their vehicle relating to safety, value, or use. Minor defects alone, however, are likely not sufficient.

The California "lemon laws" apply to all new vehicles, purchased or leased for family or personal use and for most small business uses. They include automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, and the chassis portions of RV's and motor homes.

A used vehicle, if it was purchased or leased with a remaining portion of the new car warranty, may also qualify under the lemon laws. Likewise, a demonstrator is considered as a "new" vehicle.

A consumer must allow the manufacturer a reasonable number of attempts to repair the vehicle's defects. There is a so-called "lemon law" presumption which 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 normal 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. It is not, however, a prerequisite to filing a lemon law claim!

This "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.

Note that the "lemon law" 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 affects safety, value, or use, and initially occurred within the new car warranty period, and cannot be repaired after a reasonable number of repair attempts, the vehicle may be entitled to these legal protections. You should contact an experienced lemon law attorney to see if your vehicle is covered.

Note too, that a consumer does not first need to go through arbitration to pursue a lemon law claim.

In fact, an arbitration decision against the consumer may later be used as evidence against the consumer in any subsequent court action brought by the consumer against the manufacturer.

These paragraphs only describe guidelines. But, if the defect(s) affect safety, for example, even two repair attempts may be enough. So long as the defects are substantial manufacturing non-conformities that relate to safety, value, or use, and occur within the new car warranty period (usually 36 months or 36,000 miles, whichever occurs first) your vehicle may qualify as a valid "lemon law" claim.

If you have had repeated problems, and if your vehicle is still not repaired, you should call a experienced lemon law attorney specializing in the lemon law to obtain a free consultation to learn whether your vehicle qualifies, or whether there are other legal alternatives.