If your vehicle spends more time in the repair shop than on the road, has undergone repeated failed repair attempts, and still has one or more substantial defects, it reduces the car’s use, value, and safety. This makes it a lemon under the law. In these cases, California’s Lemon Law allows consumers to seek financial accountability through a lemon law claim. But who is ultimately responsible for selling you a lemon? Does a California Lemon Law Claim affect the automobile manufacturer or the dealer who sold you the car? A qualified California Lemon Law Attorney ensures that your claim is correctly filed with meticulous attention to detail for the maximum chance of a result in your favor.
First, What Is the California Lemon Law?
California’s Lemon Law protects consumers who buy or lease products, especially large-ticket items like vehicles. The law offers legal recourse for a consumer who purchased a product that does not live up to the manufacturer’s promise. For vehicles, this means one that’s undergone four or more failed repair attempts, two or more failed repair attempts for a defect that’s a safety hazard, or has spent more than 30 (non-consecutive) days in a repair shop.
To qualify for a lemon law claim, the vehicle has to still be under the manufacturer’s warranty. A successful lemon law claim in California results in a buyback of the defective vehicle or a replacement vehicle of equal value.
Who Is the Responsible Party In a California Lemon Law Claim?
A car dealership plays a key role in a lemon law claim because it sold the car and is responsible for repairs. When a car owner encounters a repeated repair problem, the dealership where they purchased the vehicle serves an intermediary function between the manufacturer and the car owner by attempting repairs and communicating these attempts to the manufacturer. The dealership can only be held liable in a lemon law claim if it intentionally misrepresented the vehicle’s condition or failed to disclose a defect. A dealership may also be legally accountable if it refuses to make repairs under the manufacturer’s warranty, delays repairs, or falsely represents its repair attempts.
Although dealerships play a role in the lemon law process and may be legally liable under specific circumstances, the vehicle’s manufacturer is usually held liable under California Lemon Law claims.
What If I Purchased a Used Car From a Dealership and It’s a Lemon?
Buy-here-pay-here car dealerships typically provide a 30-day or 1,000-mile warranty. If the dealership fraudulently sold you a car with a known defect, you can make a legal claim against the dealership under the dealership’s warranty. However, you may still be able to file a lemon law claim against the manufacturer if the used car remains covered by its factory warranty and was not sold to you “as is,” which is a legal acknowledgement of a defect.
Holding a Manufacturer or Dealership Responsible In a California Lemon Law Claim
It’s important to avoid common mistakes that make it challenging or impossible to make a lemon law claim against a manufacturer or hold a dealership responsible under a dealer warranty—for example, taking the vehicle to a different mechanic for work rather than to the dealership, or failing to close out a repair invoice with a signature from a dealership employee. All repair invoices must contain key information, including the VIN, the date the car was in for repairs, the mileage noted when you dropped off the vehicle and upon pick up, and a description of the problem and repair attempts. Contact an experienced California lemon law attorney today.
