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 it is
determined that a motor vehicle is a "lemon," the motor vehicle's warrantor must
repurchase or replace the motor vehicle from the buyer.
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 will 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, one repair attempt may be enough to establish a reasonable number.
Generally, safety-related or driveability concerns will require fewer repair attempts than
those which are not safety-related or affect driveability.
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 18 months old and have less than 18,000 miles. This belief is not true! The Lemon Law will apply to a vehicle regardless of how
old it is or how many miles is has, so long as the vehicle is having problems that are
under warranty.
Even if the warranty has expired, the Lemon Law may apply. If
the vehicle is still having problems that were complained about and never properly
repaired during the warranty period, a valid Lemon Law claim may exist.
4.) The vehicle must contain a problem 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.
