Lemon Law for California

Build Dates : September 01, 2005 - September 07, 2005
NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number : 05V552000

Date Owner’s Notified: 20060331  
Date Received by ODI: 20051207  
Date Added to Databse: 20051207

Manufacturer’s Involved: GENERAL MOTORS CORP.
Manufacturer’s Responsible for the Recall: GENERAL MOTORS CORP.
Manufacturer Campaign Number: 05109

Component: EQUIPMENT:OTHER:LABELS
Potential Number Of Units Affected : 32068

Summary:

Certain trucks and sport utility vehicles fail to conform to the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 110, “tire selection and rims.ї these vehicles were shipped with tire and loading information labels listing an inacccurate vehicle capacity weight.

Consequence: 
A misprinted label could lead to improper vehicle loading specifications or tire inflation which could result in a tire failure, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy:

Owners will be provided with corrected labels and installation instructions. At the customerїs option, a dealer can install the label for them.  

Simply put, negative equity is the difference between the dollar amount the dealer allowed for your trade-in, vs. the actual amount owed (figured in terms of a negative number).
So, let’s assume you trade-in a vehicle, and the dealer “allows” you $5,000.00 for it. Then the dealer checks your loan payoff, and it’s $9,000.00. The difference, or “negative equity” is ($-4,000.00)

What happens to the negative equity when you trade-in your present car, and take delivery on the new one?
In this scenario, you are “upside down” (you owe more on the car that it’s worth). The dealer will “bury” (carry over) the negative equity into the new vehicle transaction, and hence the loan if paying by monthly installment contract.

So, if you purchased a $21,000.00 vehicle, you add $4,000.00 of “negative equity” to the sales price equation, and you end up with a much higher car payment.

What does this have to do with the California Lemon Law? Plenty. When a consumer initiates and completes a lemon law claim, the “negative equity” (negative loan balance carry-over) is a deduction to their lemon law refund. In the case of a replacement vehicle in lieu of repurchase, then negative equity is not of issue.

You can quickly see how not doing a lemon law claim, and simply trading off your vehicle can cause massive negative equity carry-over (a very bad thing). By pursuing a lemon law claim, even though the negative equity is deducted, the vehicle is repurchased, any loan is paid off, and typically the consumer has a considerable cash refund due to he/she by the automobile manufacturer. In almost all cases, using the lemon law far outweighs the economic downfall of trading in the vehicle.

An experienced lemon law attorney in California can best assist you in doing an “actual damages” worksheet on what your specific lemon law situation may afford to you if successful with the automobile manufacturer.

Many dealers add after-market (non-factory) accessories, paint and fabric/leather “potions and lotions”, as well as a host of other dealer-profit enhancing items as part of the purchase contract sale or lease agreement.

On a California Lemon Law claim, the automobile manufacturer has no duty to reimburse you for these, even though the dealer installed them and charged you for them! Why? The answer lies in the vehicle…

When your vehicle rolled off the assembly-line, it was “as equipped” from the manufacturer, and had a price & information label affixed to the cars side window glass from the manufacturer. It shows the car, factory accessories, and transportation, which totals up to “MSRP”, or “manufacturer’s suggested retail price”. This “MSRP” label shows what factory accessories are included in the “as equipped” equation.

So, if the dealer adds things to your vehicle, the manufacturer typically doesn’t reimburse you for them in a lemon law claim, because that’s not the way it came off the assembly line when it was built. There are certain cases wherein the dealer installs genuine factory accessories on the vehicle and it’s noted on the purchase agreement. In these cases it’s sometimes possible to get reimbursement for these factory built/dealer installed accessories.

Many consumers will utilize the expertise of a experienced lemon law attorney firm with a lot of “clout” on the factory-built added accessories issue. This “clout” may allow (in certain circumstances) the attorney to negotiate a part or full reimbursement of these factory accessories.