Lemon Law for California

NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number : 08V584000

Date Owner’s Notified:
Date Received by ODI: 20081107
Date Added to Databse: 20081107

Manufacturer’s Involved: COWBOY CLASSIC CONVERSIONS, INC
Manufacturer’s Responsible for the Recall: COWBOY CLASSIC CONVERSIONS, INC
Manufacturer Campaign Number:

Component: EQUIPMENT
Potential Number Of Units Affected : 13

Summary: 

Cowboy classic is recalling 13 my 2006 featherlite, elite, platinum, keifer, and my 2007 elite and platinum horse trailers equipped with a two-door refrigerator manufactured by the dometic corporation. The refrigerator may have a defect in the boiler tube. Pressurized coolant solution could be released into an area where an ignition source (gas flame) is present.

Consequence: 

Release of coolant under certain conditions could ignite and result in a fire.

Remedy: 

Cowboy classic will be working with dometic in order to repair these refrigerators (please see 08e032). Dometic will repair these refrigerators by installing a secondary burn housing, a thermal fuse, and a melt fuse free of charge. Dometic has retained stericycle inc. To manage this campaign. Stericycle will assist the owner in locating dealerships or service centers and will provide assistance with scheduling of appointments. 

Dealers and manufacturers are often reluctant to pay on a lemon law claim, even if it is justified. Here are some common explanations that dealers and manufacturers offer for why they refuse to either replace your defective vehicle or refund your purchase price.

Lemon laws were introduced to simplify the process of a consumer getting relief after he or she buys a habitually defective vehicle from an auto manufacturer. Prior to the passage of such laws, consumers were essentially at the mercy of the manufacturers, who simply do not want to refund money or offer replacement vehicles for those that are defective.

The lemon laws in all 50 states make it clear that the consumer has the right to request a refund or a replacement vehicle should their auto qualify as defective under their state’s lemon law statute. And yet, time and again, manufacturers and dealers offer excuses and explanations as to why they cannot or will not offer relief.

Here are some of the most common reasons offered to consumers as to why a refund or replacement cannot be offered:

-The defect is not significant - The defect need only “substantially affect” the value, use or safety of the vehicle. It need not be a “significant’ defect; even something small can affect one of those three things. Whether or not a defect affects safety, value or use isn’t really a dealer call, anyway. These things are best determined by either arbitration boards or judges.  

-Abuse or neglect - As far as we know, all 50 states have clauses in their refund or replacement that void the law if the vehicle has been subject to abuse, neglect or unauthorized modification by the owner. Again, that shouldn’t really be a judgment call by the dealer, although abuse and neglect are pretty easy to prove. 

Still, this accusation probably works a good portion of the time. Don’t fall for it. If you haven’t abused or neglected the vehicle, you have a valid claim. 

Buying an automobile is not a process most people enjoy. Cars are expensive, and if you choose poorly, you are stuck with the car for quite some time. So you want to buy one that’s comfortable, suits your needs and is mechanically reliable. Fortunately for buyers, every state now has some version of a lemon law, designed to protect buyers from vehicles that are both mechanically unreliable and seemingly unrepairable. If a vehicle spends a month or so being repaired during it’s warranty or needs three or more repair attempts to fix the same problem, most states require the manufacturer to either replace it or refund the purchase price.

But what about used cars? Buyers of used cars are generally on their own, but some states, such as California, have passed separate laws protecting buyers of used cars. Not every state has such protections, as that sort of legislation is still in its infancy. There is a small amount of protection available, however. Most, if not all, states have strict regulations regarding how manufacturers dispose of vehicles that have been determined to be lemons. These vehicles, returned to the manufacturers by their original owners, are usually repaired and resold. And most states require that these vehicles be prominently branded as such, usually on the title. In addition, most states also require that any dealer selling such a vehicle must disclose the vehicle’s history to any potential buyer.

What if something goes wrong?

Unfortunately, something often goes wrong, and that problem usually involves what is known as a “laundered lemon.” While most states do require strict declaration of a vehicle’s history and that the title be marked, not all states do. Some dealers have been known to buy a known lemon, title it in a state that has no such requirements, and then transfer it back to a state that requires that lemon law vehicles be branded as such. The stop in the other state usually strips, or “launders” the vehicle’s history as a known problem.

And the buyer gets stuck. There have been numerous cases in the past few years of people innocently buying used vehicles from dealers that turned out to have notorious history as lemons. When the buyers inquired about the history of these cars, they were often told “We bought it at an auction; we don’t know.” That may or may not be true, but the buyer has no way of knowing.

While the used car market still carries a “buyer beware” mentality, there are some things a buyer can do. Them most important thing would be to do a check on the car’s Vehicle Identification Number, or VIN. There are several companies, such as Carfax, that can use the VIN to trace the car’s history. It only costs a few dollars to use the service, but if it spares you thousands of dollars in repair costs, then the money is well spent.