Lemon Law for California

Build Dates: 01 September, 2008 – 19 August, 2009

NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number : 09V333000

Date Owner’s Notified: 0000-00-00
Date Received by ODI: 2009-08-20
Date Added to Database: 2009-08-20

Manufacturers Involved: VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA, INC
Manufacturer’s Responsible for the Recall: VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA,INC
Manufacturer Campaign Number: 37E3/S7 & 37E5/J7

Component: POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

Potential Number Of Units Affected : 16000

Summary:

Volkswagen is recalling certain model year 2009 and 2010 passenger cars manufactured between September 2008 and August 2009. The wiring harness of a temperature sensor in the Direct Shift Gearbox “DSG” may have connector wires that were insufficiently crimped. With insufficiently crimped connector wires, a temperature sensor has the potential to falsely detect a high gearbox oil temperature, causing the transmission to abruptly shift to neutral. If this happens, the selector lever position indicator within the instrument panel will flash. In addition, the “Depress Brake Pedal” indicator light will be illuminated, alerting the driver to apply the brakes.

Consequence:

The abrupt shift to neutral could lead to a crash without warning.

Remedy:

Volkswagen will reprogram the Transmission Control Module with updated software free of charge. The recall is expected to begin on or before October 19, 2009.

The term “lemon” is used to describe cars that have defects substantially affecting their safety, use or value and has now become a part of the legal system when discussing the California Lemon Law. This law was put into place to protect consumers who purchased a lemon vehicle.

This law states that if the vehicle is determined to be a lemon then the auto manufacturer must either give the buyer a replacement vehicle of equal or greater value or purchase the vehicle back. There are qualifications that should be met to be covered under this law.

First of all, to qualify under the CA Lemon Law the vehicle should not be used for commercial purposes.

The problem with the vehicle cannot be trivial, such as a broken cup holder or something similar that does not impair use of the vehicle or could cause harm to the driver and occupants of the vehicle.

The vehicle should be under warranty and have a condition that could cause injury or even death to those that occupy it. But that’s not the only way your car can qualify. If you have tried to get your new or used vehicle (as long as it’s still under warranty) repaired several times but you are still dealing with the problem, then you can qualify. Of course, you must have documentation proving that you’ve tried to get the defect repaired.

If there have been so many attempts to repair your defective vehicle that it has been out of service for a long time (for at least 30 days not necessarily consecutive) then your vehicle can qualify.

There are many ways for you to qualify. The best way to find out whether your car qualifies is to go to an attorney who specializes in CA lemon law. This law does create important rights for car buyers and you should not miss your chance to protect yourself.