Lemon Law for California

Though the congressional hearings of Toyota are already over and Toyota is setting up a North American Quality Advisory Panel, the problem with accelerator pedals is still unsolved. It still affects the safety of drivers and pedestrians.

The well-known Edmunds.com, which is one of the best automotive sources, is planning to provide one million dollars to those, who research the matters with acceleration. The research doesn’t specifically focus on Toyota, as the same problem appeared with other vehicle producers. 20 years ago Audi was in the news headlines for unintended acceleration.

Edmunds.com is currently working on rules for this “crowd sourcing” project.

Meanwhile, the whole buzz on Toyota recalls has shown once again the relevance of the California lemon law, which is there to protect the buyers of defected cars. Dealers might use numerous tricks to assure the customers that the problem is fixed. But a lemon car might still be a lemon, unless you try to obtain your rights.

Make sure your car can be considered a lemon. And keep in mind that the California lemon law could work for you if the defect made your car accelerate and that Toyota abandoned any fixing.

And don’t hesitate to get consulting on this.

Lemon laws protect people who have bought a defective vehicle that the dealer cannot or will not repair. If you bought a lemon, the California lemon law gives you a powerful and effective way to get rid of it and receive compensation for your troubles.

If you think you have a lemon car don’t count on the automaker’s good faith to repair or replace it. The dealership and car manufacturer have attorneys. So should you. Don’t put your lemon law problem on hold. Calling the dealer’s hotline may even delay solving your problem.

You are likely to spend months wading through the manufacturer’s “owner loyalty hotlines,” “customer satisfaction departments,” or “quality care divisions” while waiting for your problem to be resolved. These departments don’t offer meaningful, immediate assistance and rarely solve lemon law problems. They just hope that you will give up and sell the car or trade it and buy another and the car manufacturer will not have to accept the financial obligation and disclosure requirements that go along with buying back a lemon vehicle.

But why you should give up if it doesn’t cost a dime. Attorney’s fees are included in lemon law settlements. In other words, the manufacturer will have to pay all of the legal costs associated with your lemon law claim.

Lemon Law litigation begins when the person who owns the lemon (plaintiff) files a complaint against the auto manufacturer (defendant) with the court and sends a copy of the complaint to the manufacturer and, frequently, the dealer. The complaint explains the vehicle defects so that the lawsuit can be considered a lemon law case or a breach of warranty case, as well as why the defendant should be found legally responsible for the defects.

The defendant is given a specific amount of time to answer to the lemon law complaint explaining its side of the dispute. Sometimes, the plaintiff files a reply to respond to the defendant’s answer. Instead of an answer or reply, the defendant may request that the lemon vehicle owner clarify issues or correct mistakes in the stated facts. This may lead to amended complaints or amended answers.

Once both the lemon vehicle owner and the manufacturer have settled on a complaint, answer, and reply, the case is said to be “at issue,” which means that the issues for resolution of the lemon law case are now clearly defined.

When you send a lemon law claim letter to the manufacturer you usually get a negative response. This is because car companies are sure that if they deny every claim then most people who complain will probably go away. And unfortunately most people usually do so.

Car companies also think that most of the rest of the lemon law cases will also go away if they stretch out the process for as long as they can. They think so because of the following reasons:

1) Many people can’t or won’t come up with the money they need to retain an attorney. Or they’ll be scared of going to court and back out.

2) Some people may decide that going through the lemon law complaint process isn’t worth the effort and usually just sell the car privately.

3) Some people may think that before the case gets to court something could happen to the car. They could move to another state or have an accident which the company can then blame all the problems on.

4) Car companies know that if they stretch out the process long enough, people will put thousands of more miles on the car, the value of the car will then be reduced because the car is older and has been used more. So, if you put on another 30,000 miles on the car they get to deduct 30,000 more miles worth of depreciation from the price they pay you in the settlement. In other words, the longer the car is used the less they have to pay for it in the end.

5) Most people will end up taking a low-ball offer for their lemon law attorney fees and a couple of thousand dollars.

Car companies are fully sure that time is on their side and if they wait it out, they can get rid of about 95% of lemon law cases without even getting close to the courthouse steps. As a matter of fact they are counting on this.

All cars built after 1981 have a 17-character number that is actually called the vehicle identification number (VIN). VIN number is unique to that individual automobile you can use to get valuable detailed information about that specific car’s history. It can help you detect a “lemon” before you buy it.

The VIN number can tell about all of the records for everything that has ever happened to that car. It gives you an opportunity to trace your car from the factory all the way to the scrap heap.

You can find the VIN number in numerous places in the car - inside the doors, the dash, the trunk, engine, and/or quarter panels, etc. Look over the car and make sure that all of the VIN numbers you can find are the same when you look inside the car. If they are different, it may mean that the car has been totally rebuilt using parts from other cars.

Before buying any specific car, you need to get a VIN report. Your VIN can be used to track any warranty claims, recalls, registrations, thefts, and insurance coverage too. Guard yourself from buying a lemon car by thoroughly checking the VIN number on the used car you want to buy.

If you fail to do so, you may get stuck with a lemon car and soon may need a good lemon law specialist to get rid of it.

Though there is lemon law that will protect you if you as a consumer, it’s wise to take the time to do enough research before you buy a car. Good research will help you find out if the model of car you are interested in has any well known defects or other known issues. There are lots of websites that you can find a lot of interesting information about your favorite model of car.

Before you buy a car make sure you are not too attached to it. Emotions may sway your decisions, which could keep you from paying attention to the signs that are telling you the car you want to buy could be a “lemon“.

Don’t buy a used car without having it thoroughly checked out by an independent mechanic. It’s better to spend some money on a car before buying it to find out all problems it may have beforehand. This small amount spent now can save you thousands of dollars and many months of headaches trying to fix the situation if you happen to get a lemon.

Buying a used car you should look at the average yearly mileage as most used cars start to break down once you pass 100,000 miles. Besides, it gives you a good idea of how hard the previous owner drove the car. The harder a car is driven the more wear and tear its parts get. Obviously, this will speed up any mechanical breakdowns.

Before you buy a car you should check the car’s VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) to to get all of the records for everything that has ever happened to that individual car. You can see if the car has had any major repairs or recalls or has been in any accidents. Doing this will certainly save you a lot of time and money later.

Pursuant to the Lemon Law in CA used car, which is sold by the dealership with a written and specific warranty, may qualify as a “lemon”. Only used cars purchased for personal, family or household use are covered under the California Used Car Lemon Law. Used cars that are bought for commercial purposes are not covered by the law.

It is a common practice for car dealers to try to sell car buyers vehicles that have been previously returned for various defects and were qualified as a “lemon”.   It is a good idea to take the vehicle to qualified mechanic before the purchase and have it inspected for defects and problems. Keep in mind that the vehicle purchased without a warranty covering the defects will make it very difficult for the car buyer to start a case under the CA Used Car Lemon Law.

Used Car Lemon Law in CA covers leased vehicles leased under warranty as well. If the warranty of the car you have purchased specifies a higher mileage or period, then the warranty is still valid when 18,000 miles of road use or 18 months since purchase have expired. If the first repair attempt took place during the specified warranty period, then the used car you have purchased or leased still qualifies under the California Used Car Lemon Law even after that period.

Pursuant to the lemon law car buyers can receive a refund or complete repair for a used car they have purchased or leased.

There are several steps the car owner should take to help him/her win a lemon law case. The first and the most important factor for a successful case is the paperwork. The vehicle owner should keep all the record about repairs of the vehicle. All the record should be meticulous and detailed, including a cover sheet that shows all the repairs that were done for the car, summarizing with date, place of service, description of problem, details of repair, hours of labor, cost of labor, cost of parts, sales tax and total of repair bill.

Another thing you will need is good knowledge of the lemon Law statutes in your state. The number of repairs required before you will be allowed to take the case to court varies from state to state. Keep in mind that should have the minimum number of repairs completed within the time frame of the statutes.

Make sure that the vehicle you have purchased is covered by the lemon laws in your state. If you have bought a used car, find out if your state lemon law covers used cars. Some states even cover leased vehicles. Be sure that lemon law statutes in your state cover your RV, motorcycle, SUV, truck, van or other large consumer item, such as a computer.

If you want to win a lemon law case you should make every effort possible. It is very important to do everything in a timely manner. Remember, that time is the essence in every lemon law case, including timing time period to complete repairs, as well as time to file and get the consumer protection.

Car lemon laws were created to protect buyers from being sold defective merchandise. Certain demands are needed to prevent these laws from being used in the wrong way. First manufacturers must offer a warranty on their products, as without a warranty, or if the car is bought as is, they are almost unable to use these laws to their advantage. Without these laws buyers and sellers would take advantage of the situation very easily, and the other would be left without a legal leg to stand on.

Even if these laws vary in each state, they are ofter along the same lines as talked about. Mainly the new car warranties last for up to five years that is usually the amount of time given for a lemon law claim. In some states if a vehicle is bought used and the original warranty is still valid, then the lemon laws cover it until said warranty is void. Certain criteria make a used car fall under these laws, natural disaster, illegal parts used to repair vehicle, tampered odometer, reoccurring mechanical failure. Under these cases these laws would continue to protect the buyer even without a valid warranty.

Several things must be done in order to have protection under these laws also, failure to keep up proper records of maintenance, or lack of initiative in getting the dealer or manufacturer to solve the problem, will only make a lemon law case harder to prove. A consumer must permit the manufacturer or  dealer adequate opportunity to repair the vehicle, failure to do so by the consumer will result in forfeiture of his rights under the lemon laws. A buyer must not continue driving the car after the defect is noticed. It is then said that the buyer may have made the defective parts worse or may have even caused the defect themselves. In the end it really depends on the time a lemon law will cover a consumer.

There a number of questions to answer to find out if your vehicle is lemon, including the questions about the reimbursement of expenses.

The first and the most important question to answer regarding the CA Lemon Law is if the vehicle you have purchased is qualified as a “lemon.” There are a number of things to take into consideration when you want to determine if the car is a lemon, including the warranty period, the type of defects and the number of repair attempts. You should also consider the number of attempts the manufacturer requires to make before the vehicle can be called a “lemon.”

One of the most confusing parts of the vehicle purchase is the warranty period, as the dealers and manufacturers try to misinform the car buyers. According to the new amendment of the law on time and mileage of the vehicle the warranty should be 18000 miles or eighteen months.

One more question to consider for California lemon law is the term “attempt”. This is when you take the vehicle to the dealer or manufacturer for repairs. It does not depend if the dealer does perform any changes or repairs on the vehicle or the product or not this is an attempt.

Another question is whether you have bought the vehicle “as-is.” If this is the case then the buyer is assumed to know about the defects of the vehicle and has still purchased it. These cases are called “caveat emptor” law, or “buyer beware.” According to this law if the product has a defect and the dealer or the manufacturer has warned the consumer before the purchase then the product is not qualified for the lemon law.