Understanding California's Lemon Law
California's so-called "Lemon Law" is actually a section within the larger Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act. This act was designed to protect car buyers from purchasing faulty vehicles, and its basic premise is this. If a car manufacturer or one of its representatives is, after a reasonable number of repair attempts, unable to fix a car's problem so that the car meets the terms of its original warranty, then the customer who purchased the car is legally entitled to a full refund or a replacement. It is up to the customer to choose which settlement option to receive. A full refund includes the original purchase price of the vehicle as well as sales tax, registration and official fees, manufacturer-installed components, repairs, finance charges, towing costs and any other costs incurred by the car's defectiveness. Consumers are under the protection of the Song-Beverly Act for the full duration of the manufacturer's warranty, so even if the defect shows up in the last year of the warranty, the consumer is still entitled to a refund / replacement.
As for the Lemon Law itself, it is none other than the clause in the Song-Beverly Act that tackles the task of trying to define what "a reasonable number of repair attempts" means. The basics of it is that: a manufacturer has performed the reasonable number of repair attempts if (a) a serious car issue has been taken in for repairs two or more times and the problem persists, or if (b) a defect has been the subject of repairs four or more times and the car owner has contacted the manufacturer directly at least once, or if (c) the car has been out of service for 30 days or more due to repairs.
In actual court cases, the Lemon Law clause serves as a general suggestion, something to be nit-picked and interpreted by lawyers to serve whatever their aims might be, which is why Lemon Law cases can be lengthy and convoluted sometimes. Remember that if you're looking to find a California lemon law attorney, it's best to do it as soon as you start noticing the problem.
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For the consumers, I guess it's also important to really check and evaluate a car, especially if it's just a second-hand vehicle, before purchasing it. That way we can spot faults or defects early on and any problems that it may bring in the future.
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