You may have heard of “Lemon Law,” but do you know what it means and entails? Here is some basic information to help you out:
Throughout the United States, according to the Consumer Federation of America, complaints about automobiles rank in the top three out of four consumer fraud complaints. These complaints involve used car sales, new car sales and automotive repairs. Most states have consumer protection laws that deal with these complaints, and laws dealing with some of these complaints are called lemon laws.
California is known to have one of the most extensive or strict lemon law statutes in the nation. This protection is called the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act and is found in section 1790 and a few subsequent sections of the California Civil Code. Additionally, the Civil Code Sections 1793.2, etc., also called the Tanner Consumer Protection Act, exist to protect consumers who have several repeated repair visits to the dealer for factory warranty repairs. A factory warranty is one given to the consumer at the time of purchase by the automobile manufacturer and may include new cars, used cars (still covered under the manufacturer’s new car warranty) or even certified pre-owned cars still covered by this initial warranty.
In a general sense, the purpose of the lemon law is to protect consumers who lease or purchase a truck, a van, a car or a motor home, either for their personal use or in some cases for limited business use.
Consumer Lemon Law Rights, Roles of Manufacturers and Lemon Law Lawyers
Lemon law rights are rights that a California consumer has under the state’s lemon law. These can be laws that pertain to lemon law lawyers, product manufacturers and other rights, including, but not limited to, the following:
- The consumer may be entitled to a replacement (new vehicle), repurchase (buyback) of the vehicle or a cash settlement upon the resolution of a lemon law case.
- The consumer may be represented by a lemon law firm and its lawyers without paying a retainer fee (initial out-of-pocket expense).
- The consumer may be entitled, under lemon law consumer rights, to a refund of the purchase price of the vehicle minus a usage fee that will be based upon their usage of the vehicle up to the time when the repair problems started to occur.
- The consumer may be entitled to have the attorney fees and costs paid by the manufacturer. Under lemon law rights, the consumer may be allowed to keep their vehicle and not pay any costs or attorney fees when the attorney is unable to reach a satisfactory resolution of their case.
For more information on personal injury law, visit the San Diego County Bar Association website.
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal counsel or serve as legal advice. If you have a consumer law matter, it is best to consult the advice of an attorney. You can get referred to an attorney for a free 30-minute consultation through the San Diego County Bar’s Lawyer Referral & Information Service at www.sdcba.org/ineedalawyer or by calling 1 (800) 464-1529.