What is the California Lemon Law?

California’s lemon laws protect consumers when they buy or lease a new or used car with a substantial defect. If your car meets the criteria for a lemon vehicle, you can seek compensation in the form of up to a full refund or replacement under our state’s lemon law.

How do I know if I qualify?

In order to qualify for a lemon law claim you must have:

(1) Purchased the vehicle in California
(2) The vehicle must have come with a manufacturer warranty
(3) The vehicle must have had defects that impaired this use value or safety
(4) The manufacturer was unable to repair those defects after a reasonable number of attempts.

Do I need 4 repairs for the same issue to qualify?

Absolutely not. Four times for the same issue is a very common myth, but it is not true. The lemon law statute states that the manufacturer has an obligation to re-purchase the vehicle and refund you for it if they were unable to repair it after a reasonable number of attempts. The key phrase there is “reasonable.”

In order to determine what’s reasonable, it depends specifically on what type of issues you’re having with your vehicle. For example, if you’re steering-wheel pops off while you’re driving it, the manufacturer is not required to have four attempts to replace it before they have an obligation to buy the vehicle back.

Just one repair will do because it is a substantial safety concern and we are not going to wait for it to happen three more times before we get you out of that defective car. Every situation is different, and depends on what specifically you’re dealing with. Give us a call for free consultation.