Car Lemon Law

The California Lemon Law allows California consumers to return vehicles that the auto maker or its authorized repair facilities cannot repair after a reasonable number of repair attempts. Many consumers are unaware of the strength of the California Lemon Law, however, and miss out on opertunities to secure the rights it provides.

Manufacturers such as Chrysler, General Motors, Ford Motor Company, Toyota and Honda often find themselves on the receiving end of complaints from consumers about lemon vehicles. Not infrequently, these manufacturers tell consumers that the defect – also called a “non-conformity to warranty” – is somehow the fault of the consumer. A good example: a friend of mine who is an attorney had a pretty clear lemon law claim against Chrysler. Within the first 18,000 miles, his Town & Country had been to the dealership seven times for uneven and excessive brake wear. The first response from Chrysler was “you live on a hill; you are causing the brake wear.” My friend is a smart guy and of course had the perfect response: “are you saying that no one who lives on a hill can buy a Chrysler vehicle?” A little coaching from me and he was able to convince Chrysler to repurchase his MiniVan under California’s Lemon Law.

Now, my friend is an experienced and savvy attorney. Trained in argument and advocacy, he had a compelling answer to the “blame the victim” tactics of Chrysler. Many consumers, however, absorb the guilt that the manufacturers lay upon them. Our advice: resist the psychology of the blame game. If your vehicle is still under warranty and manifests a defect, take it to an authorized dealership and talk with the service advisor. Explain the defect in detail: what you experience, the conditions under which you experience it and the conditions under which you do not experience it. Confirm that the service advisor described the defect accurately on the repair order. When you pick up your vehicle, ask what was done to diagnose the problem. Then, ask what the technician did to repair it, if anything. If your service advisor blames your driving for the defect, seek clarification and specifics. Measure the advisor’s explanation against your own understanding of how you drive. You should not automatically assume that the advisor is right, just because he is wearing a shirt that says “Toyota” or “Honda.” After the repair attempt, take your vehicle for a test drive. If the defect remains unrepaired, take your car back to the dealership immediately. Do not delay, as that could a) be bad for your car and b) diminish your potential lemon law claim. The hope, of course, is that the dealership can fix your car. When the dealership cannot fix your car after a reasonable number of repair attempts (usually considered to be four times or a cumulative total of 30 days), then you may have a lemon on your hands and a claim under the lemon law to the manufacturer is in order.

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