The Car Lemon Law in California comes to your rescue when a new car you have purchased or released is beyond repairs. In this case, you may be entitled to a refund or replacement. In this article, Handy shares the details surrounding the Car Lemon Law in California. Read on to know more.
What does California’s Lemon Law cover?
The California Lemon law provides coverage for new cars. However, it covers second-hand cars as well provided the car still has the manufacturer’s warranty. This law offers coverage in the following cases:
- It covers cars, vans, pickup trucks, and SUVs. Besides, it may also cover the chassis, cab chassis, and motor home’s drive train. However, it doesn’t include the after-market parts like van conversions.
- Vehicles and demonstrators owned by dealers
- Vehicles that you buy for household, personal, or family purposes
- Some vehicles that are leased or bought basically for business purposes
The California Lemon Law doesn’t offer coverage in case of:
- Vehicles that have not been registered as per the California Vehicle Code, which includes off-road vehicles
- Abused vehicles
When does the Lemon Law apply?
California’s Lemon Law is applicable when reasonable repair attempts have been exhausted, which is known as the lemon law presumption. This law is applicable in the following cases:
- The manufacturer’s warranty covers the problems you are having with your car
- The problems occurred within one year and 6 months of delivery or during the first 18,000 miles, whichever comes first. You need to discuss the matter with your attorney if a major defect occurs after this period
- The defect reduces the value, use of safety of the car, and the defects are not the result of abuse
- If the owner’s manual or warranty requires, you have sent a notification to the manufacturer about the type of problems you have with your car. Make sure you have this in writing
If any of the points given below are true, the law will kick in:
- You have made 4 or more attempts to have the car repaired, but the problem is still there.
- The vehicle spent over 30 days at the shop for repairs of the problem that the warranty covers.
- If your car fulfills this criterion, the California Lemon Law presumes that you have made enough attempts and you may be entitled to a refund or replacement.
What is arbitration?
Arbitration is a free-of-charge comparatively simplest method to sort out warranty problems. In this case, you and the car manufacturer take the matter to a third party, such as an arbitrator, and allow that party to decide if you have made enough attempts to get the car fixed.
The arbitrator is authorized to decide what should be done. And the arbitrator will make the decision on a case-by-case basis.
- Given below are some possible outcomes:
- Another repair attempt
- Vehicle replacement
- A full or partial refund
- Reimbursement in case of incidental expenses like car rental, towing, etc.
Advantages of arbitration
Arbitration is a free, fast, and simple way of resolving the matter without going to the court of law.
After your application has been received, the decision won’t take more than 40 days.
You can either accept or reject the verdict. In case of your acceptance, the manufacturer is bound to accept the decision. But if you don’t accept the decision, the law allows you to take the matter to the court.
So, these are some important details that Handy shared regarding the Car Lemon Law in California. If you are going to buy a new or used car in California, you may want to consider the points given in this article.
