Many people purchase their car from the manufacturer in order to be safe and assured that in case of constant problems with the vehicle, the manufacturer will be responsible for fixing them. The car is considered a lemon if it has ongoing problems, which reduces the car’s safety and usability. If the car is still under warranty, the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act covers raised issues through fixing them or refunding the price of the car.
The first option, which is fixing the problem, works on the following way- if the car has constant problems, the manufacturer has to repair it within the reasonable number of repairing attempts, usually 3-4. Each repairing attempt should not exceed the 30-day limit. It means that starting right from the first day of car delivery to the manufacturer to the day of fixing the problem should be within 30 days. However, there are cases when the manufacturer fails to repair the problem, which brings to the second option. According to this option that is refunding the price of the car, the consumer is entitled to file a Lemon Law Buyback claim and receive the payment back. The manufacturer can also replace the affected vehicle with an identical new one. These are all covered by the California Lemon Law, also known as The Tanner Consumer Protection Act.
The purchased car, considered as a lemon, is covered by The California Lemon Law, if:
- The car is purchased from the manufacturer or its official representative;
- The car serves for personal, household or family purposes;
- The car’s weight is under 10000 pound and is bought by any person mainly for business purposes, which has no more than 5 vehicles registered in California;
The Tanner Consumer Protection Act qualifies a car as a lemon if the car’s first defect is revealed and serviced during the first 18 months or 18.000 miles after the first delivery to the lessee/purchaser. If the vehicle is not registered under the vehicle code, it will not be covered by the California Lemon Law.
In order to be able to protect your right under the California Lemon Law, you need to have all records of your claim. All the documentation related to the repairing attempts, notes, invoices, should be kept by the car owner in order to have proper records and history of car repairs.
At The Law Office of Hovanes Margarian, we can provide free case review explaining all points of The Tanner Consumer Protection Act. We are intended to present to our potential clients how we can go through the case from the start till the end. And if the case doesn’t have any chances, we tell about it as well so that our clients can be fully aware of their case. We highly value not the number of our clients but the opportunity to take their case to the winning end. This is our strategy and working style. We beat for every case and every client. Thus, you can refer to our CA Lemon Lawyer at 818.990.0418 or visit our law office in California.