According to California’s Lemon Law, a vehicle is considered a “lemon” if sold to another buyer as a used car. In contrast, the manufacturer’s new car guarantee still protects it if it is defective and cannot be remedied after a reasonable number of efforts have been made.
If you believe you have been tricked, you may be entitled to get your money back, swap it for a different one, or purchase it again. The following are some crucial guidelines that may aid you in winning your case based on the lemon law in California, which can be provided to you by any professional California lemon law attorney.
Document Everything
Maintaining thorough records for Lemon Law to work in your favor is critical. They will be your “important witnesses” if your case goes that far. It is critical for a successful Lemon lawsuit to document your communications with the repair shop and the manufacturer and keep all repair documents and correspondence.
Keep track of all the repairs and the length of time your vehicle was out of service for each one. When you visit the dealer for repairs, bring a documented, dated list of issues with you, and retain a copy for yourself.
Instead of “alternator check,” list the issues your automobile is experiencing, such as “a growling sound from beneath the hood” or “an unusual scent.” This makes a record of what problem the dealer investigated, even if they tried to fix the problem by working on other parts.
A dealer may say that they are unable to recreate or locate the intermittent fault that the customer has encountered with their car. It is important and helpful for the customer to keep taking the car back to the dealer for repairs and keep the repair bills as proof that these problems were brought to the manufacturer’s attention.
Conduct Research
Technical Service Bulletins, often known as TSBs, are sent by automakers to dealerships so that their service departments may stay informed about issues or circumstances that have come to the manufacturers’ notice regarding certain cars.
Asking the service representative whether your car has any TSBs that are connected to the issue(s) you currently have with it is beneficial. Ask the service representative to note it on your repair order if there is.
Know Your Rights
When you file a Lemon law claim for your automobile, you can request a refund or a new vehicle. Regardless, you may only be charged a nominal price for the miles you drove before the first repair that qualified you for Lemon law coverage. Check the Lemon legislation in your state to discover how the cost is determined.
If you ask for a refund, it will usually include the sales tax, registration fee, and other taxes you paid when you bought the car, as well as any other costs you had to pay because the car was a Lemon, like towing or rental car fees.
If you wish to replace your vehicle, you should not have to pay sales tax, or any other taxes related to registering the new vehicle. Furthermore, the manufacturer should compensate you for expenditures incurred by having a Lemon automobile, such as towing and rental car charges.
Know Your Responsibilities
You must follow particular time-sensitive procedures to safeguard your rights under the Lemon Law and get what is rightly yours. It is essential to understand the requirements in your state, and if any of these steps are omitted, your legal position might become more problematic.
You may be required to submit a certified letter with a return receipt to your vehicle’s manufacturer and the zone or regional office listed in your owner’s handbook or warranty booklet.
This letter should detail the need for your vehicle’s maintenance and be filed according to your state’s legislation. You need to ensure this notice gets sent out before you bring the Lemon car in for the qualifying repair.
Other consumer duties include making a reasonable number of repair attempts to resolve the issue with the manufacturer. The restrictions vary based on which state’s Lemon law you are subject to.
The fault must occur (and be reported) during the first 12 months or 12,000 miles of ownership, whichever comes first. The sooner you file a Lemon lawsuit, the more likely you are to get what you want.
