The Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act (also known as the California Lemon Law) provides protection to customers who purchase or lease defective automobiles, motorcycles, and other forms of motor vehicles from the manufacturer. However, if you are unfamiliar with Lemon Laws, it can be quite difficult to grasp what rights you as a consumer are afforded under these statutes. Lemon legislation protects customers when their car is defective or faulty and has any negative impact on the vehicle’s usage, value, and/or safety as a result of the defect or faulty manufacturing. A consumer may frequently demonstrate these negative consequences by establishing a paper trail that demonstrates they had to bring their car into the shop for repair an “unreasonable” number of times during the warranty’s validity term.
If you have acquired or leased a defective car in California, the next best choice is to contact us here at Pacific Coast Lemon Law, Inc. so that you and your passengers may be kept safe every time you get back on the road. When it comes to lemon law claims in California, we at Pacific Coast Lemon Law are committed to providing our clients with the most effective counsel available to secure the best potential conclusion of their case. For those who believe they may have a lemon on their hands, as well as others who are curious in knowing more about California’s lemon law.
How Should an Unreasonable History of Repair Be Established by the Owner of a Lemon?
As a result, because the definition of “unreasonable” is extremely wide and subjective, there really is no rule that pertains to all lemon law situations when it comes to what is deemed a reasonable or unreasonable degree of repair work to be performed on your car. If you opt to contact an expert lemon law attorney, you will be able to explore what constitutes an unreasonable repair history based on your individual circumstances. In general, lemon law attorneys attempt to evaluate an unreasonable repair history objectively based on your individual circumstances by analyzing what an “average” person would judge to be unreasonable in the situation. Typically, this number is in the range of 4 to 6 repairs, however, this may not apply to every lemon law case.
What is There to Gain from Filing a Claim Under Lemon Law?
The Lemon Law in California requires that makers of defective vehicles replace or refund your vehicle if it is found to be defective less an amount referred to as a reasonable usage fee that will depend on the mileage of your car at the beginning of your repairs. As part of the lemon law process, your manufacturer must replace your faulty vehicle with a new car model that is substantially comparable to the vehicle that was determined to be a lemon and for which you filed a lemon law claim. In addition to the possibility of receiving a new car or a refund, there is the possibility of receiving a greater price from the manufacturer in the form of a civil penalty. If you can demonstrate that the manufacturer of your faulty car acted intentionally in breaking the law, you may be able to recover a civil penalty that is up to nearly double the amount of your actual losses.
Even if the repairs to your car were completed at no cost because they were covered by your original warranty, you may still be entitled to the protections provided by California’s lemon law in this situation. This is due to the fact that whether or not your automobile is labeled a lemon is not dependent on the amount of money you spend on repairs. Instead, the eligibility of your car as lemon is based on the fact that it has been fixed an excessive number of times over an extended period of time. Please bear in mind that even if your dealership or manufacturer says that your car has been fixed, you may still be eligible to submit a lemon law claim if your vehicle has not been repaired.
Necessary Documents When Claiming Under Lemon Law in California
One of the most important stages in filing a California lemon law claim is putting together all of the appropriate paperwork and documentation. It is necessary for you to prepare three different sorts of paperwork:
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Bills for repair and repair orders that are from your vehicle’s seller
Both of these repair docs are rather similar, but both are necessary. It is mandatory that you obtain a repair order paper from the seller each time you drop off your car to be fixed with him or her. This document outlines your vehicle, as well as any faults that need to be addressed and the current mileage on the vehicle. This document will serve as evidence of all of the problems that your car is experiencing and that you have sought to resolve. Consequently, it is critical that you explain all of the issues that you have seen with your vehicle in detail so that they may be included in the repair order.
It is a document that is printed when you pick up your car after you have attempted to fix it after you have attempted to repair it yourself. This document details all that the seller of automobiles attempted to do in order to correct the defect or failure. To ensure that you have adequate evidence to support your lemon law claim, you should keep track of all the repair orders and repair costs you get.
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Official Vehicle Sales Documentation
When you purchase or rent a vehicle for the first time, you will be given a sales contract. There is crucial information in this contract, such as the cost of your automobile, the date it was acquired as well as information on refunds and trade-ins. As a result, this contract is extremely significant, as the information included within it has a direct influence on the amount of money you may be eligible to receive as a refund for your damaged car.
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Information on your vehicle’s warranty
Most manufacturers provide warranty information in the form of a pamphlet, which may be downloaded from their website. A copy of this document is required since it contains a detailed description of all the warranties that apply to your car. This pamphlet can assist you in demonstrating that the manufacturer’s warranty covered the repairs that your car required.
