California Lemon Law 101
California Lemon Law is consumer protection legislation that enables individuals to seek compensation from manufacturers, dealerships, and auto lenders for the purchase of vehicles that are defective. These faulty automobiles are commonly referred to as "lemons." The California Lemon Law is supposed to protect consumers from paying for a defective product. In order for the California Lemon Law to apply, however, you will have to comply with the California Lemon Law time limits. Otherwise, you may be unable to pursue a legal claim against the manufacturer of your vehicle even if you are otherwise entitled to a cause of action.
In California, if a new car has a defect in which the manufacturer of the car fails to repair the automobile after a reasonable number of attempts, then the consumer may be able to pursue a claim under the California Lemon Law. A lemon law claim may also be brought if the car is within the warranty period but the consumer only has a used car warranty. The warranty can cover factory defects, poor assembly, or systemic (recurrent) issues. During the warranty period a car may have a combination of both major and minor defects.
Many consumers are not familiar with California’s Lemon Law. They are not aware of its existence until they come to the realization that it applies to their defective vehicles. Even when consumers have heard of it , most are unaware of its time limits and how they can impact the ability to receive full compensation for the purchase of a Lemon. The statute of limitations for a California Lemon Law claim is 4 years. This does not mean that consumers have 4 years from the date of purchase or delivery to pursue a claim. Consumers must comply with the California Lemon Law time limits and give the manufacturer a fair opportunity to repair the defect within the warranty period.
Because consumers often do not recognize the defect during the warranty period, the California Lemon Law time limits can be somewhat confusing. For example, if you discovered the problem after 4000 miles of driving, but you did not report the issue during the warranty period, you may have lost the ability to get the Lemon reimbursed. In other words, if the defect occurred during the warranty period, but you did not report the problem until some time after the warranty, you may be unable to pursue a claim under the California Lemon Law. The best way to avoid this trap is to make notes when you discover any problems with your car, including the date you identify the issue and when you make intermittent complaints about the problem to the manufacturer or dealership. If this information is not available, the court may look to the first time the car was brought in for repairs to determine when you first identified the defect.
Although most consumers are not familiar with California’s Lemon Law, many have benefited from it. It protects consumers from being forced to pay for faulty vehicles and helps them recover damages from the manufacturer. But if you miss the California Lemon Law time limits, your claim for damages may go up in smoke. So if you are considering bringing a Lemon Law claim, be sure to contact an experienced Lemon Law attorney for advice on getting the full compensation you deserve.
The Statute of Limitations
An important aspect of civilian litigation is the statute of limitations. This may sound like legal mumbo jumbo, but every state has a time limit on how long you can wait to file your lawsuit. If you file after this time limit, you will be barred by the statute of limitations. While the statute of limitations does not prevent you from filing your lawsuit (or at least trying to), it does require you to dismiss your lawsuit within a short time frame and go through the process again.
The statute of limitations in California Lemon Law cases is four years. Generally, the time limit begins running when the items is sold or at the time of breach of warranty. For example if you bought a new car yesterday and the engine caught on fire today, you would have four years from today to file suit against the company who sold you the car. Likewise, if you had been driving the car for a year and the engine caught fire, it should still be within the statute of limitations, and you would have four years from the time of the fire to file suit. However, if your engine did not catch fire until after five years from the time of sale, the statute of limitations would have run, and you would be barred from recovery.
Another important thing to know about the statute of limitations in California Lemon Law cases is that in most situations, the statute of limitations for your claim does not run while you are pursuing your rights under the warranty. Basically, the statute of limitations is paused (technically known as "tolling") while you are trying to get the company to make repairs. This stops the clock on the statute of limitations and gives you extra time to get your car ticketed with too many dings and scratches and see if the company can magically fix them. But once you file your lawsuit, the statute of limitations starts running again.
This can be very important because you do not want to miss the statute of limitations. If your statute of limitations does not toll while you are trying to have the company fix the car, you need to know what day the statute of limitations expires. Sometimes the statute of limitations is only 3 years instead of 4. Likewise, sometimes the statute of limitations starts running earlier than you think or later than you think. This is why it is important to have an experienced Lemon Law attorney by your side to counsel you, because in known all ends and outs, and we are not letting a statute of limitations pass without filing suit.
The Major Time Limits You Need to Know
Under the California Lemon Law, a manufacturer has 30 days to correct a defect or condition after receiving notice from the consumer. If the manufacturer is unable to repair the defect to the consumer’s satisfaction after 30 days, a rebuttable presumption arises that the vehicle is a lemon. If the manufacturer does not receive notice of the alleged defect or condition, it will be impossible for it to respond to or attempt to repair the defect. Thus, notice of the defect from the consumer should always be given in a durable form, preferably in writing, although the absence of written notice does not affect an action under the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, California Civil Code Sections 1790 et seq. Notice to the manufacturer should include the year, make and model of the vehicle, a description of the defect and a file number, as well as the contact phone number of the claimant. As with all warranties, any manufacturer warranty should be carefully read to ensure that any required notice is given.
Some Exceptions and Extensions to the Time Period
While compliance with the time limits is vitally important under California Lemon Law, there are a few distinct situations in which exceptions might apply or extensions allowed. First of all, under the California Vehicle Code, if a manufacturer has issued an owner’s notification regarding a recall that may affect the vehicle’s safety, then the time the owner has to file a Lemon Law lawsuit is halted. The time is stated to start again once the owner receives notification that the recall has been completed.
Another situation in which the time limit can be extended and the filing date pushed forward is if the consumer has been misled into filing their Lemon Law lawsuit by an employee at an automaker. Should the consumer find evidence that a particular representative on the car manufacturer’s staff promised a warranty on the defective part, then his/her Lemon Law lawsuit would not have to be filed during the four-year period, and the filing time could be extended. Also, should an owner find that his/her vehicle may be a lemon but it was purchased while the car was used and/or a used car warranty was obtained for a particular vehicle that was later found to be defective, the filing period could be extended since neither the original nor the used car warranties would cover the cost of repair for this particular type of defect.
Perhaps the most confusing situation is if the vehicle has been returned to the manufacturer due to some fault in the car and an agreement is reached giving the owner a credit towards a new vehicle, then the owner has no knowledge of whether the exchanged vehicle (i.e., the new one) is also a lemon. While this might sound complicated, there have been a few cases involving this question brought before the California Supreme Court, and it does not look like the court will make any exceptions to the time limitation in such cases.
Therefore, presuming that you are not involved in any of these above situations, if you suspect that your vehicle is a lemon, you should use the statute of limitations as a guide for how soon action should be taken.
What Happens if you Don’t Follow the Time Limit
A common consequence of waiting too long is that you are unable to file a legal action to recover damages. In California, a manufacturer or dealership typically has a "1323" defense in any legal action if they can prove that they did not receive notice of the problem until after the time limit expired. A 1323 defense means that the manufacturer or dealership is not entitled to pay any damages to the consumer or make any buyback offer. In other words, if a manufacturer can show that you failed to report the problem within the warranty period, no damages are due. This rule is one of the reasons it is so important for consumers to report problems to the manufacturer before the warranty expires.
The other common consequence of waiting too long is that you might be barred from having a neutral party or court decide your claim for a Lemon Law violation under the "Lemon Law Act." The Lemon Law Act is a simplified , consumer-friendly method of seeking damages for Lemon Law violations that costs the consumer nothing, while allowing the mechanic to testify under oath and requiring a decision within 30 days. Under the Lemon Law Act, these hearings are also conducted at the manufacturer’s home office in California (or other forum agreed to by the parties) at the company’s expense.
Filing a case under the Lemon Law Act is considered "arbitration." Arbitration is a way to handle disputes without going to court. The Lemon Law Act allows a consumer to go to an arbitration instead of court, which is much easier and faster than going to court. The manufacturer has the option, however, of forcing the consumer to go to court if the consumer waits too long to contact the manufacturer regarding problems with the vehicle.
What to Do if Your California Lemon Law Claim Gets Complicated
When a consumer begins to suspect that they have purchased a "lemon," there are basic steps that need to be followed. As previously noted, it is important for consumers to realize that keeping accurate records of repairs performed and dealing with the dealership in a reasonable and civil manner is the first step in avoiding delays and defending against the lawsuit. If a consumer or their attorney sends a letter to a vehicle manufacturer outlining what has been going wrong with the vehicle and, if the consumer has been dealing directly with the manufacturer, what repair efforts have already been made, it increases the chances that the issue can be resolved without litigation. If a consumer is already in litigation, they should be monitoring their attorney’s actions to make sure that a complaint against the defendant(s) has been filed within any applicable statute of limitations or time limit. This is another area where keeping accurate records will come in handy as many statutes of limitations are based upon the date of purchase of the defective vehicle. Although a customer may not even know what the defects are, the clock is already running on his or her claims. Any failure to file the appropriate documents in a timely manner could result in the dismissal of a lawsuit by the court, ending all chances for recovery. Once the lawsuit is filed, it is generally up to the court to move the case forward. Handling issues such as discovery and motions can be crucial to the successful outcome of the case. Anyone who has tried to navigate the court system without a lawyer can attest to the frustration and potential pitfalls. In California, defendants will occasionally file motions that may dismiss claims altogether or force a consumer to pay their damages. By understanding the consumer’s rights and steps to protect against such attempts, a consumer can seek to have the lawsuit proceed and obtain a positive result. While these paragraphs may be short and simple, the dictates of the law should not be taken lightly. Every consumer in California who has a defective vehicle is urged to recognize what they need to do and protect their rights.
Getting Help from an Attorney
When dealing with malfunctioning automobiles, consumers may be unsure of all of their legal rights and what steps must be taken to enforce these rights. Most consumers are unfamiliar with the ways in which lemon law cases get resolved and do not have the knowledge to pursue these matters without assistance. Consulting with counsel can certainly offer individuals a better understanding of their options and also lessens the possibility that a deadline may be missed. The Lemon Law Process can be complicated and individuals without allies can miss important dates and deadlines. When you enter into a Lemon Law Agreement, you are reaching a settlement with the manufacturer who, in order to resolve the case, has its attorneys present. This means that they have someone else on their side looking out for their best interests, and you should too. Get a free consultation today by calling us at (800) 400-5050 for California Lemon Law help.
Conclusion & Key Takeaways
The lesson to be learned from this is that the time limits involved in pursuing a claim under the California Lemon Law must be taken seriously. Whether you are requesting repairs, pursuing a final repair attempt, bringing your vehicle in for service when you suspect you have a lemon, or assessing whether you have waited long enough and may be able to pursue a lemon law claim against your manufacturer, you need to understand that time does not stop . The minutes, hours, and days that pass as you worry about your vehicle will most certainly pass as you try to protect your needs per the CA Lemon Law; the only question is whether you have done what you need to do to avail yourself of those rights.