California Lemon Law

By Author: Ibrahim Machiwala
Total Articles: 463
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Lemon laws are made by United States state laws to help car consumers whose cars repeatedly fail to meet certain standards of quality and performance. The position of such cars is called lemons. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act or federal lemon law protects every one of all states and they vary by state. Lemon law may not cover used or leased cars. The Lemon law rights managed to consumers may go beyond the warranties expressed in purchase contracts. Lemon law is just a common nickname for these laws buy every state have their own different names for such laws and acts.

In California, anything mechanical is covered by lemon laws as well as the federal lemon laws. The federal lemon law provides that the warranter may be obligated to pay attorney fees if he is involved in a lemon law suit.

Used car purchases:
If anyone purchased a used car then there are two situations where he is qualified for cash or other lemon law benefits:

Situation #1: One may be entitled to compensation for breach of warranty if he had one of the following Warranties:

a) Any warranty left from the manufacturer when you purchased ...
... your vehicle (for example, almost all vehicles sold with less than 36,000 miles will have this. But if the warranty is longer, you may have even more time).
b) The vehicle was "Certified" by the Manufacturer (in which case it came with a short Manufacturer's Warranty, typically 1 year).
c) He purchased an Extended Warranty backed by the Manufacturer (typically 5 years or longer).

Normally, these types of cases fall outside the scope of the state lemon law but are covered under special federal lemon laws.

Situation #2: When No Manufacturer's Warranty Exists. If he does not have a manufacturer's warranty of any kind he may be entitled to compensation for violations of consumer protection laws that fall outside of the lemon laws. The following is a list of some of the problems and/or issues which may be present in your vehicle. Your vehicle may be/have a:

Laundered Lemon;
Previously salvaged or wrecked;
Fraudulently rolled back odometer;
Rental car, police car, taxi, etc.;
Stolen, stripped and rebuilt; and/or
Involved in a flood.

Since Lemon Laws vary from state to state so accurate information on the scope and restrictions of Lemon Laws in a particular state can be obtained from an attorney practicing in that state.

"As is" purchases:
If a person knowingly purchase a car in "as is" condition then he accepts the defects and void his rights under the lemon law.

Other lemon laws:
Lemon laws are not limited to cars. There are RV lemon laws, boat lemon laws, motorcycle, wheelchair and computer lemon laws.

If you have a defective Motorcycle, Motor Home, used car, leased car, or a car used for business purposes and your State Lemon Law does not cover these vehicles, you still have other recourses such as the Uniform Commercial Code and the Federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (providing you were given a written warranty).