The Provisions within the CA Lemon Law

The CA Lemon Law has been established to safeguard the interest of and compensate a consumer if he buys a defective vehicle from a manufacturer or a dealer. There is nothing worse than ending up buying your dream vehicle that develops serious defects within the warranty period itself. The CA Lemon Law comes in effect if in such an event, the manufacturer or the dealer fails to repair the defects within a ‘reasonable time’. According to the provisions of the CA Lemon Law, the dealer or maker is obliged to replace the faulty vehicle with a new one or compensate you for the total value of the vehicle along with all other expenses incurred during the warranty period.

But even if you know about the provisions of the CA Lemon Law, chances are that you may not know what makes your car eligible to be termed as a ‘lemon’? Unless your vehicle is eligible, you cannot seek legal recourse from the provisions of CA Lemon Law. Here are some basic eligibility criteria for qualifying to take advantage of the CA Lemon Law:

• If the manufacturer or the dealer cannot repair the defect even after four attempts in the event of a normal fault or after two attempts in case the fault relates to a safety aspect of the vehicle.
• The manufacturer or the dealer is incapable of repairing the fault within 30 days.

Only after the car has met with the criteria as mentioned above, it can be termed as ‘lemon’ and the owner of the faulty vehicle can start taking legal action with the help of CA Lemon Law. What kind of defects in the car does the CA Lemon Law include?

They are defects that seriously jeopardize the use, value and safety of the person who owns the car or has taken the car on lease.

Earlier and even now there are a lot of debates over the aspects of reasonable attempts to repair the car as well as the warranty period. As a result the CA Lemon Law has undergone a recent amendment which has cleared the confusion regarding ‘warranty period’ – it is 18 months or 18000 miles, whichever is earlier. Before this amendment was incorporated the warranty period was for 12 months or 12000 miles.

It is important to note that the CA Lemon Law cannot help you if the car has been damaged or abused intentionally or illegally. During the warranty period the manufacturer or the dealer is bound to try his best to repair the fault. In the event of failure, despite such attempts, you can take legal recourse to settle your claim by either opting for replacement or a full refund of the value of the car.