The consumer warranty law in California abides the manufacturer to provide a written manufacturer’s warranty of the new vehicle that was leased or sold during the warranty period.

According the Section 1793.22 of California Civil Code for Lemon Laws, the manufacturer should give a written warranty for the vehicle for the first 18,000 miles or for 18 months of its purchase. The vehicle should be purchased for non-business purpose and could be a new car, truck, van or chassis of motorhome.

The vehicle should be replaced or reimbursed if the manufacturer or the dealer fails to abide the warranty within the reasonable repair attempts. In such scenario, the lessee or the buyer can decide whether he wants a replacement or reimbursement price. The Lemon Laws of California uses a presumption for determining the number of reasonable number of attempts that were associated with the new vehicle. In order to use the California Lemon Law presumption, the lessee or the buyer must fulfill the following criteria –

• The qualifying vehicle should be a new motor vehicle as described in the California Civil Code Section.
• All the issues of the vehicle should be covered in the manufacturer’s warranty.
• The issue should occur during the first 18,000 miles on the odometer or 18 months.
• The crisis with the vehicle must substantially reduce the value, use or the safety.
• The problems should not have been caused by the abuse of the vehicle.

You should notify the problems in writing to the manufacturer if –

• Your vehicle’s issue does not get fix, even after 4 or more repair attempts.
• If you encounter serious bodily injury or death after 2 or more unsuccessful repair attempts.
• If your vehicle is in the repair shop for repairs for more than 30 days, not necessarily consecutive days, when still in warranty.

The manufacturer may attempt to prove that there are no issues with the vehicle, or the number of repair attempts has not been made or the problem does not impair with the vehicle. Hence, consumers should retain the proof of repair and documentation related to lemon law case in California.