Is your car a lemon?

Almost every day we hear of another vehicle recall, but no one really cares unless your car is in the “recall list”.

A recall is a request to return to the manufacturer an entire production run of a certain make and model of vehicle, usually due to the discovery of safety issues. When this happens, car owners  are requested to take their vehicles to the manufacturer’s official repair facilities for investigation and repair if needed.  But the problem is that not all car owners respond to the request. According to Carfax there were more than 2.7 million used vehicles for sale over the Internet in 2011 with safety recalls that were never fixed.

If a manufacturer officially announces a recall for a model line, consumers hardly ever face any problems to get their cars repaired for free, cause that’s an obvious consequence of a recall. But more often car consumers come up with vehicle defects and problems outside of safety recalls and here’s where the real troubles begin. Not every manufacturer will accept its wrong and be willing to buyback your car or replace it with a new one. You need to prove that the car is a lemon and that you are eligible to demand certain compensation under the state lemon law.

In California,  if the manufacturer has performed at least 2 repair attempts or the car has been under repair for at least 30 calendar days within 18 months from delivery of the car or 18,000 miles, whichever occurs first, then the car is quite likely to be legally considered a lemon.

If you think you own a lemon, please call my office, The Law Office of Todd M. Friedman for a free consultation at (877) 449-8898.