We Handle Every Type
of Vehicle

What Is California's Lemon Law?

California's Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, the state's Lemon Law, protects you when a vehicle you bought or leased has a substantial defect the manufacturer can't fix after a reasonable number of repair attempts. The defect has to meaningfully affect the vehicle's use, value, or safety; it doesn't have to leave you stranded to qualify.

The law generally presumes a vehicle is a lemon after four or more repair attempts for the same issue, two or more attempts for a serious safety defect, or 30+ cumulative days out of service for warranty repairs. Best of all, when your claim succeeds, the manufacturer pays your attorney fees, so working with us costs you nothing out of pocket.

Your Remedies Under the California Lemon Law

If your vehicle qualifies, you choose the remedy that fits your situation.

Coverage and Next Steps

Most new and used vehicles still under a manufacturer's warranty are covered, cars, trucks, SUVs, motorcycles, RVs, and boats. Vehicles bought from a private party without any remaining manufacturer warranty, or those damaged by owner abuse or unauthorized modifications, generally fall outside the law's protection. If you're unsure, a quick case review will tell you where you stand.

While your case is pending, keep driving as little or as much as you need, and hold onto every repair order, invoice, and piece of correspondence with the dealer. That documentation is the backbone of a strong claim. Reach out for a free consultation and we'll take over communication with the manufacturer from there.

Defects That Commonly Make a Vehicle a Lemon

A defect doesn't have to strand you on the shoulder to qualify. Under the Song-Beverly Act, it just has to substantially impair the vehicle's use, value, or safety and resist a reasonable number of repair attempts. The problems we see most often vary by what you drive:

• Cars and SUVs: transmission slipping or hard shifting, engine stalling, electrical and infotainment failures, brakes that won't hold, persistent check-engine warnings.
• Trucks: drivetrain and differential problems, diesel emissions-system faults, towing-related powertrain failures, suspension and steering defects.
• Electric vehicles: battery packs that lose range or won't charge, drive-motor failures, and software bugs that disable driver-assist features or brick the touchscreen.
• Motorcycles: engine and fuel-delivery defects, electrical gremlins, and brake or frame issues that put the rider at risk.
• RVs and motorhomes: chassis and drivetrain defects, slide-out mechanisms that jam, leaks, and house-system electrical failures tied to the manufacturer's warranty.

The presumption that a vehicle is a lemon usually kicks in after four repair attempts for the same defect, two attempts for a serious safety problem like failing brakes, or 30 cumulative days in the shop for warranty work. Hit any of those marks and it's worth a call. If you're close but not certain you've crossed the line, talk to us anyway, the count often includes attempts owners forget about.

We Handle All Types of Lemon Law Cases

Plenty of vehicles qualify as lemons under California law, and a lot of owners never find out because they assume their situation doesn't count. Don't make that assumption. If you write off your claim before talking to a lawyer, you could walk away from thousands of dollars you're owed, or the chance to hand the vehicle back to the manufacturer and stop the endless trips to the service bay. Across cars, trucks, SUVs, EVs, motorcycles, and RVs, we've recovered for clients who were told their vehicle didn't qualify.

Business Vehicles Can Qualify Too

A vehicle you bought for work isn't automatically excluded. The Song-Beverly Act extends to business-use vehicles when three conditions are met:

• The vehicle has a gross weight under 10,000 pounds.
• It's used primarily for business purposes.
• It's registered to a company that has five or fewer vehicles to its name.

Manufacturers lean on this rule to push back. They'll argue that because the truck or van is titled to a business, it's outside the law, and that's flat wrong when those three boxes are checked. We've seen automakers deny perfectly valid commercial claims hoping the owner won't push. An attorney who knows this corner of the statute can document the business use, prove the five-vehicle threshold, and shut that argument down.

Private Sellers, Used Cars, and the Rodriguez Ruling

A private seller, say, the person who sold you a car off a classified listing, has no obligation to give you a warranty, so you generally can't bring a lemon law claim against them directly. That's not the end of the road, though. The original manufacturer's warranty may still be in force if the resale didn't void it, and other consumer-protection remedies can apply. Before you give up on a vehicle bought from an individual, have an attorney look at what coverage actually transferred with the sale.

Used vehicles purchased from a licensed dealer follow different rules after the 2024 Rodriguez v. FCA decision from the California Supreme Court. A used vehicle sold with only the balance of a factory warranty generally no longer qualifies for a buyback or replacement under the lemon law. A certified pre-owned vehicle sold with its own new warranty can still qualify, and even when a full refund or replacement is off the table, used-car owners can often recover money damages and attorney fees. We review used-car claims to see which remedies actually apply to your purchase. A free case review is the fastest way to find out where your purchase falls.

What to Do While Your Case Is Pending

Keep making your payments. We know that stings when the car is sitting in the shop and the manufacturer is dragging its feet, but stopping is the single fastest way to damage your own position. Skip payments and the lender can repossess the vehicle, and the missed payments land on your credit report. A repossession or a string of delinquencies can block you from financing a replacement that isn't a lemon, so paying for a car you can't drive, frustrating as it is, protects both your claim and your credit.

Hold onto everything else, too. Save every repair order, invoice, and email or letter from the dealer. That paper trail is what proves the number of repair attempts and the days out of service, the facts a lemon claim turns on. Once you're a client, we take over contact with the manufacturer, so you can stop arguing with the service department and let us carry the fight.

California Lemon Law Attorneys Who Fight Back

Searching "lemon law attorney near me" turns up a long list. What sets The Lemon Pros apart is decades of holding manufacturers accountable and a record of squeezing every dollar our clients are owed. We represent drivers up and down the state, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, Riverside, and Sherman Oaks, plus every community in between.

Because the manufacturer pays your attorney fees when you win, our representation costs you nothing out of pocket. Tell us about your vehicle, we'll assess the merits of your case, and if it qualifies, we go after the full recovery, buyback, replacement, or cash settlement. Read more about how California's Lemon Law works or check our FAQ for the questions clients ask most.