Requirements Of The Auto Lemon Law

The Lemon Law is a California state law that protects consumers who purchase defective vehicles.

There are certain qualifications that must be fulfilled for a vehicle to be consider a "lemon" according to the California Lemon Law:

* The vehicle must be under warranty;

* The type of defects and repairs must qualify under the lemon law; and

* The manufacturer, through its agents (dealers and other authorized repair facilities) must have been given two repair attempts for a safety issue and four for a defect that impairs the use or resale value of the vehicle. According to California Lemon Laws, a vehicle's warranty period that a vehicle can be considered a "lemon" under is the first 18,000 miles of 18 months, whichever is first. The definition of the word "attempt" is another important consideration in regards to the automobile Lemon Law.

According to the auto Lemon Law, if a person takes their motor vehicle to the manufacturer for repairs it qualifies as an attempt, even if the manufacturer refuses to do the repairs, all the repair attempts must be documented though, so it is important to demand repair receipts or service request orders. There are exceptions to California Lemon Laws, such as when a person buys a vehicle "as-is." This must be stated in a written contract according to the automobile Lemon Law, though, to indicate that the buyer knew the product was defective and still bought it.

This is known as the "caveat emptor," which literally translates as "buyer beware." This portion of the auto Lemon Law states that any vehicle that is defective cannot qualify as a "lemon" if the buyer knows about any defect before they buy it. The law is there to protect consumers, though, so if the manufacturer cannot definitively prove that a person knew a vehicle was defective, the benefit of the doubt is given to the consumer.

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