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Who and What is Covered Under California Lemon Law?
The Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act of California, more commonly known as California Lemon Law, is primarily known for providing consumer protections to those who purchase motor vehicles for personal, household, or family purposes. However, that does not mean that that’s all that California lemon law protects. Certain commercial vehicles may also fall under California lemon law protections.
Are Commercial Vehicles Protected by California’s Lemon Laws?
There is a common misconception that California lemon law only provides protections to consumers who purchase motor vehicles exclusively for personal use. That is not the case. While California lemon law does not provide protections to giant corporations and big businesses, small businesses can absolutely take advantage of the benefits of California’s fairly robust lemon law protections.
However, certain requirements must be met, and the fleet of business vehicles must not exceed a certain size.
Business owners are allowed to register five or fewer commercial motor vehicles in California and still receive the state’s lemon law protections. That means that if you have no more than five commercial vehicles in your business fleet and one of those vehicles turns out to be a lemon, you can file a California lemon law case the same as any other personal consumer would. If you have more than five business vehicles, or your vehicles exceed the lemon law weight limits, then you may not qualify for California lemon law cases.
Is There a Weight Limit for California Lemon Law?
There is a weight limit for California lemon law cases. This weight limit refers to the vehicle’s weight, not its weight rating.
The vehicle’s gross vehicle weight (GVW) is the actual weight of the vehicle. The weight limit is 10,000 lbs. for California lemon law considerations. This 10,000 LB weight limit is high enough to cover practically all cars, most SUVs, and several makes and models of trucks. It may not be high enough to cover semi-trucks and other big rigs.
Small business owners who use commercial vehicles for their businesses likely have qualifying vehicles under the 10,000-pound weight limit. If your vehicle is under 10,000 pounds and you do not have more than five vehicles registered to your California business, you may be eligible for California lemon law protections.
Does Your Business Vehicle Qualify as a Lemon?
Provided you meet the other requirements set forth by California lemon law for the number of vehicles owned and the gross weight of those vehicles, there are still other requirements that must be met before your vehicle can be considered a lemon.
In order to be officially declared a lemon vehicle, a commercial vehicle must meet the requirements set for all lemon vehicles in the state of California. Namely, the defect must cause serious issues with the car’s safety, use, or value, as well as the car must be under warranty, and the dealership or car manufacturer must have been provided a reasonable number of attempts to repair the defects.
Only certain vehicle defects are eligible for California lemon law protections. The vehicle defect must significantly and negatively impact the use, value, and safety of the motor vehicle. The more severe the issue, the more likely that it is to be considered a lemon vehicle.
The motor vehicle must have been purchased from an authorized auto dealership. This sale must have come with a dealership or factory warranty. If no such warranty exists, your commercial vehicle may not qualify for the lemon law protection. To ensure your vehicle qualifies, please contact our law firm for legal assistance.
Car dealerships and vehicle manufacturers must be provided with a ‘reasonable number’ of attempts to fix the defect. California lemon law defines a reasonable number as four or more attempts if the defect does not pose a threat to bodily injury or death. If, however, the vehicle defect does pose a threat of bodily harm to the driver or their passengers, then only two repair attempts may be required.
Our law firm has extensive experience representing clients in complex lemon law cases. If you are uncertain of whether or not your motor vehicle qualifies as a lemon, whether it was purchased for commercial use or personal use, we would be proud to lend legal guidance as you seek a satisfactory outcome to your case. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us for a free case review today.
Are You Eligible for a Civil Penalty?
If, as a commercial business owner, you attempt to return your lemon vehicle to the auto dealer or manufacturers, they may try all sorts of shady tactics to avoid providing a refund or replacement vehicle. They may argue that lemon law does not apply to commercial vehicles, which is not always the case in point of fact. Or they may suggest that your vehicle’s weight rating is over 10,000 lbs. Both of these are misrepresentations of the facts. Manufacturers make a habit of praying on the ignorance of consumers who don’t know the full extent of California’s lemon law statutes. In certain cases, you and your lemon law lawyers may also be able to recover a civil penalty in addition to the standard recovery of a buyback or replacement vehicle. The civil penalty is equal to up to two times the monetary damages incurred by the car buyer.
Schedule a Free Consultation with Experienced Lemon Law Attorneys Today
Your commercial vehicle may potentially qualify as a lemon if it meets the eligibility requirements and you do not have more than five commercial vehicles of a certain size in your business’s fleet. To ensure that your motor vehicle qualifies as a lemon, it is strongly recommended that you reach out to qualified lemon law attorneys for legal assistance. Ibrahim Law Firm has extensive experience representing clients with complex lemon law cases across the state of California. We would be proud to represent your legal matters as you seek the most optimal outcome for your lemon law case.
To schedule a free case evaluation, please contact our law offices today at 626-600-0890.
