What Are the Limitations of California Lemon Law for RVs?

Is Your Recreational Vehicle or Motorhome Defective?

If you’ve recently purchased a motor vehicle in California and have reason to believe that it may be defective, you could potentially take advantage of California’s fairly robust lemon law protections. If your motor vehicle’s defect cannot be repaired and your car is under manufacturer warranty, you have legal options for recovering a refund or replacement vehicle. Under California lemon law, motor homes and recreational vehicles (RVs) are considered valid vehicles for lemon law consideration. However, not all RV defects are clearly covered by lemon law statutes.

In order for a qualifying defect to render a motorhome or RV a lemon, auto dealers or vehicle manufacturers must be provided with a reasonable number of repair attempts to fix the known defects. If the defects persist despite the many attempts to fix the issues, the motorhome or RV may be considered a lemon vehicle.

If you suspect that your RV is defective, you must first take it to a certified dealer for repairs. Keep detailed records relating to your purchase of the RV, repair orders, warranties, and other important documents approving ownership or lease of the vehicle or expenses that went into treating its defects. Then, if you have not done so already, contact experienced lemon law attorneys to discuss your case in more detail.

Our law firm has years of experience helping clients with complex lemon law cases across the state of California. To discuss our legal services in more detail, please contact our California law office to schedule your free initial consultation today.

What Are Common RV and Motorhome Defects?

Motor homes and RVs have all of the same issues that most other motor vehicles have, plus all extra ones. There are so many more components that go into making an RV, not to mention the size and weight of the vehicles, that there are many opportunities for things to go wrong on the assembly line.

Common defects found in RVs include:

• Slideouts damaging the floor of the living area.
• Defective leveling jacks.
• Excessive battery drain.
• Electrical problems.
• Fluid leaks.
• Generator issues.
• Water intrusion.
• Overheating engines.
• Poor or unreliable acceleration.
• Defective door locks.
• Plumbing problems.
• Break failure.
• Steering issues.
• Defective fuel gauges and speedometers.
• Transmission issues.
• Frame and chassis defects.
• Roof leaks.

Depending on when you purchased the motorhome, whether you still have a good warranty, and whether repairs have failed to fix the defect, your motor home could be considered a lemon.

Under California Lemon Law, that presents you with the opportunity of potentially recovering your original purchase price, a replacement vehicle, and additional compensation. To learn more about your legal options for filing a lemon law case, please contact our law firm to schedule a free case review today.

Does California Lemon Law Cover RVs and Motorhomes?

Almost all types of motor homes and recreational vehicles are covered under California lemon law. However, there are certain limitations.

Not all vehicle defects are covered under California lemon law protections. The defect must substantially affect the safety, value, or use of the vehicle to be considered a valid defect for a lemon law lawsuit. Additionally, California lemon law statutes do not specifically claim to offer consumer protections for defects involving the recreational vehicle’s living area. It could be that the motorhome manufacturers did not offer a warranty that covered living area defects. If the living area was not covered by your warranty, you may not have the ability to file a lemon law claim.

If you own a defective RV, you need professional legal representation from experienced lemon law lawyers. Only by reviewing your case will a lemon law attorney be able to tell you the full extent of your coverage and if you qualify to recover compensation, whether that be via a replacement or the buyback system.

Our legal team is highly skilled at handling complicated lemon law claims, including those involving motor homes and recreational vehicles. We would be proud to represent your legal rights as you seek compensation for your troubles in your lemon law case. Schedule your free case evaluation today by contacting our California law offices.

What Types of RVs Are Covered by California’s Lemon Law?

In many cases, auto dealers and vehicle manufacturers fail to make amends with consumers after selling a defective RV unless professional legal counsel is involved in your case. Dealerships may claim that California lemon law does not protect consumers in cases of defective recreational vehicles. But this is not the case.

Some of the types of RVs that are protected under California lemon law statutes include the following:

• Class A motor homes.
• Class B motor homes.
• Class C motorhomes.
• Fifth-wheel trailers.
• Travel trailers.

What Might Disqualify Your Defective RV from Lemon Law Protections?

Not every type of RV defect is covered by California lemon law. In some cases, your recreational vehicle may be disqualified from lemon law protections.

Lemon law does not apply to the following cases:

• Damage and defects caused by a motor vehicle accident.
• Defects caused by owner neglect, abuse, or poor maintenance.
• Defects in aftermarket parts that were added later.
• Defects that arose upon the repair attempts by the car owner.
• Minor defects.
• Defects that do not negatively impact the overall safety, value, or use of the RV.
• The RV has not undergone a reasonable number of repair attempts to fix the defect.
• You have known or otherwise should have known about the lemon status of your RV for more than four years.
• There is no existing valid warranty.
• The RV is part of a fleet of company vehicles, and the company owns more than five.

Schedule a Free Consultation with Experienced Lemon Law Attorneys Today

Ibrahim Law Firm has extensive experience representing lemon law cases across California. We have a sterling track record of success and take pride in our work as we help clients pursue compensation for their troubles after purchasing a lemon vehicle. If you have a defective RV, you may have a more complex lemon law case than most other cases. But that does not mean that you are without hope of a satisfactory outcome.

Contact our law firm to schedule a free consultation with our highly skilled legal team to discuss your case in more detail. 626-600-0890.