California Lemon Law Rights: What you can get back and why to get a lemon lawyer

If you convince the manufacturer to buy back (or repurchase) your vehicle pursuant to the California Lemon Law, there is a specific formula that the manufacturer must follow when it computes the amount of money that they must return to you. We have found consumers without their own lawyer, get far less and have offsets that they should not. Loss to consumer = thousands of dollars. Cost to consumer of a lemon lawyer, should be ZERO! You do the math. It pays to be represented.
According to the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, the manufacturer must refund the following to you:
Down payment
Monthly payments
License and Registration Fees (although these are usually prorated into the monthly payments)
Sales Tax (also usually prorated into the monthly payments)
Rental Car Expenses
Incedental Costs (eg. towing, taxi or other collateral and “out of pocket” costs incurred)
You should note that loss of wages and emotional frustration are not items that you can recoup under the lemon law. A good lawyer, however, may be able to search for other claims where they would be recoverable.
OFFSET DEDUCTION CALCULATION
The manufacturer is allowed to deduct a mileage offset. Here is the formula:
(Cash price of vehicle, look at Line 1A1 of your purchase contract) MULTIPLIED (# of miles when first presented it for repair) DIVIDED by 120,000 miles
For example, if the cash price of your vehicle (from the sales contract) is $30,000, and you first presented the vehicle to an authorized dealership for repair of the main defect at 10,000 miles, then the mileage deduction would be: $2,500.
( $30,000 X 10,000 miles ) / 120,000 miles = $2,500
Be careful to make sure that the manufacturer uses the right mileage for the offset. If they are repurchasing the vehicle because of an engine problem, they must use the mileage of the first time you presented the vehicle to one of their authorized dealerships for repair (for the engine defect).
The manufacturer is also obligated to pay off the remainder of any loan you may have on the vehicle. They will pay off the loan directly to your lending institution. If you paid cash for the vehicle up front and you didn’t get a loan, then the manufacturer will refund the total amount you paid (minus the mileage offset).
Finally, if you hired an attorney, the manufacturer is obligated to pay your attorney’s reasonable fees and costs as well.
Here at the Hanson Law Firm, we emphasize a full review of the purchase to identify more claims than the standard and limited lemon lawyer ever could. Give us a call! It’s free. 858.451.0291