California Lemon Law for New Cars

California’s Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act gives new vehicle buyers some of the strongest protections in the country. If a new car has a defect covered by the manufacturer’s warranty that substantially impairs its use, value or safety, and the manufacturer cannot repair it after a reasonable number of attempts, you may be entitled to a refund or a replacement vehicle.

The law applies to vehicles bought or leased in California for personal, family or household use, and to many vehicles used in business as well.

What Makes a New Car a Lemon

Three elements generally have to line up:

1. A defect covered by the warranty. The problem must be covered by the manufacturer’s written warranty, not caused by abuse, accident or unauthorised modification.
2. Substantial impairment. The defect must meaningfully affect the vehicle’s use, value or safety. A persistent rattle is annoying; brakes that intermittently fail are substantial.
3. A reasonable number of repair attempts. The manufacturer must have been given a fair opportunity to fix it and failed.

What counts as “reasonable” is fact-specific, which is where the statutory presumption below becomes useful.

The Lemon Law Presumption

California provides a presumption that helps consumers prove a claim. It generally applies when, within the first 18 months or 18,000 miles, any of the following occurred:

• The same defect was subject to repair four or more times; or
• A defect likely to cause death or serious injury was subject to repair two or more times; or
• The vehicle was out of service for repair for more than 30 days in total.

This is the most widely misunderstood part of the law. The presumption is a shortcut that makes a claim easier to prove — it is not a deadline and not a requirement. Claims outside these numbers still succeed regularly; they simply require proving that the repair attempts were unreasonable on the facts.

Our article on lemon law presumptions covers this in more depth.

What the Manufacturer Owes You

Where a new vehicle qualifies, the manufacturer must generally either repurchase it or replace it, and the choice is usually the buyer’s. A repurchase typically returns:

• Your down payment
• The monthly payments you have made
• The remaining loan balance, paid off directly
• Incidental costs such as towing and rental vehicles
• Your attorney’s fees, paid by the manufacturer

From that total the manufacturer deducts a mileage offset for use before the defect was first reported: the purchase price multiplied by those miles, divided by 120,000. Only the mileage before your first repair attempt counts.

Estimate yours with the lemon law buyback calculator.

Keep Your Paperwork

Lemon law claims are won on documents. The records that matter most are:

• Every repair order, including ones where the dealer reported “no problem found”
• Your purchase or lease contract
• The warranty booklet
• Dates the vehicle was in the shop and any loaner paperwork
• Written communication with the dealer or manufacturer

A repair visit that produced no repair is still evidence of a repair attempt. Ask for the order even when nothing was done.

Why Choose The Hashemi Law Firm

• No fee to get started — every case begins with a free, no-obligation evaluation.
• Often no fee to you — in lemon law cases the manufacturer typically pays your attorney’s fees, and injury cases are handled on contingency.
• Direct attorney access — you work with Babak Hashemi personally, not a call center.
• Two California offices, statewide service — Orange County (Foothill Ranch and Costa Mesa), representing clients across the state.