California Lemon Law Blog

General Electric Co. announced Monday, May 5th that it will stop offering loans for the purchase of boats and motor homes. The move is linked to a downward trend in the economy that began with diminishing home values, higher gas prices, and an overall lack of consumer confidence in the economy.

The lender, which currently has a $3.6-billion dollar loan portfolio, told boat and RV dealers that it would cease taking applications by July and underwriting new loans on August 1st.

“We just really looked at a lot of different alternatives and are facing a challenging environment and ultimately came to the decision that we needed to invest our resources and capital in areas where we could see good return,” Williams said.

The decision is a blow to the already hard hit recreational products sector. Makers of boats and motor homes have had a rough year as rising gas prices, a tough housing market and fears of a U.S. recession caused many consumers to scrap plans to buy big-ticket recreational items.

Continue reading "GE To Stop Financing Motor Home Purchases" »

Posted by Howard D. Silver | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: RV's & Motor Homes

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One of the best ways to avoid the headaches and grief that come with purchasing a defective used or defective certified pre-owned vehicle is to thoroughly inspect the car BEFORE you drive it off the lot. Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, Ken Bensinger recently wrote an article entitled “10 ways to spot trouble” that helps guide the reader with 10 easy things to look for when buying a used or certified pre-owned vehicle.

The tips themselves came from Carey Caldwell, purchasing manager for used-car chain CarMax. Armed with these guidelines, the average used car consumer might be able to sniff out potential used and certified pre-owned car problems before driving the car off the lot. The tips address cars that have suffered severe water damage, significant body work, and finally issues with the operation of the motor vehicle on the road.

Water Damage

Cars that have been submerged in water or have at some point been water logged are notorious for having problems of all sorts. How do you identify these autos after they’ve been dried out? The article suggests doing things like sitting in the car with the windows rolled up and smelling for mildew or musty odors. Finding signs of water damage like silt, water lines, and rust on the bolts that hold the seats to the floor and seat belts is a sure-fire giveaway that the car was at one point or another, water logged.

Continue reading "Spot Issues With Your Car BEFORE You Purchase It!" »

Posted by Howard D. Silver | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles

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In an example of the type of protection California’s laws attempt to provide consumers from unfair and deceptive business practices, a Santa Cruz County Superior Court judge ruled that U-Haul engaged in “unlawful and fraudulent business practices” when they advised agents to book reservations of trucks and trailers without knowing if it will have the equipment available when and where customers need it.

In his class action ruling, Judge Stevens declined to award monetary damages to U-Haul customers but ordered the rental giant to stop promoting “confirmed reservations” for one way moves in California. U-Haul agents have long been instructed to accept every reservation – a policy known to employees as “just say yes”, and although the company almost always supplies the equipment (98% of the time according to U-Haul representatives), the customer may face long waits or have to travel long distances to pick up the rentals.

Continue reading "U-Haul Loses Class Action Suit, Accused of ‘Fraudulent Business Practices’" »

Posted by Howard D. Silver | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Unfair/ Deceptive Business Practices

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A recent article in the Los Angeles Times by Ken Bensinger discusses the fairly recent popularity of “certified pre-owned” vehicles that are in the used car sales market and whether these cars are any more or less likely to end up being certified used car lemons.

In 2007, 1.6 million of these certified pre owned vehicles were sold in the United States. The majority of these automobiles are no more than 6 or 7 years old and have relatively low mileage. Most all of them carry extended warranties and are inspected by dealer mechanics to pass a factory checklist. Any necessary repairs and upgrades are then made. For this reason, the average CPO vehicle costs about $1700 more than a comparable one that isn’t certified.

The extended warranties on these vehicles is the main benefit of purchasing certified pre-owned vehicles. The warranties themselves, however, vary widely depending on the brand of car. BMW, for example, extends coverage to six years or 100,000 miles from the date the car was sold new, while Dodge offers only a three-month or 3,000 mile extension from the date the certified car was purchased.

“At the end of the day, what you’re buying is the warranty,” says Rob Gentile, a California used car fraud specialist at Consumer Reports.

Continue reading "Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles – Do They Insure You Won’t Get a Lemon?" »

Posted by Howard D. Silver | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: California Lemon Law

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A recent article in the Los Angeles Times discusses the California Car Buyer’s Bill of Rights, a law passed in 2006 that lays out rules regarding the purchase of new and used automobiles that can help prevent California Used Car Fraud. Specifically, the article outlines the ‘return option’ as it applies to used cars. Under the car buyer’s bill of rights, consumers have the right to return a used car to the dealer that it was purchased from for a small fee (usually based on the price of the vehicle). For instance, a dealer can charge a maximum of $75 if the price of the car is $5,000 or less. There are loopholes, however, that could get you into hot water when you buy a more expensive used car. For example, did you know that cars that cost over $40,000 need not have a return policy at all?

The article also discusses the California lemon law and how it applies not only to new cars but also used ones. For example, a new vehicle returned to a dealer because it is a lemon can be sold as a used vehicle, but only if the buyer is informed it was bought back under California’s lemon law. These “Lemon law buyback” automobiles must be advertised as such. Notices must be posted on the autos specifying the vehicles problems and the work completed to resolve them. Additionally, the manufacturer must provide a 1 year warranty for these issues.

Continue reading "Reminder: Know Your Rights Before You Buy" »

Posted by Howard D. Silver | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: California Lemon Law

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