California Lemon Law Blog

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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