California Lemon Law Blog

According to a recent report, a Wisconsin man was awarded $482,000 in damages and legal fees after Mercedes-Benz USA LLC failed to timely provide him with a refund for his defective vehicle. The car in question, a 2005 Mercedes-Benz E 320, was purchased for $56,000. The owner requested a refund from Mercedes after having the vehicle’s defective battery replaced several times and after the dealership informed him that the problem could not be fixed.

The report mentions that Wisconsin has one of the strictest lemon laws in the nation, making it possible for consumers to demand a refund or replacement for their vehicle if it does not run or cannot be fixed. After a consumer files a claim, an auto manufacturer has up to 30 days to reimburse the consumer. Otherwise, the manufacturer is subject to a civil penalty plus legal fees.

In what several lemon law attorneys are calling the largest lemon law judgment they have ever seen for a single car, the judge in this case emphasized a “lack of urgency” on the part of Mercedes for not responding quickly enough to the consumer’s request for a refund. Although the company recognized that the vehicle was defective and agreed to provide a refund, 30 days passed from the date of request without any action having taken place.

Continue reading " Lemon Law Claim Results in Large Award for Consumer " »

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General Motors, Inc. announced recently that it is recalling about 5,000 GMC Savana and Chevrolet Express passenger vans due to safety concerns. The vans were built in February and March of 2009. GM suspects the vans may contain a faulty alternator, which could cause a fire in the vehicles if it is not fixed. GM has also halted production of the vans until it fixes the alternator problem.

About 1,300 of the affected vans were purchased by rental companies; the rest were purchased by private consumers. Until vans can be returned to GM, the company recommends that consumers park the vans outdoors and away from buildings or other vehicles. Owners of the recalled GM vans should also detach both battery cables if possible.

California's Song-Beverly Consumer Protection Act, also known as California's “lemon law,” protects consumers by giving them the right to a full refund or new vehicle if a reasonable number of repair attempts fail to fix a vehicle’s problem. If you have a vehicle problem that has not been fixed after several attempts, you may have a lemon.

Continue reading " GM Recalls Vans for Suspected Alternator Problem " »

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In a previous blog post, we discussed the recent spate of recalls for about 10 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles due to faulty gas pedals. Many of these vehicles with questionable accelerators are still in the process of being examined and reprogrammed by Toyota-trained mechanics. However, this is not the end of Toyota’s problems. A USA Today article reports that Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas has filed a lawsuit against Toyota under the suspicion that the automaker put profits before consumer safety. The District Attorney argued that Toyota knew that their vehicles had problems that could potentially cause unintended acceleration, yet still decided to sell thousands of these faulty vehicles to trusting car buyers.

The article mentions that the suit accuses Toyota of engaging in deceptive business practices in California and presents the question of whether or not the automaker put monetary gain before safety. This poses several questions as to what legal changes should be made to protect consumers and strengthen auto manufacturer design and production protocol. The lawsuit seeks $2,500 per violation under the Unfair Business Practices Act in addition to other costs not specified at the time of the article’s release.

Unfair or deceptive business practices can take on a variety of forms and can directly relate to fraud or misrepresentation. If a consumer feels they have been deceived, intentionally lied to or misled, he or she may want to contact an attorney with experience handing deceptive business practices. In addition, consumers who have taken their Toyota vehicle in to be fixed time and time again may have rights under the California lemon law. For more information, please call Toyota recall lemon law attorney Howard D. Silver at 866-49-LEMON to schedule a free consultation.

Source article: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2010/03/county-da-files-deceptive-practices-suit-against-toyota/1

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Vehicle owners in California and throughout the United States are well aware of the models included in the recent series of Toyota car recalls. An LA Times article reports that over 600,000 Toyota vehicles have been repaired and returned to their owners, including a daily rate of over 50,000 accelerator pedals fixes. It has been reported that alleged problems such as accelerator pedals sticking and steering wheel malfunction have affected a growing number of Toyota and Lexus vehicle occupants and owners. In fact, worldwide, 10 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles were recalled to be examined and reprogrammed by Toyota-trained mechanics.

While consumers faced temporarily losing their transportation at Toyota’s expense, the demand for rental vehicles has greatly increased. This has created a separate dilemma for car rental companies who could not distribute Toyota and Lexus models that were listed in the recall. In fact, popular franchise Enterprise Rent-A-Car tallied a record amount of internet reservations for all of its 5,000 neighborhood locations.

Continue reading " Recalled Toyota Vehicle Repairs Increase Rental Demand " »

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California is now one of 31 states to offer the public online access to used car history reports after consumers rallied for DMV report procedures to be more consumer-friendly. In fact, according to a national report from the LA Times website, California residents desiring to purchase a used vehicle can now check the history of the vehicle online for a small fee of $4; a charge significantly less than other car information firms.

The new arrangement, run by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators for the Justice Department, will allow residents to purchase a detailed outline of a used car’s background, including information from insurance companies, auto-body shops, junkyards, and other sources that reveal if a car was stolen or if the odometer was modified. Prior to the new setup, the DMV had an agreement with an outside source, R. I. Polk & Co., who maintained an extensive car history database. However, that agreement gave Polk the right to sell information to the public at its own discretion.

A consumer group, Consumer Action, says the new DMV data reporting system, 18 years in the making, will help shoppers to be more careful when considering a used car and avoid poorly maintained and unsafe vehicles. To have your vehicle assessed, check out http://www.vehiclehistory.gov.

Continue reading " California DMV Makes it Easier for Consumers to Access Used Car History " »

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Posted In: Buying a Used Car , California Lemon Law , Law & Information , Used Car Fraud

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