Anaheim Lemon Law Attorneys

An Anaheim case is generally filed in Orange County Superior Court. Civil filings often go to the North Justice Center at 1275 N Berkeley Avenue in Fullerton or the Central Justice Center at 700 Civic Center Drive West in Santa Ana, depending on docket assignment. The Civil Complex Center at 751 West Santa Ana Boulevard handles certain unlimited civil and complex litigation. We handle filing and almost all court appearances on your behalf; clients usually only attend if the case goes to deposition or trial. The vehicle inspection, document discovery, and any mediation usually happen at the manufacturer's election in either Orange County or Los Angeles.

Five repair attempts for the same defect is well past the threshold California courts treat as a 'reasonable number' of attempts under Civil Code section 1793.2(d). The Song-Beverly Act also creates a legal presumption in your favor if four or more attempts for the same nonconformity, or 30+ cumulative days out of service, occur within the first 18 months or 18,000 miles. Tesla service visits often get documented as a single 'invoice' covering many days, so what looks like one visit can actually be multiple repair attempts on paper. We pull the full service history through Tesla, count attempts and out-of-service days, and look for whether Tesla replaced major components like the HV battery or drive unit, which strengthen the case.

CVT shudder, hesitation, and transmission slip are some of the most common Song-Beverly claims we see from Anaheim and Inland Empire commuters. The legal question isn't whether the defect started under highway conditions, but whether the vehicle conforms to the manufacturer's express warranty. If the dealer has attempted repairs and the shudder persists, you may have a claim. Common repair attempts include CVT fluid flush, valve body replacement, software updates, and ultimately full CVT assembly replacement. Each visit, even a 'no problem found' visit where you described the symptom, counts as a repair attempt on the timeline. The 18-month/18,000-mile presumption only applies if four or more same-defect attempts happened in that window, but a claim can still succeed outside the presumption.

California Civil Code section 1793.2(d)(2)(B) sets the formula. The manufacturer must refund the price paid or payable, which includes the down payment, monthly payments made, payoff of the loan balance, registration and license fees, sales tax, and incidental costs like rental cars and towing. From that total, the manufacturer subtracts only the mileage offset: (miles at first repair attempt / 120,000) x purchase price. Importantly, the mileage offset is based on miles at the first repair attempt, not current mileage. So if you bought a $50,000 SUV and first reported a defect at 6,000 miles, the offset is $2,500 even if you've now driven 40,000 miles. The buyback is paid in full at the time the manufacturer takes the vehicle back.

Not usually. The Song-Beverly Act covers new vehicles bought or leased at retail in California for personal, family, or household use, and the statute was expanded to cover vehicles bought primarily for business use where the business has fewer than five vehicles registered in California and the GVW is under 10,000 pounds. Many Anaheim small-business owners, contractors, and gig drivers qualify under that business-use provision. If your truck or van is registered to an LLC with two or three vehicles, you generally still have Song-Beverly coverage. Lease vehicles are covered as well; we handle the same buyback or cash-and-keep negotiations whether you bought or leased.

California Civil Code section 1794(c) allows a consumer to recover a civil penalty of up to two times actual damages if the manufacturer's failure to comply with the Act was 'willful.' Willfulness usually means the manufacturer knew of the defect, knew the vehicle qualified for repurchase or replacement, and refused to act. In practice, internal technical service bulletins, warranty extensions, NHTSA investigations, and arbitration denials all become evidence of willfulness. So a $40,000 vehicle buyback can carry up to an $80,000 additional civil penalty in a strong willfulness case. The exact penalty is determined by the jury or judge at trial; many cases settle before trial with a penalty negotiated as part of the resolution.

Yes, you generally should. Continuing to drive the vehicle preserves your claim. The Song-Beverly Act requires the manufacturer to repurchase the vehicle in the condition you bought it, allowing for normal use and wear. Stopping payments or surrendering the vehicle voluntarily to the lender can complicate or extinguish the claim, because there may no longer be a vehicle to repurchase or a debt to pay off as part of the buyback. We tell clients to keep insurance current, keep making payments, and bring the car in every time the defect recurs because each visit becomes another documented repair attempt. If the defect is unsafe to drive, we work to get the manufacturer to accept return or provide a loaner faster.