State lemon law
California Lemon Law
When a new vehicle keeps failing, California law can require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. These are the numbers the statute actually sets.
4
Repair attempts
2
If it is a safety defect
30
Days out of service
18
Months covered
18,000
Miles covered
What counts as a lemon in California
Meeting any one of these raises a presumption that the manufacturer has had a reasonable number of attempts. The repairs have to fall inside 18 months or 18,000 miles from delivery, whichever comes first.
- The same defect has been subject to repair four or more times, and the buyer has at least once notified the manufacturer directly.
- The defect is likely to cause death or serious bodily injury if the vehicle is driven, and it has been subject to repair two or more times.
- The vehicle has been out of service for warranty repair for a cumulative total of more than 30 calendar days since delivery.
Failing all of these does not end a claim. The presumption is a shortcut through the evidence, not the whole of the law, and a vehicle that misses it can still be a lemon on ordinary warranty grounds. It does mean the owner has to prove what the presumption would have assumed.
Which vehicles the law reaches
New vehicles bought or leased in California for personal, family or household use, and business vehicles under 10,000 pounds where the business has no more than five registered vehicles. Dealer-owned demonstrators are included.
What you have to send the manufacturer
The four-attempt test requires that the buyer notified the manufacturer directly at least once, where the manufacturer disclosed that requirement clearly in the warranty or owner's manual. Since 2025, a buyer suing a manufacturer that has elected into the new procedure must also send a pre-suit notice at least 30 days before filing, giving their name, the VIN and a summary of the repair history (Code Civ. Proc. § 871.24).
Keep every repair order. The dates a vehicle went in and came out are what the whole test is counted from, and they are the one part of the record the owner controls.
What you get
Replacement with a substantially identical vehicle, or restitution of the price paid including taxes and fees, at the buyer's election. The manufacturer deducts for use before the first repair attempt on a fixed formula: the price multiplied by the miles driven before that repair, divided by 120,000.
The deadline
For manufacturers that have elected into the 2025 procedure, an action must be commenced within one year after the express warranty expires and never later than six years after delivery, with time tolled while the vehicle is out of service and for up to 60 days after the pre-suit notice (Code Civ. Proc. § 871.21). Whether a particular manufacturer has elected in is not something this page can tell you.
Where it is decided
California certifies manufacturers' own arbitration programs rather than running one. Where a manufacturer participates in a certified program and told the buyer about it, the buyer must use it before relying on the presumption.
Worth knowing
- California changed the procedure in 2025. AB 1755 added Code of Civil Procedure §§ 871.20 to 871.29, which apply only to manufacturers that elect into them, and which shorten the deadline and add a 30-day pre-suit notice.
- The presumption is a shortcut, not the whole law: a vehicle that fails it can still be a lemon under the Song-Beverly Act on ordinary warranty grounds.
How California compares
20 states ask for fewer repair attempts than California's 4, and 29 others ask for the same 4. 7 states count fewer days out of service. 8 states stop counting at fewer than 18,000 miles.
Before you file: what is already on record
A lemon law claim is about your car. What other owners have reported about the same year, make and model is separate, and it is public: it can tell you whether the failure is a known pattern, whether NHTSA is investigating it, and whether a recall already covers the repair you have been paying for.
Under investigation 2010 Ford Fusion 2012 Ford Focus 2011 Hyundai Sonata 2013 Ford F-150 2010 Toyota Prius 2011 Ford Fusion
Where this comes from
Read from Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1793.2, 1793.22 and from California Department of Consumer Affairs, Arbitration Certification Program, checked on 2026-08-20. Nothing on this page is copied from another summary, and there are a great many of them that disagree with the statutes they describe.
- Cal. Civ. Code § 1793.22 (the presumption)
- Cal. Civ. Code § 1793.2 (replacement or restitution)
- Code Civ. Proc. § 871.21 (the deadline)
- Code Civ. Proc. § 871.24 (pre-suit notice)
- California Department of Consumer Affairs, Arbitration Certification Program
This is not legal advice. It is a reading of a public statute, written by somebody who is not a lawyer and does not know your car, your paperwork or your state's case law. A lemon law claim turns on facts this page cannot see. Take the statute and your repair orders to California Department of Consumer Affairs, Arbitration Certification Program, or to a lawyer in California.
Compiled and maintained by guarledes . Data last checked 2026-08-20.
Independent developer and analyst