California Lemon Law Lawyer Blog

People ask, "What is a typical lemon case?" A look at some of my currently pending lemon law cases may answer that question:

Lee v Tiffin Motor Homes. Plaintiff Michael Lee purchased a new 2009 Tiffin Allegro Bay motor home from Happy Daze RV in Sacramento. It came with a Freightliner chassis. The problem is that the dash air conditioning system stops working after the engine gets hot. The reason it quits is that the air conditioning condenser is mounted too close to the diesel exhaust system. The exhaust heat overpowers the air conditioning unit resulting in hot air from the dash. In the summertime, the motor home gets unbearably hot. Defendants Tiffin and Freightliner are blaming each other for the problem.

Hurney v Chrysler. Keith Hurney purchased a new 2007 1/2 Dodge diesel truck. These model trucks had an emissions system from hell. The system recirculates exhaust back into the engine to clean up the emissions, but all it does is foul the injectors and other parts. The check engine light is on most of the time.

Hashemi v Volkswagen. Sussan Hashemi bought a 2009 VW Jetta from Royal Motors in San Francisco. The car's "DSG" automatic transmission will not hold the car for the time it takes the driver to take her foot off the accelerator and to put it on the brake. The result is that when the car is on a hill, the car rolls back or forward whenever the driver changes pedals. Other VW models with this transmission have what VW calls "hill assist" to hold the cars on hills. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that Ms Hashemi lives and drives in San Francisco which, as everyone knows, has lots of steep hills! The case is pending in the San Francisco Superior Court.

Malik v Nissan. Caroline Malik bought a new 2009 Nissan Titan, which unfortunately came with a defective fuel gauge. The gauge reads 1/4 full when the tank is empty resulting in Ms Malik and her husband having run out of gas. Nissan issued a recall on the gas gauge and the dealer performed the recall, but the problem persisted. After four repair attempts, Ms Malik gave up and retained me to file a lawsuit, which is pending.

Mitzel v Volkswagen. This case involves a 2006 VW Touareg that has defects in the navigation system and electronic systems. The air bag and other warning lights keep coming on in spite of 14 repair attempts and 85 days in the shop at Royal Motors in San Francisco. The case is pending in the San Francisco Superior Court.

Ford has agreed to recall 1998 to 2003 Windstars for rear axle failures. The axles tended to break in half. The recall came after a long and tortuous campaign by The Center for Auto Safety in Washington, D.C. to get Ford to do the right thing. More information is on the Center's website.

Anyone looking at a used car should run a vehicle history report before making the purchase. The two leading sellers are Carfax and AutoCheck. One problem with the reports has been the omission of most prior-accident damage.

AutoCheck has now announced that it includes reports of frame damage announced at auto auctions. That is an important announcement because a car with frame damage may not be safe, may not be driveable and will certainly need expensive repairs. Frame damage is defined as damage to any part of the main structure of the vehicle or any component designed to provide structural integrity. Examples of these components include the frame rails,the A, B and C pillars, windshield and rear window frames and rocker panels.

The great majority of used cars on dealer lots were purchased at dealer-only auto auctions. Sellers at auto auction are generally careful to warn buyers about any frame damage. Otherwise, the buyers have the right to rescind the sales. Therefore, if a car has frame damage, AutoCheck will often have a record of the damage.

Bottom line is that obtaining an AutoCheck report (available at AutoCheck.com) is a good way to avoid buying a frame-damaged vehicle. Reports costs $29.99--$5 less than Carfax reports.