California Lemon Law Lawyer Blog

A crusading Civic hybrid owner in LA won almost $10,000 in her small claims case giving Honda a black eye in the process. The LA Times article recounts the story of Heather Peters taking on Honda in small claims court arguing that her hybrid never got the mileage Honda advertised it would get.

Heather Peters, a former attorney, has received massive publicity on her case (go to www.dontsettlewithHonda.com). The results in the small claims court demonstrate the unfairness of a class action settlement pending before a San Diego County Superior Court judge in which owners who do not opt out will get only $200 in damages.

Ms Peters surely has invested a great deal of time in her case. There is an easier way for 2006 to 2008 Civic hybrid owners to achieve justice! Just hire me or some other knowledgeable lemon law attorney. The IMA battery warranties have not expired on these cars.

I have obtained buybacks from Honda in two cases and have five other cases pending. The law is definitely on the owners' side; owners just need a lemon law attorney to make it work.

Owners must opt out of the settlement by February 16, 2012, or their claims will be barred (assuming the judge approves the settlement).

Today, in a victory for consumers, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that auto makers cannot force consumers into binding arbitration in lemon law cases. The case arose after a federal district judge in Santa Ana held that the car buyer was not entitled to his day in court, but instead had to take his claims to binding arbitration. The judge based his decision on an arbitration clause in the purchase contract. Car dealers typically include arbitration clauses in the fine print on the reverse side of the contract that on their face preclude buyers from suing the dealer. In this case, Porsche, the manufacturer tried to piggy-back on the dealer's arbitration clause.

The buyer was seeking damages due him under the federal Magnuson Moss Warranty Act, a federal lemon law.

On appeal, Porsche argued the arbitration clause was binding on the buyer and that the buyer could not proceed in court with his warranty claims based on the federal MMA. The Court rejected that argument citing a FTC rule published in 1975 interpreting the MMA which rule prohibits car manufacturers from forcing consumers into arbitration schemes in lemon law cases. The FTC recognized that the manufacturers would set up arbitration panels unfavorable to car buyers. The case is Kolev v Euromotors West and Porsche Cars North America, No. 09-55963.

Toyota has extended the factory warranty on automatic transmissions and electronic control modules on about 250,000 model year 2001–3 RAV4s and is offering to reimburse the cost of repairs.

The extended warranty will cover the transmission and the electronic control module for 10 years or 150,000 miles (whichever comes first).

Owners who wishe to be reimbursed should send the repair bill, proof of payment and proof of ownership at the time of the repair to Toyota Motor Sales, Customer Experience Center (WC-10) 19001 South Western Avenue, Torrance, Calif., 90509.

Christopher Jensen has more details in his article on the NY Times Wheels blog.

Tata Motors, a leading auto manufacturer in India, recently came out with an extremely low cost car, the Tata Nano that sells for only $2,500. One Mumbai owner, software engineer Satish Sawant, his wife and 5-year-old son escaped from their silver Tata Nano – which still bore a celebratory garland of marigolds on the front hood – before the tiny car was engulfed by fire.

Not surprisingly, according to Mr Sawant, his wife "doesn't want to buy any car," not even a Mercedes."

Chrysler is having repair problems with its 2007 and 2008 Dodge RAM trucks equipped with the 6.7L Cummins turbo diesel engine. Typically, the check engine light comes on causing the owner to take it in to their dealer for warranty repairs. The dealers often find problems with the engine computer controls, the emissions system, the turbo, and the transmissions.
Dodge has issued technical service bulletins on these models dealing with engine control software issues and excessive turbocharger soot accumulation resulting in emissions problems. KABOB attorneys have arranged a number of repurchases of these model trucks on behalf of owners of these trucks.

One of our clients has a 2006 Honda Civic hybrid that cannot always make it up the hill to her house! Even when she floors the accelerator, the car just stops. Turns out the problem is that when the battery to the electric booster engine on the car is low, the tiny gasoline engine just does not have the power to move the car up the rather steep hill going to her house.

When the car stops, the owner has to back down the hill, drive around for a while to charge up the battery, and then make the run back up the hill. At times, she had to park the car and walk home.

The Honda dealer looked at the car three times, but gave up trying to fix the car because there is no fix.

Channel 7 ABC News consumer reporter Michael Finney took a ride with the owner. Here is his report.

After filing the lawsuit, Honda to refund the owner all her money and take back the car.