Highland Lemon Law

Most Song-Beverly cases brought by Highland residents are filed in the San Bernardino County Superior Court — typically the San Bernardino Justice Center at 247 W. Third Street in San Bernardino for unlimited civil cases over $35,000. Federal Magnuson-Moss claims may be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Riverside. The choice depends on the manufacturer's residency, amount in controversy, and tactical considerations like jury composition and discovery rules. Your attorney will weigh these factors at the time of filing.

Not for your Song-Beverly claim. Under California law, the lemon-law action runs against the vehicle's manufacturer, not the selling dealer. Whether you bought in San Bernardino, Redlands, Loma Linda, or anywhere in the Inland Empire, the same repair-or-replace obligations apply to the OEM. The selling dealer is only a defendant if you're also pleading fraud, misrepresentation, or implied-warranty claims. Keep your purchase contract and every repair order from any dealership that worked on the vehicle.

It can be. Repeated overheating events, coolant leaks, electric cooling-fan failures, and water-pump faults are standard warranty defects, even on vehicles operated under sustained high-grade loads. The manufacturer's express warranty doesn't exclude mountain-grade driving — vehicles are designed to handle their advertised payload and towing ratings. Under the Tanner Act presumption (Cal. Civ. Code 1793.22), four or more repair attempts for the same nonconformity within 18 months or 18,000 miles — or 30+ cumulative out-of-service days — establishes the presumption. Save every repair order.

Yes, persistent DPF (diesel particulate filter) regeneration failures, DEF injector faults, EGR cooler failures, and check-engine limp-mode events on heavy-duty diesel pickups are classic lemon-law defects. These are typically covered under the federal emissions warranty (8 years/80,000 miles for many components) and the manufacturer's bumper-to-bumper warranty. Under Cal. Civ. Code 1793.22, four or more repair attempts — or 30+ cumulative out-of-service days — within 18 months/18,000 miles triggers the Tanner Act presumption. Save every repair order, especially ones referencing TSBs or software flashes.

Yes. Cal. Civ. Code 1791(g) expressly defines 'buyer' to include lessees under retail leases of consumer goods, and Tanner Act remedies apply to leases of new motor vehicles, including full-size pickups under 10,000 pounds GVWR. If you qualify for a repurchase, the manufacturer must terminate the lease, refund your capitalized cost reduction, monthly payments, registration and license fees, and pay off the residual to the leasing company. Leased pickups used for business may also qualify if the lessee has five or fewer vehicles registered.

Most California lemon-law attorneys take Song-Beverly cases on a contingency or fee-shifting basis at no out-of-pocket cost to the client. Cal. Civ. Code 1794(d) requires the manufacturer to pay the prevailing consumer's reasonable attorneys' fees and costs in addition to the consumer's recovery, so your refund or replacement isn't reduced by legal fees. Most attorneys decline cases unless they believe a repurchase, replacement, or cash settlement is likely. Get a written engagement letter that spells out fees, costs, and what happens if the case settles short of expectations.

California's Song-Beverly breach-of-warranty action runs four years from the date of breach under Cal. Com. Code 2725, with the clock typically starting when the manufacturer fails to repair within a reasonable number of attempts. AB 1755 (effective 2025) added an outer-limit deadline: new claims must be filed within one year after express warranty expiration and no later than six years from original delivery. Don't wait — once your warranty expires you have a hard one-year window. Talk to a lemon-law attorney as soon as your dealer has failed to fix the same problem multiple times.