Long Beach Lemon Law

Civil cases for Long Beach residents are filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse at 275 Magnolia Avenue in Long Beach handles many South Bay civil cases, while unlimited civil matters may also be filed at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse downtown at 111 N. Hill Street. Venue is proper where the contract was signed, where the vehicle was delivered, or where the manufacturer does business in the county. Long Beach buyers nearly always have venue in LA County, and the choice of courthouse is largely procedural.

Yes, when it produces recurring electrical, corrosion, or sensor faults that the manufacturer cannot fix in a reasonable number of attempts. Cal. Civ. Code 1793.22(b) defines the Tanner Act presumption around repeated repair attempts for the same nonconformity, not around the cause of that nonconformity. A coastal Long Beach vehicle with recurring ABS sensor faults from corroded connectors qualifies just as much as an inland vehicle with electronic faults from another cause. The defect simply needs to recur after a reasonable opportunity to repair.

Often yes. Song-Beverly covers motor vehicles up to 10,000 pounds GVWR purchased primarily for personal, family, or household use, and also covers small-business buyers with five or fewer vehicles registered. Most light-duty Ford F-150, Ram 1500, Chevrolet Silverado 1500, and Toyota Tundra trucks qualify. Heavy-duty diesels sometimes fall outside Song-Beverly depending on GVWR but remain protected under Magnuson-Moss federal warranty law. Repeated DPF regen failures, DEF system warnings, and turbo issues from harbor-area duty cycles are common warranty defects.

Yes when sold with a written warranty. Cal. Civ. Code 1795.5 extends Song-Beverly repair-or-replace duties to used motor vehicles sold by a distributor or retailer with a written warranty, which includes most certified pre-owned vehicles from manufacturer-authorized dealers in the Long Beach Auto Mall, Cerritos, and Signal Hill. Used vehicles still within the original factory warranty are also protected against the manufacturer. A vehicle sold strictly 'as is' from a buy-here-pay-here lot generally is not covered under Song-Beverly, though fraud and Magnuson-Moss claims may still apply.

Yes. Cal. Civ. Code 1791(g) defines 'buyer' to include a lessee under a retail lease of consumer goods. Long Beach lease customers can recover all monthly payments made, capitalized cost reduction and drive-off cash, official fees, and the manufacturer's payoff of the residual to the lessor. The mileage use offset under Cal. Civ. Code 1793.2(d)(2)(C) still applies. Captive lenders such as Toyota Financial Services, Honda Financial Services, and BMW FS are aligned with the manufacturer for settlement purposes, allowing the lease to be terminated cleanly as part of a buyback.

California's general statute of limitations for Song-Beverly breach-of-warranty actions is four years under Cal. Com. Code 2725, generally running from the manufacturer's breach (failed repair) rather than from delivery. AB 1755 (effective 2025) added an outer-limit deadline: actions must be filed within one year after express warranty expiration and no later than six years from original delivery. For Long Beach owners in years 4-5 of ownership, this combination of deadlines can control. Consult counsel as soon as defects recur to avoid losing the claim.

No. Cal. Civ. Code 1794(d) requires the manufacturer to pay the prevailing consumer's reasonable attorneys' fees, costs, and expenses on a Song-Beverly claim. Long Beach lemon-law firms uniformly work on contingency, meaning you pay nothing up front and the firm collects its fees directly from the manufacturer at settlement or judgment. Your refund, replacement vehicle, or civil penalty stays with you. The fee-shifting provision is one of the strongest features of California lemon law and is the practical reason most contested cases settle before trial.