San Ramon Lemon Law

Civil cases involving San Ramon residents and vehicles purchased in Contra Costa County are filed in the Contra Costa County Superior Court. Unlimited civil matters, which is where most Song-Beverly lemon law actions land because damages and civil penalties usually exceed $35,000, are filed at the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse at 725 Court Street in Martinez. Manufacturers can also be sued in any California county where they do business, so cases involving large automakers are sometimes filed in Alameda, San Francisco, or Los Angeles depending on strategy. Your attorney will confirm proper venue once retainer is signed and the dealer paperwork is reviewed.

Tesla vehicles purchased or leased new in California with the manufacturer's written warranty are covered by the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, Cal. Civ. Code 1790-1795.8. The Tanner Act presumption applies if a substantial defect arises within 18 months or 18,000 miles, whichever is first, and the defect either has been subjected to four or more repair attempts, two attempts for a serious-safety defect, or the vehicle has been out of service for cumulative 30-plus days. Common Tesla-specific issues San Ramon owners report include drive-unit replacements, suspension knuckle failures, MCU and infotainment freezing, falcon-wing door alignment on the Model X, and HV battery faults.

Each time you bring the vehicle in and the dealer opens a repair order for the same nonconformity, that counts as an attempt under Cal. Civ. Code 1793.22(b), regardless of whether parts are replaced. Diagnostic visits where the dealer says they cannot reproduce the problem still count if there is a documented repair order. Save every repair order and rental receipt, take photos of warning lights and dashboard messages, and ask service advisors to write your verbatim complaint on the RO so the record is preserved. Days the vehicle is held in the shop also contribute to the 30-day out-of-service threshold.

Yes. Cal. Civ. Code 1791(g) defines 'buyer' to include a lessee under a retail consumer lease, and the Tanner Act remedies apply to leases of new motor vehicles. A successful lease lemon claim typically results in termination of the lease, refund of all monthly payments and any capitalized cost reduction, payment of official fees, and the manufacturer paying off the residual to the leasing company so you walk away without further obligation. The use offset under Cal. Civ. Code 1793.2(d)(2)(C) still applies, calculated from miles driven before the first repair visit for the nonconformity.

Cal. Civ. Code 1794(c) authorizes a civil penalty of up to two times actual damages where the manufacturer's failure to comply with Song-Beverly was willful. Combined with actual damages, that is effectively treble exposure. Willfulness in California is typically shown when the manufacturer knew of the defect, knew repair attempts had failed, and refused to repurchase or replace without legitimate basis. Internal technical service bulletins, repeated TSB-based 'fix' attempts that did not resolve the issue, and a history of denying buybacks for the same defect pattern often support a willful-violation claim.

Cal. Civ. Code 1794(d) is a one-way fee-shifting statute: a prevailing consumer in a Song-Beverly action recovers reasonable attorneys' fees, costs, and expenses from the manufacturer. That is why reputable California lemon law attorneys handle qualifying cases on a contingency basis with no out-of-pocket cost to you, and you keep the full settlement or judgment for the vehicle separately from the fee award. If the manufacturer prevails, you do not owe its fees — Song-Beverly's fee shift is one-directional in favor of consumers.

The general statute of limitations for a Song-Beverly breach-of-warranty action is four years from breach under Cal. Com. Code 2725 and Mexia v. Rinker Boat Co., and the clock generally runs from when the manufacturer failed to repair within a reasonable number of attempts. AB 1755, effective January 1, 2025, added an outer deadline for new claims of one year after express warranty expiration and no later than six years from delivery. If you are within the original written warranty period or recently outside of it and your repair history is documented, contact counsel quickly because timing analysis is fact-specific.