Walnut Creek Lemon Law

Song-Beverly Act cases are filed in the California Superior Court. Walnut Creek residents file in the Superior Court of California, County of Contra Costa, with civil unlimited cases typically assigned to the A.F. Bray Courthouse at 1020 Ward Street in Martinez. Some Walnut Creek civil matters may also be heard at the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse complex. Venue is also proper in any California county where the manufacturer does business or where the vehicle was purchased, which for major automakers gives you choice among Contra Costa, Alameda, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties.

Yes. Song-Beverly applies to all new motor vehicles sold or leased in California with a written manufacturer's warranty, including EVs. The Tanner Act presumption under Cal. Civ. Code 1793.22(b) applies the same four-repair-attempt or 30-day standards regardless of powertrain. Common EV defect categories - HV battery thermal management, charging port and onboard charger failures, drive unit replacements, autopilot and driver-assist faults, infotainment touchscreen failures - all qualify as nonconformities when they recur despite repair attempts. Tesla's direct service model does not change your Song-Beverly rights.

It can be. Manufacturers commonly distinguish between normal degradation (typically a few percent per year) and abnormal range loss caused by a defect in the HV pack, BMS, or thermal management system. Repeated dealer or service visits for range loss, charging speed limitations, or pack warning messages that the manufacturer cannot resolve through software updates or component replacement can satisfy Cal. Civ. Code 1793.22(b)'s four-attempt or 30-day thresholds. Save service records, mobile-service visit logs, and charging session data, because EV manufacturers often try to characterize defects as normal degradation.

Yes. Cal. Civ. Code 1791(g) defines 'buyer' to include a lessee under a retail lease of consumer goods. For a qualifying lemon, the remedy generally includes termination of the lease, refund of monthly payments and the capitalized cost reduction, payment of official fees, and the manufacturer's payoff of the residual value to the leasing company. The use offset under Cal. Civ. Code 1793.2(d)(2)(C) still applies based on miles driven before the first repair attempt for the nonconformity. Lease structure does not reduce the consumer's substantive Song-Beverly rights.

Under Cal. Civ. Code 1793.2(d), you are entitled to either a replacement vehicle or a refund of the full price including taxes, license, registration, and finance charges, minus a use offset calculated as (price x miles before first repair) / 120,000. If the manufacturer's failure to comply was willful, Cal. Civ. Code 1794(c) authorizes a civil penalty up to two times actual damages on top of the refund. The prevailing consumer also recovers attorney's fees and costs under Cal. Civ. Code 1794(d), which is why most consumer-side lemon law firms work on contingency.

Yes, when sold with a written warranty. Cal. Civ. Code 1795.5 extends Song-Beverly's repair-or-replace duty to used vehicles sold by a California distributor or retailer that issues a written warranty, including certified pre-owned vehicles and dealer-issued limited warranties. Used vehicles still inside the original manufacturer's express warranty period remain covered against the manufacturer. As-is sales without any written warranty fall outside Song-Beverly, but California's implied warranty of merchantability may still apply for a limited period.

There is no fixed timeline, but Contra Costa Superior Court civil cases typically schedule trial 12 to 18 months after filing. Many Song-Beverly cases resolve earlier through manufacturer-side repurchase offers, mediation, or formal settlement once discovery is exchanged. AB 1755 (effective 2025) added new procedural deadlines for vehicle restitution, which has pushed some manufacturers - particularly EV makers facing systemic defect claims - to make earlier offers. Cases that proceed to trial obviously take longer, and any appeal extends the timeline further.