Required Documentation for a Lemon Law Case

In California, lemon law protects consumers who own or lease vehicles, motorcycles, and other types of motor vehicles. Essentially, lemon law protects consumers when their vehicle is faulty or defective, resulting in any effects that negatively impact the vehicle’s safety, use, or value. This means consumers are entitled to either a refund of the original payment (minus use costs) or a vehicle replacement after having to take their vehicle in for issues or defects an unreasonable amount of times. However, the process of filing a lemon law claim and proving that you gave your manufacturer a reasonable amount of time or repair attempts before filing your claim is one of the biggest challenges associated with this process. At California Lemon Attorney’s, we are skilled in assisting clients gather the proper documentation to build a strong case for their lemon law claim. If you’re beginning to think about filing a lemon law claim

#Type 1

Documentation: Dealership Repair Orders

Repair Invoices

The repair invoice is similar to the repair order because it describes all the repairs necessary along with all the problems you complained about. However, a repair invoice also includes everything the dealer did to try and repair the issue. Everytime you drop off and pick up your vehicle from your dealership after a repair, you must make sure to save your repair orders and repair invoices to provide evidence of an unreasonable amount of repair attempts.

Repair Orders

Every time you drop your vehicle off at your dealership for repairs, the dealership prints out what’s called a repair order. This print out describes the vehicle that you bring in for repair in addition to what issues the vehicle experiences and it’s current mileage. You should make sure that you describe in detail all the problems that you’ve noticed with your vehicle. Then, this printout acts as a paper trail proving all the defects with your vehicle and your repair attempts. Similarly, when you pick up your vehicle from the dealership after repair, you should be presented with a repair invoice.

#Type 2

Documentation: Official Sale Documentation

#Type 3

Documentation: Warranty Information

The warranty information (often in a booklet) provided to you by your manufacturer is incredibly important because it highlights all the warranties that cover your vehicle. Every warranty is different in terms of what is covered and how long the validity period is, so this information is vital to proving that your vehicle was under warranty when it required repairs. Additionally, the warranty booklet helps prove that the repairs that your vehicle needed were covered under your warranty.

Additional Documentation

The documentation types mentioned above are arguably the most important to include in your lemon law claim, but including supplemental documentation like the evidence listed below only serves to strengthen your case. Other supplemental documentation that is helpful to include with your lemon law claim includes:

Vehicle registration
Maintenance history
Other expenses accumulated due to defaults with your vehicle (towing costs, uber/lyft expenses, etc).
A timeline of your repair attempts (including the time spent at the dealership)
Accident history

If You Need Assistance Gathering Documentation for Your Lemon Law Claim, Speak With an Attorney Today.

At California Lemon Attorneys, we are experienced in gathering the proper documentation and providing a clear timeline of repair history to help build strong cases for our clients. Finding all the correct documents for a lemon law case can be time consuming and confusing, so let us help you avoid additional stress by taking on some of the burden. If you are hoping to gather documentation for your lemon law claim and need assistance, please give us a call at 310-922-1199 or email us at Info@calemonattorneys.com for a free consultation.