The last few months have been quite eventful for California Lemon Law advocates and consumers alike. The downward trend in sales, bailouts and bankruptcy proceedings were contributing factors. The June sales figures are in and while the news isn’t good, there are signs that the market is beginning to stabilize. Of the automakers with a major presence in the U.S., Ford showed the best results with sales dropping only 10.7% compared to last June and reporting a gain in market share. Overall, the drop in sales reported by all manufacturers was 27.7% - almost exactly the same as Toyota. General Motors and Honda were worse than average at 33 and 30 percent respectively. The big loser was Chrysler whose sales plummeted a whopping 42 percent.

Most analysts figured that the GM and Chrysler bankruptcies would hurt their sales and it appears that the experts were right. Ford, on the other hand, seems to have won a lot of consumer confidence by refusing government bailouts and remaining self-sufficient.

Chrysler fared much worse than GM, at least on a one-month basis and a good question is why the difference? There is probably not a single answer. One reason might be in how the two manufacturers have dealt with warranty matters (i.e. demands for buybacks under the California lemon law and other state lemon laws) while under bankruptcy court protection. Early in the process, GM got court approval to continue to honor warranty claims as it always had. Chrysler, on the other hand, created a lot of ill will and bad publicity by bouncing settlement checks. It has tried to use the bankruptcy to change the terms of settlements previously agreed to. Did the public conclude that Chrysler was using the bankruptcy to hide from its responsibilities? Hard to tell for sure, but one thing is certain. Your rights to warranty protection are an essential part of car ownership. When these are threatened, you should request legal assistance and consider taking your future business elsewhere.

Congress has just passed a bill that would give consumers cash vouchers between $3,500 and $4,500 in exchange for trading in their existing gas guzzlers for newer, more fuel-efficient vehicles. The bill does not specifically mention your rights under the California lemon law or federal lemon laws, but your protection as a consumer is something you should always consider when buying a new car. You never know if it will turn out to be a fuel efficient lemon car.

The idea behind the gas guzzlers law, which President Obama is expected to sign, is a simple one. Cars with poor gas mileage will be gotten off the road while at the same time stimulating flagging car sales. There is a lot of skepticism as to whether the idea will work and critics in Congress scaled back the duration of the program from a year to four months.

The government has put up a web site where you can learn if you qualify. The Car Allowance Rebate System can be found at www.cars.gov. Should you decide to take advantage of the program you should fully check out the warranty protection of your new car to see if it will meet your needs and to determine what protection you will have if the car is defective.

Remember: just because a car is a fuel-sipper doesn’t mean it can’t be a lemon car. The California lemon law and federal lemon laws don’t take fuel economy into consideration.

California lemon law requires consumers to give the manufacturer a reasonable opportunity to repair the defect(s).The paperwork the dealership gives consumers with each repair is an important legal document for a lemon law case. Consumers should resist the temptation to toss what often seems like a confusing jumble of abbreviations, auto mechanic jargon and undefined computer codes into the recycle bin. If a car turns out to be a lemon, these repair orders will be vital evidence in getting a buyback- a warranty refund.

There are three cardinal rules that every consumer should follow

1. Take your car to the dealership for repairs when it first starts to give trouble or if the defect is still not fixed after repair. Sometimes people with busy lives prefer to limp along with a defective car, figuring that they’ll take it up when they next bring the car in for service. This can be a big mistake. Why? When manufacturers buy a car back, California lemon law allows them to deduct an amount from the refund proportional to the mileage on the car at the time it was first presented for repair of the major defect. In other words, every mile you drive the car after it starts acting up could cost you money. If you make follow-up visits promptly, it will be easier for your attorney to prove that you were diligent in trying to get your problems addressed.

2. Always give the service writer a complete description of your car’s problems to the best of your knowledge and make sure that he writes down exactly what you say. Lemon laws generally require that a manufacturer be given a “reasonable number of opportunities” to repair the defect. Without repair orders that say exactly what the problem is, it is hard to prove that the manufacturer’s authorized dealers were given the required chances to fix the problem.

3. Always remember to get a repair order and keep it in a safe place for as long as you own the car. Dealerships may try to avoid giving them out. If you have already been in for the same problem several times you might hear, “you already know we can’t fix it (or we don’t think there’s a problem) and so we didn’t do any work. So, we don’t have to give you a repair order.” This creates a problem. They can’t repair your car but they won’t give you the document you need to prove it. If polite persistence doesn’t work, you can write them a letter stating the date and time you presented the car with a statement of the defect you brought it in for. If relations have deteriorated to this point, it is probably already time to consult a lemon law attorney.

The California Bureau of Automotive Repair publishes a guide called “Write it Right” which is also available on their web site (www.bar.ca.gov/). It states exactly what needs to be written on a repair order in California.

Hopefully, technicians will be able to fix the problems with your car somewhere during the repair process and you will wind up with the car you paid for. But if not, you may need to seek a warranty refund. Following the three cardinal rules of repair orders will give you vital documentation you need when requesting a buyback in a lemon law case.

Auto sales began a serious slide in the spring of 2008 and by the fall, several manufacturers were down as much as 30% from the prior year. What if anything will this mean to the consumers in their future lemon law claim?

A hint of what may become the prevailing attitude amongst manufacturers happened during the recent Chrysler bankruptcy proceedings. It appeared as though all outstanding lemon law claims and the bouncing checks were going to be swept up and discharged in the bankruptcy leaving many lemon owners out in the cold. There was a public uproar carried by various consumer groups speaking on behalf of those who had purchased a lemon, went through the process and were poised for their refund. The media was such that it gave Chrysler a black eye, and in what appeared to a PR effort to secure a future with the buying public the “New Chrysler” switched its course and decided to honor the outstanding lemon law claims.

Just prior to GM’s recent bankruptcy filing I was informed by someone in a position to know that GM did not want to make the same mistake Chrysler did by giving the appearance that it didn’t give a hoot about it’s buying public or those stuck with a lemon. I took this to mean GM is already looking to the future with a message they will stand behind their product, which includes honoring the lemon law.

Auto manufacturers in this country will survive only if they deliver a high quality product and stellar service. No manufacturer is immune from producing a bad one every now and then. It is the nature of mass production. So when it does happen, manufacturers are smart to stand behind their product and “exchange in abundance” with their public by honoring lemon law claims. Gone should be the days whena  consumer has to fight to get what the manufacturer promised at the time of sale; a vehicle free of defefcts for a given term.