Meet the Insider… Randy Sottile

I am a consumer – just like you, but I am an “insider”, and you can learn all that I know, so that you can build your own lemon law case!

O.K., so you ended up with a lemon! Not to worry! It’s easier to resolve than you think, when you have the Automobile Lemon Law Insider on your side.

What’s an “insider?” This is a person who has worked in all the environments that have to do with automobiles, automobile dealer warranty repairs, customer satisfaction, and the California lemon law. That would be me. I’m the guy on the left in the red tie (with my dad next to me in the red shirt). I grew up in the automobile dealership business (my dad ran a car dealership his whole professional career), I worked on cars, sold cars, managed automobile dealerships in the L.A. area for 10 years, served automobile dealers with “customer satisfaction index”’ (C.S.I.)  services for 14 years, later operated a lemon law mechanical/technical consulting service to lemon law attorneys for 2 years, and for 9 years as acting Technical and Research Director for the state’s largest lemon law attorney firm. So, yes, I am an “insider”. I have over 35 years “in cars”. No, I’m not an attorney, and I therefore cannot dispense legal advice - only attorneys can do that.

What will you find on this site? INFORMATION. You see, I’m not here to sell you anything. I am here to help you to help yourself.

California Lemon Law and your problematic vehicle

It doesn’t matter if you purchased or leased a new vehicle, you purchased a used vehicle still under the manufacturer’s warranty, or even a “CPO” (Certified Pre-Owned) warranted vehicle – you have rights! What all these vehicles have in common is that they are covered by a manufacturer’s warranty. The California Lemon Law is about warranty repairs.

The California Lemon Law uses the words “substantial impairment”. This is much akin to “really bad” in non-legal terms as to just how bad the problem(s) are with your vehicle. These “really bad” problems must affect the use or safety of the vehicle to the buyer - which is you.

Once a vehicle has been subject to an “unreasonable” number of trips to the dealers service department for the same repeated problem (or can also be too many cumulative days in the service department) for factory warranty repairs, the vehicle owner can start thinking about a California lemon law case & claim.

O.K, it’s time to get the inside information...

Where to Start, Ways to Go, and WHY

You start with documents. Collect up the following documents, putting them in a chronological order:

1. Purchase or Lease agreement

2. Current license registration card

3. All repair order invoices for all warranty work performed on vehicle.

Once you have these together, take copies of them, and keep the originals for safe keeping.

OK, at this juncture, you need to know who you can contact about your potential lemon law claim – and also the potential ramifications and pitfalls.

1.  The automobile manufacturer. They have an 800# and an address in the warranty book. You can call them, and they will give you a “case number”. No, this is not a “lemon law” case number, as you are not bringing a legal action against them. This is a call-in reference number they use to easily find you if you call back again. These are commonly known as “Customer Assistance Centers”, and are staffed by NON-legal personnel. Their goal is to solve your vehicle’s current mechanical/drivability or safety issue(s) through their franchised dealer network. You can also write a letter to them with your vehicle problems/and/or dissatisfaction, or even a letter asking them to buy back your vehicle or replace it. If your vehicle is bad enough that they escalate it to the next management “tier”, a common “settlement” is to offer an extended service contract, or a monthly payment or two back. If the district representative gets involved, they may offer you more, but often far less then what your actual lemon law rights may entitle you to. PITFALLS: If they make you a written offer (the word here is “if”, as verbal offers are just that – talk), you don’t know if it’s correct, or if it follows the California Lemon Law to protect your interests. SUGGESTION: Call a lemon law attorney prior to calling the “Customer Assistance Center” to determine your legal rights and potential entitlement. If you have already requested a buyback, and have received an “offer” letter from the manufacturer, the attorney can review it for compliance both for the monetary damages and legal-language protection for you.
     

2. Arbitration. You can attend an arbitration hearing, which costs you nothing to attend. You can “state your case” and the arbitrator will render a decision that is binding on the automobile manufacturer, but not binding on you. There are 3 possible decisions that can be handed down by the arbitrator:

1. You win. (to protect yourself, consider having a California lemon law attorney review the written buyback or replacement offer).
     

2. You lose (denial). (to protect yourself, you should consider not signing the “Accept or Reject Arbitrators Decision” document until first consulting with a California lemon law attorney.
    

3. Repair Decision. Arguably the most frustrating, and also a very common decision. This is where the arbitrator “awards” another repair attempt at the problem by the manufacturer through it’s franchised dealer. (to protect yourself, consider having a California lemon law attorney review the “repair decision” handed down by the arbitrator before you decide to have the repair performed by the dealer).  PITFALLS: Anything that happens at arbitration, including all documents, videos, decision, etc. can be used by the automobile manufacturer to bolster their position later on if you choose to pursue legal remedy against them. SUGGESTION:  As our California lemon law does not specifically require that you attend arbitration prior pursuing legal remedy, you may wish to contact an experienced lemon law attorney to see if your case merits attending arbitration, or whether you want to take this typically unnecessary step at all.

3. The Selling Dealer. Normally the worst choice, typically yielding the infamous “Dealer Trade Assist” offer. I like to call it the “nightmare scenario”. This is where the dealer often “cloaks” the word “trade-in” buy using sales lines like “we are going to get you out of your lemon vehicle and into a new vehicle”, or similar fast-talk. Don’t fall for this automobile dealer “trick-of-the-trade”, as it’s nothing more than a thinly disguised trade-in of your present vehicle, making you lose all earned equity as this scenario has nothing to do with lemon law. PITFALLS: A consumer, in their quest to “fix” their lemon vehicle problem, falls prey to dealer sales tactics and ends up thinking they made a great decision, when it actually ends up putting them further into the depths of negative equity and a ballooning new loan balance.

O.K, now it’s time to do something about your lemon vehicle, and get it done right... Get all your documents ready, as it’s time to start.

You have been given all the choices on how to proceed – except one. In California, the consumer can hire a lemon law attorney to represent them in a lemon law case against the manufacturer. California’s lemon law allows the attorney to “shift” the attorney’s fees and costs to the automobile manufacturer under California’s statute (law). If you should choose to consider proceeding by legal representation, the website for California’s largest statewide lemon law attorney firm appears below to receive a free lemon law case evaluation and consultation. www.californialemonlawattorneys.com

I invite you to click on the various topics via the button tabs on the left side of this website home page for additional important car owner information. There is even more in-depth information on more specific sub-topics.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER THIS WEBSITE

The California Automobile Lemon Law Insider
1960 Deermont Road
Glendale, California. 91207
Ph: (818) 548-6070

None of the information contained in this website should be construed as legal advice. Legal advice should be sought by contacting a qualified attorney that is an expert in the California Lemon Law. This website does not provide a specific endorsement to the quality or viability of the services of any listed lemon law attorney, nor the potential outcome of any case they may choose represent a client in.  Copyright 2008 The California Automobile Lemon Law Insider No portion of this website, copy or conceptually, may be reproduced In whole, or part, with out the specific permission of The California Automobile Lemon Law Insider.

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