By Lauren C. Martin, Esq.
Hyundai and Kia’s 2.4-liter and turbocharged 2.0-liter Theta II engines are gasoline direct injection (“GDI”) engines that have been the subject of headlines and lawsuits for years. The vehicles equipped with the Theta II engine include the following:
2011-2014 Hyundai...
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Category: Lemon Law

The New-Vehicle Warranties
By Brian T. Murray
Aside from the new car smell, one of the best advantages of purchasing a new vehicle is knowing that your new car will be covered by the manufacturer’s warranty. Yet, consumers don’t often appreciate that their vehicles are covered by multiple, sometimes overlapping warranties.
For the majority of automobile...
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Are Vehicle Service Records Admissible Evidence? Hint: California Requires Dealerships To Keep A Paper Trail.
By Erik K. Schmitt, Esq.
Every time a person brings in a vehicle to a dealership to repair a problem, a service record (or, repair order) should be created to document the problem and any steps taken by the dealership to diagnose and repair it. Not only are these records important to document the history...
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A Brief History of Lemons
By Michael H. Rosenstein, Esq.
California's lemon law, the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Protection Act, was an outgrowth of investigations and public hearings by the California Senate Business and Professions Committee in November 1969. The committee concluded that aside from automobile repairs, the single largest category of consumer complaints was warranty problems. In...
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What Silvio Does and Does Not Say
By Michael H. Rosenstein, Esq.
The court’s seemingly straightforward holding in Silvio v. Ford Motor Co., 109 Cal. App. 4th 1205, 1207 (2003) (“Silvio”) is regularly misconstrued, misquoted, and misinterpreted to stand for things that it simply does not say. Automakers like to stretch, squeeze, and shoehorn
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Is My Car a California Lemon?
While we’ve all had mechanical and electronic devices with defects that have driven us crazy, defects that affect our cars are often the most intrusive. It is never good news to hear that your car will have to be “in the shop” again for an extended period. When...
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Who Can Help My Car Pass the California Lemon Law Test?
As frustrating as it is to have an ongoing problem with your new or newly purchased or leased automobile, it is doubly frustrating to find that—in spite of all your inconvenience and displeasure—you’ve been told your car doesn’t qualify as a “lemon.” Just when you thought that the law was finally on...
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Krotin, Lukather, and the Manufacturers’ Affirmative Duty
By Michael H. Rosenstein, Esq.
The rulings in Krotin v. Porsche Cars North America, Inc. (1995) 38 Cal.App.4th 294, 45 Cal.Rptr.2d 10 (“Krotin”) and Lukather v. General Motors, LLC, (2010) 181 Cal. App. 4th 1041, 1051, 104...
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