Rodriguez v. FCA US, LLC (Apr. 7, 2022, E073766) __ Cal.App.5th __ [2022 WL 1042907]
Plaintiffs sued an auto manufacturer claiming that their pickup truck, which they bought with over 55,000 miles on it from a used car dealership, was a “lemon” with unfixable defects. They argued that they were entitled to enhanced statutory remedies under the “lemon law” (Song-Beverly Act), including the right to demand that the manufacturer repurchase the truck after many years of use for a full refund of the purchase price. The trial court granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment, finding that the truck was not a “new motor vehicle” under the Act’s definition of that term. Plaintiffs were thus not entitled to the refund-or-replace remedy applicable only to new motor vehicles. Plaintiffs appealed.
The Court of Appeal affirmed. While the Act’s definition of “new motor vehicle” includes dealer-owned vehicles, demonstrators, and other essentially new “motor vehicle[s] sold with a manufacturer’s new car warranty” that may have seen some usage before being sold for the first time to a consumer, the definition was not reasonably subject to a construction that included any used car that came with the remainder of the original owner’s warranty. The court found support for its analysis in the Act’s legislative history. While used car buyers are not entitled to the refund-or-replace remedy, they still have legal recourse against the manufacturer under the California Uniform Commercial Code for breach of express warranty to repair defects.
Horvitz & Levy is counsel for defendant-respondent FCA US, LLC.
