Volkswagen Lemon Law Attorney

Many consumers love Volkswagens because of their German efficiency and precision. Unfortunately, not all Volkswagens live up to the company’s high standards. At Wirtz Law, we’ve had many clients come to us with complaints about Jettas, Golfs, Passats, Beetles, Atlases, Tiguans, and more. If you’ve purchased a Volkswagen that is a lemon, you have rights under California’s lemon law.  

Contact a Volkswagen Lemon Law Attorney in California

When a vehicle qualifies as a lemon, the manufacturer must repurchase the car or give the owner a replacement vehicle, and the consumer gets to select which option they would like (not the manufacturer.) If you’ve purchased a lemon from Volkswagen, you need an experienced attorney on your side. The trial attorneys at Wirtz Law have a proven track record of success representing clients in a wide range of lemon law cases. Contact us today to schedule your free case review and learn more about how we can advocate for you. 

Understanding California’s Lemon Law

California lemon law provides relief for consumers who purchase vehicles that are lemons. Lemons are often vehicles that have manufacturing or workmanship defects that require repeat or multiple repair visits. In that case, California’s lemon law may be able to protect you. Under California’s lemon law, Volkswagen may be required to buy back the vehicle or provide a replacement vehicle when a vehicle is a lemon. 

To benefit from California’s lemon law in a case against Volkswagen, you will need to prove that you’ve provided Volkswagen with a reasonable number of attempts to repair your vehicle. That means you must have presented your vehicle to an authorized repair facility (dealership) more than once. The unrepaired defects in your vehicle must also substantially impair your use, value, or safety. Some common examples of qualifying impairment may include:

• Your vehicle’s issues put you in dangerous situations
• You have brought your vehicle in many times for many different problems
• You feel unsafe in your vehicle because you’ve lost trust in it due to the ongoing problems
• Your vehicle puts you at risk of death or bodily injury
• The issue have caused your vehicle to be out of service for over 30 days since you purchased it
• You’ve had to cancel trips or been unable to drive your vehicle on a pre-planned vacation due to the problems
• Your vehicle isn’t reliable enough to use regularly
• Your vehicle has spent days, weeks, or months on end at the dealership

Does My Volkswagen Qualify As a Lemon?

There’s no easy answer to this question. If you aren’t sure whether your Volkswagen qualifies as a lemon, we recommend discussing your potential case with a lemon law attorney. At Wirtz Law, we will carefully review your records and advise you whether you may have a right to a remedy under California’s lemon law. 

Remember, your Volkswagen doesn’t need to be brand new or have extremely low mileage to be protected under California’s lemon law. To qualify, your Volkswagen needs to have a defect or defects and you must show that your vehicle hasn’t been repaired after multiple attempts to get it fixed, or that it has been at the dealership for many days in a row. Defects need to substantially impair the vehicle’s use, value, and/or safety, and there are many different ways a vehicle’s problems may meet this standard. 

In some cases, a defect will affect a vehicle’s use by preventing the owner from driving it as intended. The vehicle’s value may be diminished because of the defect, meaning the owner won’t be able to sell it for the price it would usually bring if the defect wasn’t there. Finally, safety defects put the driver, passenger, or other drivers on the road in danger.

Common Lemon Law Defects

There are many different types of manufacturing defects and other problems resulting in a Volkswagen being considered a lemon under California’s lemon law. Recently, millions of Takata airbags have been recalled due to a deadly defect that has resulted in hundreds of injuries and nearly 30 deaths. Many Volkswagen vehicles, including over 100,000 2012 to 2014 Volkswagen Beetles, were affected.

Additionally, many 2015 through 2019 Volkswagen models came with Automatic Emergency Braking and Front Assist. These programs use sensors to detect possible hazards in front of the vehicle. There have been multiple class-action lawsuits alleging the systems trigger the brakes at random or suddenly become deactivated. Other common lemon law defects include the following:

• Fuel leaks
• Seat belt defects
• Steering column defects
• Stalling 
• Tire problems 
• Door locks that don’t work
• Faulty check engine lights
• Poor acceleration
• Air conditioning that doesn’t work
• The battery dies regularly

How Long Do I Have to File a Claim?

California’s statute of limitation for lemon law claims is four years. The statute generally begins to run at the expiration of your express warranty; however, manufacturer attorneys can be tricky and seek to toss out cases by claiming your statute of limitations started to run from when you first thought the vehicle could be a lemon. That’s why it is important to have a lemon law attorney who is familiar with Volkswagen litigation on your side. 

If you believe that you have leased or purchased a Volkswagen that is a lemon, don’t wait to pursue your rights. We recommend collecting copies of your repair orders and reaching out to an experienced Volkswagen lemon law attorney, like the team at Wirtz Law APC, as soon as possible. 

Schedule Your Free Consultation With a Volkswagen Lemon Law Attorney

If you’ve given your dealership multiple attempts to repair your vehicle but are still having ongoing issues with your Volkswagen, there’s no reason to suffer the stress and financial consequences any longer. Make sure you keep all repair invoices and documents relating to your vehicle, document every call and appointment you’ve made, and prepare yourself for your best chance at success going up against Volkswagen in litigation. If you think your Volkswagen may be a lemon, you may be entitled to a remedy under California’s lemon law. Contact Wirtz Law today to schedule your free case evaluation. 

The lemon law attorneys at Wirtz Law help residents of California with the Volkswagen lemon law claims all throughout California including Los Angeles, San Diego, and Orange County.