The Song Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, Civil Code § 1790 et seq is the California lemon law. There are two general prongs under Song Beverly: (1) new motor vehicles; and (2) consumer goods. A new motor vehicle is your car, truck, and SUV. (See, Civil Code § 1793.22(e)(2).) A consumer good is everything else that is not a new motor vehicle that was sold with a warranty. (Civil Code § 1791(a).)
In other words, a consumer good ranges from your microwave, oven, water heater, motorcycle, personal watercraft, and all the up to your diesel pusher motor home.
Manufacturers of new motor vehicles have a statutory duty to act “promptly.” (Civil Code § 1793.2(d)(2).) Manufacturers of consumer goods do not; however, they have the option of offering a replacement product as a viable option to resolve a lemon law claim. (Civil Code § 1793.2(d)(1).) However, the chassis portion of a motor home is a “new motor vehicle.” (See, Foreman v National RV, (1995) 34 Cal.App.4th 1072.) These differences are enough for most lemon law lawyers to focus exclusively on new motor vehicles and avoid consumer good lemon law claims aka motorhomes, 5th wheels, toy haulers, and travel trailers.
Lippert Components Inc (LCI) is the largest supplier of components for recreational vehicles. These include leveling jack systems, slide out mechanisms, entry steps, 5th wheel chassis, water heaters, inverters & converters, and a host of other products which are frequently the focus of a lemon law claim. Here’s the catch. LCI claims that it does not provide a warranty to consumers, but only to the manufacturer. The manufacturer claims that its warranty does not cover components that are covered by the warranty of a component part manufacturer.
The RV Auto Legal Team has successfully sued Lippert in several actions to help our clients get relief from their defective motor home and trailer. We know how to navigate through the different warranties and nuances of the law to get relief for our clients.
We can also handle your case involving a motorcycle, personal watercraft or boat. These are subject to the same consumer good prong of the Song Beverly Act.
