Hesperia, CA asked in Lemon Law for California

Q: Am in a middle of lawsuit for my lemon and the car got stolen a now in impound can my lawyer help me get my lemon law

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2 Lawyer Answers
James L. Arrasmith
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A: Under California law, your situation with the stolen vehicle being impounded can complicate your lemon law claim, but it does not necessarily prevent you from pursuing it. The key issue in a lemon law case is whether the vehicle has had repeated issues that substantially impair its use, value, or safety, and whether those issues were not adequately repaired within a reasonable number of attempts by the manufacturer.

Your lawyer can help you navigate the additional complexities that the theft and impoundment add to your case. They might need to address the impact of the car's current status on your claim and potentially work to secure its release from impoundment.

However, your lemon law rights should still be intact, depending on the details of the original issues with the vehicle. It's important to communicate all developments to your lawyer, so they can adjust their strategy accordingly.

A: THIS is a different question. There is a case, Martinez v. Kia from around 2010 that came out which your lawyer should know about if s/he is any good. In the case Ms. Martinez was so fed up over her lemon car she parked it outside of the dealership and threw the keys over a locked fence. Kia repossessed the vehicle and sold it for a loss at auction. Then KIA sued Ms. Martinez for the remaining balance and she defended by using the CA lemon law. The court ruled that no car was

required to get the remedy. These days, as they try to weaken the lemon law, you may not get the same result and I make sure that all of my clients are in agreement to give the car back in a win. Hopefully, they recover your car and this all becomes moot. Good luck with it.

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