Not long ago a client came to me with an all-too-familiar story – a lemon car story. He had purchased his dream car—a new muscle car with all the style and horsepower he was looking for. But quickly, his dream car turned into a lemon law nightmare.

He began experiencing troubling and repeated issues with the vehicle’s powertrain. He took it to the dealer five times for repair before the car had even logged 22,000 miles! Yet the problem persisted. Realizing this was a serious issue, my client contacted the manufacturer. And as often happens in these situations, he got the runaround from them. That’s when he reached out to me. I was able to successfully arrange a buyback settlement for the muscle car owner which allowed him to get rid of the lemon and receive money to purchase another automobile.

What is a buyback?  

A buyback is one of several settlement options available to owners of lemons in the State of California. This means that the consumer gives the car back to the manufacturer and the manufacturer gives the consumer a monetary refund according to the lemon law refund formula. This can be a desirable settlement for the owner of the lemon because he or she no longer has to deal with the financial and emotional burden of owning a defective car and they get their money back to buy a reliable new vehicle. One downside to a buyback settlement is that the car owner no longer has that dream car they originally wanted.

What happens to the lemon buyback?

Contrary to what you might think, an automobile deemed a lemon is not sold for spare parts or sent to the junkyard. In fact, lemons bought back by the manufacturer are often repaired and resold to the public as “lemon law buybacks.” These vehicles must be registered in the manufacturer’s name prior to resale to the public and the seller must notify the consumer in writing of the nonconformities stated by the original owner. By law, manufacturers and dealers must adhere to several other requirements in order to put these cars back on the market.

Buyback bottom line

My muscle car owner client is now the proud owner of a new dream car. He’s the perfect example of a successful outcome when filing a California Lemon Law complaint. A buyback offer from the manufacturer is often the best settlement to be able to move on from the nightmare and keep moving on the road. The key is to take all the right steps to address the vehicle’s recurring issue and act swiftly before the statute of limitations expires.

Think you have a claim? Get a free, no-obligation case evaluation from Sotera L. Anderson, California Lemon Law Attorney, here or call  1-855-96-LEMON, or (858) 247-0050.

Please note that every case is different and there are no guaranteed outcomes.