How does the "lemon law" work for a consumer?

The "lemon law" permits a consumer to seek replacement or reimbursement of purchase price of a vehicle (or major consumer product) if the manufacturer or dealer cannot repair a defect or defects within a reasonable number of repair attempts. The manufacturer is entitled to an offset for use of a vehicle, but only up until the first time the consumer brings the vehicle back to the manufacturer for the un-repairable defect. Manufacturers often try to negotiate much larger offsets with consumers, but this actually violates the law. The law on offsets under Song-Beverly is as follows: the manufacturer is only entitled to an offset calculated by multiplying the purchase price times a fraction, having its numerator as the number of miles at the time of the consumer’s first repair attempt upon the un-repairable defect, and the denominator being 120,000, a figure chosen by the California legislature as representing the average life of a passenger car. As an example, let’s say that John buys a ... more