Lemon Law Articles & Newsletters

This section of our site includes articles on recent developments, advances in the field of lemon law and recently published articles by Norman Taylor & Associates. As an expert in the field of California Lemon Law, Norman Taylor & Associates is continually compiling useful information to make your lemon law case a success for you.

Index

• LEMON LAW: RIGHTS & DUTIES
• LEMON LAW CASE & MANUFACTURING STATISTICS
• PRESUMTION AND THE LEMON LAW
• CERTIFIED? YES. SATISFIED? NOT ALWAYS
• RV OWNERS ARE FAR TOO PATIENT (AND MANUFACTURERS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT)
• INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL
• WHY ME! WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS!
• RUNNING THE LEMON CAR GAUNTLET
• DO I SHOOT THE MANUFACTURER OR THE DEALER?
• STOP PUTTING OUT FIRES
• VARIATION: THE REAL REASON
• LEMON LAW AND SECRET WARRANTIES
• WHAT HAPPENED TO MERCEDES?
• ARBITRATION AND THE LEMON LAW
• NEGATIVE EQUITY
• COMPLEXITY AND THE LEMON VEHICLE
• THE LEMON MOTOR HOME
• FLAT RATE PAY SYSTEM - NOT GOOD FOR THE MECHANIC, NOT GOOD FOR THE CONSUMER
• LEMON LAUNDERING - THIS LAUNDRY IS STILL DIRTY
• QUALITY AND THE LEMON AUTOMOBILE
• THE UNTRAINED MECHANIC
• THIS LEMON CAR BRAIN IS DAMAGED, SURGERY IS NOT AN OPTION

LEMON LAW: RIGHTS & DUTIES
Author: DONALD P. LADEW STAFF WRITER NORMAN TAYLOR & ASSOCIATES
Date: July 1st, 2008
Excerpt: Who has what rights and what duties in Lemon Law matters? It seems clear. The consumer has the duty to present the vehicle to the manufacturer or its representative, the dealership, in order that they are able to diagnose the defect and repair it.
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LEMON LAW CASE & MANUFACTURING STATISTICS
Author: DONALD P. LADEW STAFF WRITER NORMAN TAYLOR & ASSOCIATES
Date: June 11th, 2008 Excerpt: Statistics are interesting provided they show something startling or prove something your intuition suggested was a fact, but that hadn't been proved.
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PRESUMTION AND THE LEMON LAW
Author: DONALD P. LADEW STAFF WRITER NORMAN TAYLOR & ASSOCIATES
Date: May 25th, 2008
Exerpt: Does your vehicle have to meet the test of presumption to be considered a lemon? No, it doesn't. But there are advantages to the consumer if it does. In lawsuits there is something called, the burden of proof. If the consumer's lemon vehicle doesn't meet the presumption that it is a lemon, the consumer has the burden of proving that the vehicle is a lemon when contending with the manufacturer. Obviously it is a lot more difficult financially for a consumer to prove that the vehicle is a lemon than it is for the manufacturer to dispute the claim.
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CERTIFIED? YES. SATISFIED? NOT ALWAYS.
Author: CHRISTOPHER JENSEN
Date: May 6th, 2007
Excerpt: GETTING halves of two cars was not what Paulette Day expected when she bought a red 2004 Chevrolet Monte Carlo that year from a dealership near Detroit for $22,000. The car was used, but it was a "G.M. certified" car, meaning it had supposedly passed a rigorous inspection by the dealer. As General Motors says in its marketing material, buying a certified car means "the reliability of new and the affordability of used."
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RV OWNERS ARE FAR TOO PATIENT (AND MANUFACTURERS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT)
Author: DONALD P. LADEW STAFF WRITER NORMAN TAYLOR & ASSOCIATES
Date: October 2nd, 2007
Excerpt: Recently I reviewed an RV case. The number of defects was astonishing. This was a Class "A" RV that cost the client over $400,000.00. The list of defects went on page after page.
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INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL
Author: DONALD P. LADEW STAFF WRITER NORMAN TAYLOR & ASSOCIATES
Date: December 1st, 2006
Excerpt: What with the blizzard of buzz words flying around the business world these days, it's easy to lose sight of the basics. Learn the basic simplicity of Intellectual Capital...
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WHY ME! WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS!
Author: DONALD P. LADEW STAFF WRITER NORMAN TAYLOR & ASSOCIATES
Date: December 1st, 2006
Excerpt: I am sorry. I cannot answer for your spiritual condition. If you are in bad graces with God, that is your problem. I really don't know, generally, why it was you and not your neighbor, who may or may not have deserved it more than you. That it would happen to someone, I knew
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RUNNING THE LEMON CAR GAUNTLET
Author: DONALD P. LADEW STAFF WRITER NORMAN TAYLOR & ASSOCIATES
Date: December 1st, 2006
Excerpt: Believe it or not, this is a quote from a Service Manager at a large Automobile Dealership. "If you can't fix their cars, fix their head!" What does it mean? Colloquially it means, grab your wallet and hide the family silver. It means your automobile, motor home, boat or motorcycle has a defect or defects that the dealer or manufacturer cannot or does not want to fix. From this point forward...
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DO I SHOOT THE MANUFACTURER OR THE DEALER?
Author: DONALD P. LADEW STAFF WRITER NORMAN TAYLOR & ASSOCIATES
Date: December 1st, 2006
Excerpt: Anger is unhealthy, very unhealthy: that is physically unhealthy. Anger without a proper target is the worst sort. It's like shooting a rifle at the Pacific Ocean. The ocean is vast and the bullet small. It is as significant a single grain of sand...
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STOP PUTTING OUT FIRES
Author: DONALD P. LADEW STAFF WRITER NORMAN TAYLOR & ASSOCIATES
Date: December 1st, 2006
Excerpt: All right, all right! This is a little harsh, I know. We don't get to shoot the idiots. We are civilized. No, this isn't a diatribe against arsonists, although anyone who's seen a lovely stand of trees burned where one of those criminal types has been at work might agree with the solution. This little essay is about time, your time...
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VARIATION: THE REAL REASON
Author: DONALD P. LADEW STAFF WRITER NORMAN TAYLOR & ASSOCIATES
Date: December 1st, 2006
Excerpt: Variation in art, music and romance is a good thing. In these things one can be extravagant without fear of criticism. Excess variation in manufacturing however, is a bad, bad thing indeed. During the past four years, approximately 60,000,000 new cars were sold in the United States. Conservatively 1% of them are lemons by definition: 5% certainly wouldn't be out of the question...
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LEMON LAW AND SECRET WARRANTIES
Author: DONALD P. LADEW STAFF WRITER NORMAN TAYLOR & ASSOCIATES
Date: December 1st, 2006
Excerpt: One of the defining attitudes of the American character is full exposure. Love it or hate it, very little remains hidden in the US. We don't like secrets at all. Much to the contempt of Europeans, Americans wear their hearts on their sleeves. Because of this we have often been misjudged and thought weak. I could easily write...
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WHAT HAPPENED TO MERCEDES?
Author: Donald P. Ladew
Date: September 21st, 2005
Excerpt: There was a time when German engineering was the envy of the world. It used to be the best. If you wanted precision, and durability, you paid a little extra and you bought a Mercedes. It said to the world, you were someone who made it, or already had it. The Quality of its products justified engineering and production arrogance. Not any more...
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ARBITRATION AND THE LEMON LAW
Author: Donald P. Ladew
Date: January 5th, 2005
Excerpt: If the neighbor's Pekinese decides to scare off bad guys at 2:00AM in the morning, and does this very night, and you can't persuade your neighbor to correct the situation, perhaps mediation or arbitration is the answer... We say this by way of introducing the fact that your long battle against the Fords or Mercedes' of the world isn't at all like getting the neighbor's lap dog to be quiet...
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NEGATIVE EQUITY
Author: Donald P. Ladew
Date: June 20th, 2004
Excerpt: Capitalism has many benefits in a free society. It has inherent benefits to those who are creative and willing to work hard. Nowhere else can such a variety of people from many diverse backgrounds and countries succeed by their own efforts. However...
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COMPLEXITY AND THE LEMON VEHICLE
Author: Donald P. Ladew
Date: June 16th, 2004
Excerpt: Remember when you opened the hood of your car and saw the ground beneath the engine? Now you open the hood and there's not enough room left in there for an underfed mouse.
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THE LEMON MOTOR HOME
Author: Donald P. Ladew
Date: May 15th, 2004
Excerpt: If you have heard that you can't take legal action when you have a lemon Motor Home (RV), disregard it. An motor home manufacturer with quality problems probably...
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FLAT RATE PAY SYSTEM - NOT GOOD FOR THE MECHANIC, NOT GOOD FOR THE CONSUMER
Author: Donald P. Ladew
Date: March 19, 2004
Excerpt: There is a relationship between the auto repair technician Flat Rate pay system and the incidence of Lemon Vehicles. It's not as shaky as one might think. What is Flat Rate Pay System?
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LEMON LAUNDERING - THIS LAUNDRY IS STILL DIRTY
Author: Donald P. Ladew
Date: March 09, 2004
Excerpt: Just because the magician waves his wand and the rabbit disappears, do not be deceived. The rabbit isn't actually gone. Just wait a bit, it will reappear, only perhaps this time it will be pink instead of white. This metaphor is surprisingly apt when describing the laundering of lemon vehicles. ...
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QUALITY AND THE LEMON AUTOMOBILE
Author: Donald P. Ladew
Date: February 07, 2004
Excerpt: In America we salute quantity and pay lip service to quality. When manufacturers want to brag, they cite numbers of units produced, tons of ore mined, miles of cable laid, or millions of books sold....
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THE UNTRAINED MECHANIC
Author: Donald P. Ladew
Date: January 28, 2004
Excerpt: If you have been through the manufacturer-dealership gauntlet with a lemon vehicle, you probably wondered why they didn't simply fix the problem and let you get on with your life....
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THIS LEMON CAR BRAIN IS DAMAGED, SURGERY IS NOT AN OPTION
Author: Donald P. Ladew
Date: December 13, 2004
Excerpt: A recent survey of Lemon vehicle legal cases indicated that a remarkably high percentage had major defects that were directly or indirectly related to one or more of the on-board computers....
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