Santa Rosa Lemon Law

Santa Rosa lemon law cases are filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Sonoma. Civil unlimited matters are heard at the Sonoma County Hall of Justice at 3055 Cleveland Avenue, Santa Rosa, the county's main civil filing location. Under California venue rules for Song-Beverly cases, suit may also be filed in any county where the manufacturer does business — that often means San Francisco, Alameda, or Los Angeles — so your attorney can choose the most efficient forum based on judicial assignment and witness convenience.

Smoke damage itself is generally not a manufacturing 'nonconformity,' but the manufacturer's failure to repair a smoke-saturated cabin under warranty can be. If your dealer cannot eliminate post-fire smoke odor after multiple cabin-filter replacements, HVAC evaporator cleanings, and headliner work, and the smell substantially impairs the use or value of the vehicle, Song-Beverly's repair-or-replace duty may apply. Save every repair order, photograph any service-tech notes about evaporator cleaning, and avoid letting the dealer characterize the smell as 'customer damage' if the vehicle was never in a structure fire.

Yes, if it was sold or leased new with a written manufacturer's express warranty. Subarus, like all new vehicles sold in California with a written warranty, fall squarely within Cal. Civ. Code 1790-1795.8. The same applies to certified pre-owned Subarus sold with a CPO warranty under Cal. Civ. Code 1795.5. The Tanner Act presumption (Cal. Civ. Code 1793.22) gives you a four-attempt / 30-day / 18-month / 18,000-mile yardstick, though you can still prove 'reasonable attempts' outside those numbers.

Only if the vehicle itself has a defect. A Public Safety Power Shutoff disables your home charger, not the car. However, if the EV's 12V system fails repeatedly during sit-time, the high-voltage contactor fails to engage when grid power returns, or DC fast-charging throttles or errors out at a public charger, those are vehicle-side defects that Song-Beverly covers if the dealer cannot repair them within a reasonable number of attempts. Document every charging failure with photographs of the dashboard error and any third-party charger's session log.

Cal. Civ. Code 1794(c) and (e) authorize a civil penalty of up to two times actual damages where the manufacturer's failure to comply with Song-Beverly was 'willful.' California appellate courts have found willfulness where the manufacturer ignored its own technical service bulletins, refused a clear refund demand, or had a pattern of denying buyback requests on the same defect. Combined with actual damages, the maximum exposure is effectively three times actual damages, which strongly motivates settlement.

Under Cal. Civ. Code 1793.2(d)(2)(C), the manufacturer may reduce the refund by a use offset calculated as (purchase price x miles driven before first delivery to dealer for repair of the nonconformity) / 120,000. So if you paid $42,000 and brought the car in for the first repair at 6,000 miles, the offset is roughly $2,100. The offset is fixed at first-repair mileage; additional miles driven after that point do not increase it, so consumers do not lose money by continuing to use the vehicle.

Usually not unless you go to trial. The vast majority of Santa Rosa Song-Beverly cases settle within three to nine months of filing. When court appearances are required for case management conferences or status conferences, Sonoma County Superior Court permits remote appearances under California Rule of Court 3.672. Depositions are typically held at your attorney's office or by Zoom. Only if a case proceeds to trial would you appear at the Hall of Justice on Cleveland Avenue.