Maria bought a new SUV in early 2022. By year two, the transmission was slipping. By year three, she’d been back to the dealership four times for the same problem and still had no fix. She finally decided to pursue a lemon law claim, and that’s when things got complicated.

Her attorney told her something she hadn’t expected: the rules had changed. There was now a written notice she had to send before she could go after certain damages, a deadline she didn’t know about, and depending on who made her car, the entire process would look completely different than it would have just a year earlier.

She wasn’t alone in being caught off guard. When California’s lemon law was overhauled through two pieces of legislation (one signed in late 2024, another in 2025), most car owners had no idea. The changes didn’t come with a press release. They didn’t show up on the sticker at the dealership. They just quietly took effect while consumers kept driving their defective vehicles and assuming the process worked the same way it always had.

If your car has been in and out of the shop with a defect the manufacturer can’t seem to fix, you need to know what changed. The new rules come with new traps, and some of them can cost you damages you’d otherwise be entitled to if you miss a step.

What AB 1755 and SB 26 Actually Changed

California has had one of the strongest lemon laws in the country for decades. The basic premise hasn’t changed: if you buy or lease a new vehicle and the manufacturer can’t fix a defect that substantially affects the car’s safety, use, or value after a reasonable number of repair attempts, you may be entitled to a buyback or a replacement. For a deeper breakdown of how that process works, our California lemon law guide covers the fundamentals.

What has changed is how you pursue that claim, and how much time you have to do it.

AB 1755 was signed into law in September 2024 and rewrote the procedural side of lemon law claims. The stated goal was to reduce court congestion and move cases along faster. In practice, it added steps to a process that was already unfamiliar to most people.

Then came SB 26. Signed in April 2025, it was a follow-up bill meant to clean up ambiguity in AB 1755. The most significant thing SB 26 did was create an opt-in system for manufacturers, meaning the new procedures only apply to automakers that choose to participate. Those that don’t opt in stay on the older rules.

That distinction is where a lot of confusion starts, and the next section explains exactly why it matters.

The Opt-In System: Why the Brand of Your Car Now Matters More Than Ever

Under the SB 26 framework, each manufacturer makes a choice: opt into the new AB 1755 procedures, or stick with the existing process. If they opt in, they’re locked into that decision for five years. The California Department of Consumer Affairs’ Arbitration Certification Program (DCA) maintains and publishes the official list of opted-in manufacturers, updated by December 15 each year.

Most of the major automakers have already opted in. As of the latest published list, that includes brands like Ford, General Motors, Stellantis (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and RAM), Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, Subaru, and Volkswagen, among others.

The tracker below is based on the DCA’s published list. Because manufacturers can join annually, always confirm your manufacturer’s current status directly at the DCA’s official page before relying on it for any legal decision.

The Key Changes You Need to Know About

Whether your manufacturer has opted in or not, some changes under AB 1755 touch all California consumers. Others only kick in under the new opt-in track. Here’s what you actually need to understand.

The Pre-Suit Notice Requirement

This is the one that catches people off guard the most. If your car’s manufacturer has opted into AB 1755 and you want to pursue civil penalties as part of your claim (which most people do, since that’s usually where the real damages are), you’re now required to send a formal written notice to the manufacturer at least 30 days before you file a lawsuit. That notice needs to include specific information about you, the vehicle, the repair history, and your demand for a buyback or replacement. It also needs to go to a designated email or mailing address, not just any contact at the company.

There’s also something important buried in the rule: during those 30 days, you need to hold onto the vehicle and not sell or trade it in. If you get rid of the car before that window closes, you risk losing your ability to recover certain penalties.

If you skip the notice or get it wrong, you don’t lose the right to a buyback or replacement, but you can lose the civil penalties that would otherwise be available. Courts are enforcing this strictly. That’s why it’s worth talking to an attorney before you send anything, not after.

New Deadlines and a Six-Year Hard Cap That Surprises People

Under the new procedures for opted-in manufacturers, consumers have one year after the vehicle’s express warranty expires to bring a claim, but no more than six years from the date the car was originally delivered to its first owner, whichever comes first.

That six-year cap is where people get hurt. If your car has a 10-year powertrain warranty and the problem doesn’t show up until year seven, you may already be outside the window. The warranty is still valid on paper, but your ability to pursue a legal claim may have already closed.

This is one of the provisions that consumer advocates pushed back on hardest when the bill was being debated. A warranty is supposed to mean something. If a manufacturer offers coverage for a decade, capping your legal options at six years from purchase means you’re getting less protection than you bargained for, regardless of how the legislature framed it.

⚠️ The deadlines above apply specifically to claims against manufacturers that have opted into the AB 1755 framework. If your manufacturer hasn’t opted in, different timeframes apply. Have an attorney review your specific situation before relying on any of these figures.

Mandatory Mediation

For opted-in manufacturers, once you’ve filed a lawsuit and the manufacturer has filed their answer, both sides are required to go through mediation. The mediation has to be scheduled within 90 days of the manufacturer’s answer and actually take place within 150 days of it. Until mediation is finished, most discovery is on hold, meaning you’ll have limited access to the manufacturer’s internal records and documents during that stretch.

If your repair history is solid and well-documented, mediation can be a real path to resolution. Cases with clear, repeated failures and a paper trail often settle there without the whole thing dragging out further. But manufacturers do have the full window available to them, which means mediation might not happen for five months after they answer. Meanwhile, you’re still living with the car.

For a sense of what comes after mediation if settlement doesn’t happen, our article on lemon law settlements vs. trials walks through what that path looks like.

Manufacturers Have Strict Obligations Too

The new rules aren’t just harder on consumers. They also put real pressure on opted-in manufacturers. Once a manufacturer receives your written pre-suit notice, they have 30 days to respond with an offer to repurchase or replace the vehicle. If they agree to a buyback, they have to complete the transaction within 60 days of receiving your notice. Miss those timelines and daily penalties start stacking up against them.

Once a settlement is reached, the manufacturer has to pay the agreed amount at the time you return the vehicle, not weeks later. These are actual enforcement mechanisms, and they exist precisely because the old system let manufacturers drag things out for months or years. For a detailed breakdown of how the buyback process works and what you can typically recover, that article lays it all out.

What Didn’t Change

Despite all the procedural noise, the core of California’s lemon law is still intact. Your core rights as a consumer didn’t go anywhere. You can still get a refund of what you paid, minus a small offset for the miles you drove, or receive a comparable replacement vehicle. The law still covers new vehicles and certified pre-owned vehicles that come with a manufacturer warranty. It still applies to defects that substantially impair the car’s safety, value, or use.

The lemon law presumption (the rule that creates an assumption in your favor after enough repair attempts within a set time frame) is also still in place. If you’ve been back to the dealer enough times for the same problem, or if your car has been sitting at the shop for weeks on end, that history still counts for something under the new rules, just as it did before.

If you drive an EV, the same protections apply: battery degradation, charging failures, software defects, all of it. Our article on lemon law for electric vehicles goes into the specifics. Leased vehicles are covered too. You can read more about that in our piece on how the lemon law applies to leases.

If Your Manufacturer Hasn’t Opted In

If your vehicle’s manufacturer is not on the DCA’s opt-in list, the pre-AB 1755 rules still apply to your claim, which means a longer timeframe to file, no mandatory mediation, and the traditional litigation process. That’s actually better in several respects for consumers.

That said, California’s existing lemon law still has its own deadlines, and waiting is still a risk regardless of which track you’re on. Documentation quality matters either way. You’ll want every repair order from every visit, a clear record of when the defect first appeared, and copies of anything you put in writing to the dealer or manufacturer. Our article on what to do when the dealer can’t fix your car covers what to document and when to escalate.

Steps to Take If You Think You Have a Lemon

The new rules make getting this right more important than it’s ever been. Here’s what the process should look like:

Step 1: Pull together your documentation. Every repair order from every visit: dates, mileage at drop-off, what complaint you reported, and what the dealer said they did or didn’t find. If you’ve been told the problem “couldn’t be replicated” multiple times, that’s part of your record too. Same goes for anything you put in writing to the dealer or manufacturer.

Step 2: Check whether your manufacturer opted in. Look up your brand on the DCA’s published list. This is what determines which rules apply to your claim and which deadlines you’re working against.

Step 3: Don’t sell or trade in the car before talking to an attorney. Under the new opt-in rules, getting rid of the vehicle before the pre-suit notice window closes can cut into your ability to recover civil penalties. If you’re fed up and want to dump the car, get legal advice first.

Step 4: Talk to an attorney before sending any notice. The pre-suit notice sounds straightforward, but the content requirements and where it has to go actually matter. A defective notice can mean losing penalties you’d otherwise be entitled to. An attorney familiar with the new procedures can make sure it’s done right. You can read about what filing without an attorney looks like, but given how much the process has changed, this is one of those situations where the guidance is genuinely worth it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does AB 1755 apply to my car?

It depends on whether your manufacturer opted into the new framework. The California Department of Consumer Affairs publishes an official list of manufacturers that have chosen to participate. If yours is on that list, the AB 1755 and SB 26 procedures govern your claim. If not, the older lemon law rules still apply. Either way, you still have protections under California law. The difference is in what the process looks like.

What is the pre-suit notice requirement, and what happens if I miss it?

If your manufacturer has opted into AB 1755 and you want to pursue civil penalties as part of your claim, you’re required to send a formal written notice at least 30 days before filing a lawsuit. The notice has to include specific information (your contact details, the VIN, a summary of the repair history, and a demand for repurchase or replacement) and it has to go to a specific address. If you don’t send it, you can still pursue a buyback or replacement, but you lose the right to civil penalties. Courts aren’t giving people much flexibility on this, which is why it’s worth getting an attorney involved before you send anything.

I’ve been to the dealer four times for the same problem. Do I qualify?

Repeated failed repairs are the heart of most lemon law cases. California law creates a presumption in your favor once you’ve crossed a certain threshold, based on the number of repair attempts or how many days your car has been out of service. What that threshold is depends on the nature of the defect and other details of your situation. Four visits for the same unresolved problem is a strong indicator something is seriously wrong, and it’s worth having a lawyer look at whether your case qualifies. You can also read more about how California’s lemon law presumption works.

Does the new law cover used cars?

Used vehicles can still be covered if they’re within the manufacturer’s original warranty period, like a certified pre-owned car with factory warranty coverage. AB 1755 did narrow coverage for used vehicles in some ways, so the details of your situation matter. If you bought a used car that’s still under a manufacturer’s warranty and you’re dealing with serious, recurring defects, it’s worth a conversation with an attorney. Our article on used car lemon law coverage covers this in more depth.

My car has a defect but no recall has been issued. Does that matter?

No recall is required. The lemon law is about whether the manufacturer can fix a defect that substantially impairs the vehicle’s safety, use, or value, not whether that defect has been formally acknowledged by a recall. Some of the strongest lemon law cases involve defects the manufacturer has never officially recognized, but has repeatedly failed to diagnose or repair at the dealer level. You can read more about lemon law coverage for safety defects without a recall.

If my manufacturer opted in, is mediation mandatory even if I just want a buyback?

Yes, for opted-in manufacturers, once you’ve filed a lawsuit and the manufacturer files their answer, mediation is a required step. Both sides have to schedule it within 90 days of the manufacturer’s answer, and it has to take place within 150 days. Most other discovery is on hold until it’s done. That said, a lot of cases do resolve at mediation if the documentation is solid. An attorney can help you go in prepared rather than letting the manufacturer control the timeline.

How long do I have to file, and does my vehicle’s age matter?

If your manufacturer has opted into the AB 1755 framework, the deadline is one year after your warranty expires, with an absolute cutoff of six years from the date the vehicle was originally delivered, whichever comes first. That six-year cap matters even if your warranty is still active. Under the older rules for manufacturers that haven’t opted in, the timeframes are different. Either way, the longer you wait, the fewer options you have. If you’re unsure where you stand, that’s exactly the kind of thing a lawyer can sort out quickly.

⚠️ Statute of limitations information requires attorney review before relying on it for your specific situation.

How do I actually know if I have a case worth pursuing?

Honestly, it comes down to a lot of factors, and two people with the same car and the same defect can end up in very different positions depending on their specific circumstances.

Documentation is usually what separates strong cases from weak ones. Detailed repair orders, written complaints to the manufacturer, service records that clearly show the same problem coming back. That’s the foundation. A car that’s relatively new and still well within its warranty window is in better shape than one that’s pushing up against the six-year cap. The nature of the defect matters too: something that makes the car unsafe or undriveable carries more weight than a minor cosmetic problem.

Procedural mistakes can hurt you as well. Selling the car before sending notice, missing a deadline, not giving the manufacturer a proper opportunity to repair — any of those details can knock a claim down or off entirely. The law changed, and the margin for error got smaller.

The only way to really know where you stand is to have someone who knows these rules look at your specific situation. That’s what the free consultation is for.

Thinking About Filing a Lemon Law Claim? Talk to Consumer Action Law Group First

The rules changed, and getting them wrong now costs more than it used to. Whether your manufacturer opted in or not, the process is more demanding than it was a few years ago, and there are more ways to accidentally give up damages you’d be entitled to.

At Consumer Action Law Group, we help California consumers navigate lemon law claims under both the new AB 1755 procedures and the traditional track. If your car has been back to the shop repeatedly and you’re still not getting a real fix, reach out for a free consultation. We’ll tell you where you stand and what your options are before you do anything that could limit them.