SoCalLemonLaw Blog

We’ve handled a lot of cases where, say, a Spanish-speaking consumer negotiates a deal in Spanish, and cannot read English, but is presented a contract in English at the end of the negotiations.  The Spanish-speaking salesperson inevitably says, “Don’t worry, just sign it.  It’s the same as we just discussed.”  It never is.

California Civil Code Section 1632 requires that, if a dealer negotiates a deal in certain languages (Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Tagalog or Vietnamese), then the dealership must present the consumer with a contract in that language.  If the dealership fails to do this, the consumer can rescind the deal, i.e. have it unwound.

I know you’re probably reading this in English, but you should let your friends who speak other languages that, if the deal is negotiated in a different language, the consumer is entitled to a contract in that language.

Hope this helps.

I rarely condemn an entire line of cars based on what I see in my office, but I really cannot advise consumers too strongly to stay away from LandRovers (or Land Rovers).

This is an SUV with a British pedigree, made famous by, among other things, the fact that Jimmy Page and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin fame conceived of many of their songs for the “Physical Graffiti” album while touring around in a LandRover on the mountain roads of India and Pakistan in the 1970’s.  While it may have been an excellent car back then, nowadays many LandRover buyers are left “Dazed and Confused” by the plethora of problems with these vehicles.  (For those of you who did not listen to Led Zeppelin while growing up, “Dazed and Confused” was one of their most famous songs and featured some truly spectular guitar work by Jimmy Page.)

Keeping with the Led Zeppelin theme, Led Zeppelin recorded “The Lemon Song” for their second album, possibly foreseeing the day when their cherished LandRovers would all become lemons.  Many people pay very good money for these cars, hoping for a higher degree of quality or excellence, only to be unpleasantly surprised when their vehicle leaves them stranded “Over the Hills and Far Away”.

Before I wear out the Led Zeppelin references, just in general I would advise against these cars.  We see them in my office quite a lot, and have had more than one of our clients tell us that LandRover’s own service technicians have told them that the LandRover factory is at a loss over how to correct some of the defects.

And for those who have LandRover lemons, my firm has a perfect record against this manufacturer, so please give us a call if you have any questions.