California Lemon Law: How Long Do You Have to File?

Last reviewed September 10, 2026.

There is no single deadline for a California lemon law claim. Which one applies to you depends on whether your manufacturer has opted into the AB 1755/SB 26 procedure — see manufacturers and opt-in status to check yours. If you can’t confirm your manufacturer’s status, the safer assumption is to treat the shorter deadline as controlling and send your §871.24 written notice early.

Track 1: The traditional rule (four years, discovery-based)

California courts have consistently held that a Song-Beverly Act claim is governed by the same statute of limitations as any other breach-of-warranty claim under the state’s Commercial Code — Commercial Code §2725:

An action for breach of any contract for sale must be commenced within four years after the cause of action has accrued… A breach of warranty occurs when tender of delivery is made, except that where a warranty explicitly extends to future performance of the goods and discovery of the breach must await the time of such performance, the cause of action accrues when the breach is or should have been discovered.

In practice, California courts apply the second half of that — the discovery rule — to lemon law claims. That means your four years generally don’t start counting from the day you drove off the lot; they start from when you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, that the defect couldn’t be fixed. This was the outcome in Krieger v. Nick Alexander Imports, Inc. (1991) 234 Cal.App.3d 205, where the court rejected the manufacturer’s argument that the clock started at delivery and instead applied discovery-rule reasoning; the same principle was reaffirmed in Mexia v. Rinker Boat Co. (2009) 174 Cal.App.4th 1297.

Two practical notes:

• The discovery rule doesn’t mean you can wait indefinitely — once you have “a suspicion of wrongdoing,” courts expect you to act, per Jolly v. Eli Lilly & Co. (1988) 44 Cal.3d 1103.
• Separately, if your claim rests on the implied warranty of merchantability rather than the express warranty, Civil Code §1791.1(c) caps that implied warranty’s duration at the length of the express warranty, capped at one year for new goods — which can effectively shorten your window for implied-warranty-only claims.

Track 2: The new rule for opted-in manufacturers (AB 1755 / SB 26)

For vehicles from a manufacturer that has opted into Code of Civil Procedure §§871.20–871.30, the deadline is different and, per one manufacturer’s own consumer notice, is stated as:

An action seeking restitution or replacement of a new motor vehicle, or civil penalties under the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act or Tanner Consumer Protection Act, must be commenced within one year after the expiration of the applicable express warranty, and in no event may be brought later than six years after the date of original delivery of the vehicle. (Code Civ. Proc. §§871.20, 871.21)

This is narrower than the old discovery-rule approach in one sense (it’s tied to warranty expiration, not to whenever you happen to discover the problem) but provides a hard outer limit (six years from delivery) that the old rule didn’t explicitly have.

Before you can seek civil penalties under this track, you must also send the 30-day written notice required by §871.24 — see the notice addresses on our manufacturers page. Skipping this step, or sending it to the wrong address, can bar you from civil penalties even if your underlying repair-attempt claim is otherwise solid.

Which track applies to you?

1. Check /manufacturers/ for whether your brand has confirmed an opt-in election.
2. If confirmed opted-in: use the one-year/six-year rule, and send your §871.24 notice before filing anything seeking civil penalties.
3. If not opted-in, or unconfirmed: the traditional four-year discovery rule most likely applies, but the specific facts of when you discovered the defect matter — this is not a bright-line date you can calculate from your purchase paperwork alone.
4. If you’re close to either deadline, don’t wait for certainty — use the case evaluation form to have your specific dates reviewed.

What this is not

This page describes the general framework; it is not a calculation of your specific deadline. Actual accrual dates, tolling, and warranty-expiration dates are fact-specific and have been the subject of substantial litigation. If you are near a deadline, treat that as urgent.

Frequently asked questions

What is the statute of limitations for a California lemon law claim? It depends on your manufacturer’s track. For the traditional route, courts apply a four-year discovery-based rule under Commercial Code §2725. For manufacturers that opted into AB 1755/SB 26, it’s one year after the express warranty expires, with a hard outer limit of six years from delivery.

Does the four-year clock start when I bought the car? Not necessarily. California courts apply a “discovery rule” — the clock generally starts when you discovered, or should have discovered, that the defect couldn’t be fixed, not the delivery date itself.

What happens if I miss the deadline? A missed statute of limitations is typically a complete bar to recovery, regardless of how strong the underlying defect claim is. If you’re unsure which deadline applies or how close you are to it, treat it as urgent and use the case evaluation form rather than waiting for certainty.

Sources

Commercial Code §2725 — leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Krieger v. Nick Alexander Imports, Inc. (1991) 234 Cal.App.3d 205. Mexia v. Rinker Boat Co. (2009) 174 Cal.App.4th 1297. Jolly v. Eli Lilly & Co. (1988) 44 Cal.3d 1103. Civil Code §1791.1(c). Code of Civil Procedure §§871.20, 871.21, 871.24 — as cited in manufacturer consumer-notice publications, accessed September 2026.

This page is attorney advertising and general information, not legal advice. Deadlines described here are general rules with fact-specific exceptions; consult the case evaluation form or an attorney before relying on any date. See our terms and privacy policy.