California Lemon Law Refund Calculator

Yes. California's Song-Beverly Act applies to leased vehicles. For leases, the manufacturer must return all lease payments made, plus the lease inception costs (down payment, first month's payment, bank fees), minus the mileage offset. The lessor must also cancel the lease with no early termination penalty.

Yes. Under CC 1793.2(d), you can choose either a refund OR a replacement vehicle of substantially identical type. Most consumers choose the refund because it's cleaner and avoids getting another potentially problematic vehicle from the same manufacturer.

The mileage offset compensates the manufacturer for the use you received before the first repair attempt. Formula: (Miles at First Repair Attempt ÷ 120,000) × Purchase Price. For example, if you bought a $40,000 car and had 5,000 miles at the first repair attempt: (5,000 / 120,000) × $40,000 = $1,667 offset. Your refund base would be $38,333.

Under CC 1794(c), if the manufacturer's failure to repurchase or replace was willful, you can recover a civil penalty of up to 2x your actual damages. "Willful" typically means the manufacturer knew the vehicle qualified as a lemon but refused to buy it back. Sending a demand letter that clearly establishes lemon status helps prove willfulness if the manufacturer ignores it.

Yes. Under CC 1794(d), if you prevail in a Song-Beverly action, the manufacturer must pay your reasonable attorney fees and costs. This is why many lemon law attorneys work on contingency — the manufacturer pays their fees on top of your refund. This fee-shifting makes it financially viable to pursue even modest lemon claims.