02/13/2026
If you have ever thought about buying a used vehicle, you're not alone. The savings realized buying used versus new can be substantial making buying used a tempting option. When the used vehicle also has some of the remaining factory warranty, it makes perfect sense to buy used. However, an unknown risk of buying used vehicles is that with few exceptions, the consumer has no lemon law protection.
A true Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) can only be sold by new car dealerships of the same brand. For example, you can buy a CPO Toyota Camry from a Toyota dealership, but you cannot buy a CPO Toyota Camry from a Honda dealership. The CPO is backed by the manufacturer, and the vehicle comes with a factory warranty. These vehicles consist of only about 20% of used vehicles at a new car dealership, so the CPO is considered a premium vehicle. As you would expect, the CPO vehicle also commands a premium sale price. It must be noted that while most used car dealerships advertise their vehicles as, "certified", these vehicles are never considered CPO vehicles for lemon law purposes.
Under California law, only new vehicles are protected under the lemon law. With just two exceptions, used vehicles have no lemon law protection even if the used vehicle is purchased with some of the factory warranty remaining on the vehicle. The exceptions are true CPO vehicles, and dealership courtesy or demonstrator vehicles.
A true Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) can only be sold by new car dealerships of the same brand. For example, you can buy a CPO Toyota Camry from a Toyota dealership, but you cannot buy a CPO Toyota Camry from a Honda dealership. The CPO is backed by the manufacturer, and the vehicle comes with a factory warranty. These vehicles consist of only about 20% of used vehicles at a new car dealership, so the CPO is considered a premium vehicle. As you would expect, the CPO vehicle also commands a premium sale price. It must be noted that while most used car dealerships advertise their vehicles as, "certified," these vehicles are never considered CPO vehicles for lemon law purposes.
Many new car dealerships have vehicles which are provided to a customer while their vehicle is being serviced, commonly referred to as, "courtesy vehicles." These courtesy vehicles are later sold to a consumer by the dealership. Vehicles driven by dealership employees are also sold to consumers. These vehicles, while technically used, are nevertheless considered new because title has never been transferred from the dealership to a consumer. As such, for lemon law purposes, these "used" vehicles are legally considered "new" vehicles thereby affording the consumer full lemon law protection.
Buying used, while financially sound, must be weighed against the risk of winding up with a problematic vehicle without lemon law protection. If buying used remains the preference, the savvy consumer will seek out only CPO vehicles, or dealership courtesy/demonstrator vehicles. Having lemon law protection is the equivalent of buying insurance. You will spend more money for the used vehicle, but the extra cost for lemon law protection always makes financial sense for the added value and security.
Visit https://www.edzantprice.com/ or call us today at 661-222-9929 for a free California Lemon Law case review.
