A dozen other states allow only 1 or 2 attempts to repair a life-threatening safety defect before a new car is presumed to be a lemon. Current California law allows 4 repair attempts. "Four attempts is too many, when lives are at stake," said Senator Sher. SB 1718 would allow only 2 attempts to repair a defect when it is "likely to cause death or serious bodily injury if the vehicle is driven."

Many other states also provide protection to small business owners, while California stops short of protecting those who use their vehicles solely for business, for example a landscaper who leases a truck to haul plants, or florists who buy a few vans for delivering flowers. SB 1718 would expand lemon law protection to assist small business owners and self-employed entrepreneurs who register up to 5 vehicles in California.

Consumers from Orange, Elk Grove, and San Jose described the frustration they have experienced due to their lemon automobiles. Deanna Becker of Orange, the mother of three children, paid about $28,000 for a new 1998 Ford Explorer XLT. Soon afterwards, it began to die in traffic without warning. When the power went, the steering locked up, and braking became extremely difficult, causing sometimes harrowing near-misses in heavy traffic. The chronic defect has proven elusive, despite at least 6 attempts to fix the hazardous condition.

Becker finally stopped driving the Explorer after it nearly caused a head-on collision, while her newborn baby was riding with her. While Ford eventually agreed it is a lemon, it has withheld payment of a refund to the Beckers. The Explorer has been sitting on the dealership lot since last November, while the Beckers have to continue to make payments, to preserve their credit. "I call it the Deathtrap," said Becker. "I will never put myself or my children in it again. In fact, I am worried about what Ford will do with it. No one else should have to go through what we have gone through."

Jodi Cole of Santa Clara told about her $56,000 lemon 1997 E 320 Mercedes that has been plagued by a host of electronic problems. It intermittently failed to lock or unlock, sometimes significantly delaying Cole's ability to get into her own car. The heater and air conditioner either blasted away at the highest setting or failed to work at all. The radio changed volume erratically, and warning lights came on without reason. Despite having its instrument control panel repeatedly replaced, the car is still unreliable. The Coles are reluctant to drive their car, which has only around 15,000 miles on it. The case of the mixed-up Mercedes has a happy ending. Mercedes dropped its appeal, and settled with the Coles, who are quite happy and relieved to have the car taken off their hands.