Maserati Lemon Law in California: When the Trident Turns on You

There’s a reason people cross-shop a Maserati against a Porsche or a Range Rover and still walk away with the keys to a Ghibli, a Levante, or a Grecale. It’s not just a car. It’s the exhaust note, the Italian styling, the sense that you bought something the neighbors haven’t seen twenty of on the way to Whole Foods. Whether you’re cruising Sunset Boulevard in a Quattroporte or taking your Grecale up the coast to Malibu, you expect a certain level of performance to come standard with that trident badge.

So what do you do when your Maserati spends more time on a flatbed than in your garage? What happens when the car you saved up for, the car that was supposed to feel like an event every time you started it, turns into a running list of dashboard warning lights and service appointments?

If you’re driving a 2021 or newer Maserati that has been in and out of the dealership for the same problem, you’re not imagining it, and you’re not alone. Our firm represents California drivers in Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act claims against Maserati North America, and we focus specifically on late-model vehicles that are still supposed to be under warranty protection.

Does Your Maserati Qualify for a Lemon Law Claim?

Not every complaint about a Maserati turns into a winnable Lemon Law case, and we’d rather tell you that up front than waste your time. To keep our results strong for the clients we do take on, we limit our Maserati practice to cases that meet three specific conditions.

Model Year 2021 or Newer

We represent owners of 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 Maserati models, including the Ghibli, Quattroporte, Levante, Grecale, MC20, GranTurismo, and GranCabrio. These are the vehicles most likely to still be inside their factory warranty window, which is the legal foundation a Lemon Law claim is built on.

New or Certified Pre-Owned (CPO)

Your Maserati needs to have been purchased or leased new, or bought through Maserati’s Certified Pre-Owned program at an authorized dealership. This matters because Lemon Law protection flows from a manufacturer’s warranty promise. A Maserati bought “as-is” from a third-party used car lot, with no factory backing behind it, generally doesn’t give us anything to enforce.

Multiple Repair Attempts for the Same Problem

You’ll need a repair history showing that an authorized Maserati dealer attempted to fix the same recurring defect more than once, or that the car has been out of service for a cumulative total of 30 days or more. If your service advisor has told you “we replaced the part” or “we updated the software” more than once for the same complaint, that history is exactly what we use to build your case.

A quick note on what we don’t handle: if you bought an older, high-mileage Maserati out of warranty, or if your complaint is really about financing terms, an add-on package you didn’t ask for, or something a salesperson told you that turned out to be untrue, that’s not a Lemon Law issue. That falls under auto fraud or contract law, and it needs a different kind of legal strategy than the one we use here.

Known Problems in 2021–2025 Maserati Vehicles

Maserati has been through a rocky stretch of quality control since the Stellantis-era models rolled out, and it shows up in federal recall data as well as in what we hear directly from clients. Here’s what we’re seeing most often in the 2021 and newer lineup.

Rearview Camera and Radio Software Failures

One of the more widespread issues affecting the modern Maserati lineup involves the radio software failing to display the rearview camera image at all. This defect spans an enormous range of vehicles, including 2021–2024 Levante, Ghibli, and Quattroporte models, along with 2022–2025 MC20 variants and the newer Grecale. A backup camera that doesn’t reliably display isn’t a minor annoyance. It’s a visibility issue that increases your risk of a collision every time you put the car in reverse, and it’s exactly the kind of safety-related defect that carries weight in a Lemon Law claim.

Fuel Line Sensor Leaks

Certain 2021 Quattroporte, Ghibli, and Levante models, along with early MC20 units, were built with a fuel line sensor housing prone to cracking. A cracked housing can leak fuel, which raises the risk of an engine stall or, in the worst case, a fire if there’s an ignition source nearby. If your car has been in for anything involving a fuel smell, a stalling complaint, or a “check fuel system” warning, this is worth flagging to us directly.

Electrical Gremlins: Door Locks, Windows, and Liftgates

This is the complaint we hear most often from Levante and Grecale owners, and it rarely shows up as one clean, easy-to-diagnose fault. Instead, it’s a cluster of small electrical failures that pile up: door locks cycling on their own, power windows that won’t go up or down on command, a liftgate that won’t fully latch, or a proximity key that only works some of the time. Individually, a dealer might wave off each incident as “intermittent.” Taken together, and documented across multiple visits, this pattern is precisely what the Lemon Law was written to address.

Transmission Hesitation and Rough Shifting

Owners of 2021–2023 Levante and Ghibli models have reported harsh or delayed shifting, particularly at low speeds or when pulling away from a stop. Some describe it as the car “thinking about it” before engaging, others describe an outright clunk. When a dealer’s fix is limited to a software recalibration and the symptom returns within weeks, that’s a strong signal the underlying issue hasn’t actually been resolved.

Grecale Infotainment and Sensor Complaints

Since its 2023 launch, the Grecale has generated a disproportionate number of service visits tied to its touchscreen-controlled interior. Multiple owners have described everything from base controls to headlight switches being buried in the infotainment system, with quality issues surfacing in the proximity sensors and key fob reliability. If your Grecale has needed repeated visits within its first year on the road, you’re not the only owner living through it, and that repair pattern is worth having reviewed.

The Song-Beverly Act: California’s Strongest Consumer Protection Law

California doesn’t leave Lemon Law protection to chance. The Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act puts the responsibility for a defective vehicle squarely on the manufacturer, not the buyer, and it does so more aggressively than most other states’ laws.

The Presumption Period

There’s a window, generally the first 18 months or 18,000 miles, whichever comes first, during which a serious, unrepaired defect creates a legal presumption that your vehicle is a lemon. Inside that window, the burden shifts to Maserati to prove the car isn’t defective, rather than the other way around.

What If You’re Past 18,000 Miles?

You’re still protected. As long as the defect first appeared while your Maserati was under its original manufacturer warranty or CPO warranty, you generally have up to four years from when you discovered the problem to bring a claim. A 2022 Ghibli that starts throwing electrical faults at 30,000 miles is not automatically out of luck, and we hear that concern from clients constantly.

The 30-Day Rule

If your Maserati has been sitting at an authorized dealership for a cumulative total of 30 days or more, whether or not those days are consecutive, that alone can support a Lemon Law claim, even if the dealer eventually manages a repair. Keep every loaner agreement and every pickup receipt. They add up to a timeline we can use.

What You’re Entitled to Recover

If your Maserati qualifies as a lemon, California law gives you meaningful leverage, not just an apology and a coupon for your next service visit.

The Buyback (Repurchase). Maserati North America can be required to refund your full purchase price, your down payment, every loan or lease payment you’ve made, your registration and tax costs, and reasonable incidental expenses like towing or a rental car, minus a mileage offset for the miles you drove before your first repair attempt.

Replacement. In some cases, Maserati may instead offer a comparable new vehicle in place of the defective one. Most of our clients prefer the buyback, especially once they’ve lost confidence in the brand experience they paid for.

Attorney’s Fees Paid by the Manufacturer. This is the detail that surprises most people: under Song-Beverly’s fee-shifting provision, if you win, Maserati pays our legal fees, not you. That means we take these cases without charging you a retainer or billing you by the hour. We get paid when you get paid.

How the Process Works

Repair Record Review. We start by going through your repair orders line by line, paying close attention to how your complaint was documented under “customer states” and what the technician actually did to address it.

The Formal Demand. We send a legal demand directly to Maserati North America. Dealership service managers typically don’t have the authority to approve a repurchase, so we go straight to the source.

Negotiation. We push for a full buyback using the same repair history that shows the dealer couldn’t permanently fix the problem.

Resolution. Most Maserati Lemon Law claims we handle resolve without a trial, often within 60 to 90 days of filing the demand.

Serving Maserati Owners Across California

From the dealership rows in Beverly Hills to Maserati service centers in Sherman Oaks, Pasadena, and Studio City, we know how these vehicles are sold and serviced across Southern California. Whether you’re commuting through Century City, running errands in Burbank, or parked at a valet stand in West Hollywood, we offer remote and in-person consultations to review whether your 2021-or-newer Maserati qualifies for a claim.

Frequently Asked Questions

Not necessarily. An intermittent electrical fault, like a door lock cycling randomly or a window failing to respond, is still a documented complaint each time you bring the car in, even if the technician can’t recreate it on demand that day. Video or photo evidence of the fault helps, but a documented visit still counts toward your repair history.

Yes. A Maserati CPO vehicle carries a manufacturer-backed warranty, which means it’s treated similarly to a new vehicle for Lemon Law purposes, as long as the defect began while that CPO warranty was active.

No. California law doesn’t require you to submit to a manufacturer’s internal arbitration program before pursuing a legal claim, and doing so often results in a smaller outcome than pursuing the case directly. We can walk you through whether arbitration makes sense for your situation or whether you should bypass it.

The Song-Beverly Act applies to leased vehicles just as it does to purchased ones. In a lease buyback, Maserati pays off the remaining lease balance and refunds your down payment and monthly payments to date.

Talk to a California Maserati Lemon Law Attorney Today

You didn’t buy a Maserati to spend your weekends waiting on a service loaner. If your 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, or 2025 Maserati has been back to the dealership more than once for the same issue, or has racked up 30 days or more sitting in a service bay, it’s worth finding out where you stand.

We’ll review your repair records and give you a straightforward answer about whether you have a claim, at no cost to you if we take your case.

Contact us today for a free, confidential case evaluation, or learn more about how to file a Lemon Law claim and what compensation you may be owed. Curious whether other luxury brands run into the same issues? Take a look at our Mercedes-Benz and Volvo Lemon Law pages as well.

(213) 529-2583