The rule under every disclosure
Two general rules sit under every disclosure in this lesson. A dealer may not make an untrue or misleading statement about a car (Vehicle Code 11713(a); Business and Professions Code 17500). And the Civil Code counts as deceit the suppression of a fact by someone bound to disclose it, or whose other statements mislead without it (Civil Code 1710(3)); Vehicle Code 11705(a)(14) lets the DMV suspend or revoke the license of a dealer whose deceit cost a buyer money, and defines deceit to include an intentional failure to disclose a material fact. The habit that satisfies all of this: write the fact on the purchase order or a separate statement of facts, dated, with the buyer's signature under it, and keep the signed copy for at least three years (13 CCR 272.00(b)).
Known damage
The Vehicle Code's damage sections, 9990 to 9993, are written for a new or previously unregistered vehicle. For one of those, the dealer discloses in writing, before the contract or, if it learns later, before delivery, any material damage it knows the car sustained and had repaired (9991), and any damage at all it knows was not repaired (9992). Damage is material when repairs cost more than 3 percent of the suggested retail price or $500, whichever is greater; when it reached the frame or drive train; when it came with a theft of the whole car; or when the suspension needed work beyond balancing or alignment (9990). Nothing in those sections lets a dealer answer a buyer's question about damage in an untrue or misleading way (9993).
For a used car there is no dollar line in the Code. Vehicle Code 11713(a) still forbids an untrue or misleading answer to a buyer's question about damage, 13 CCR 260.03 requires every statement of condition to match the condition you know, and Vehicle Code 11713.18 forbids "certified" when you know or should know the car has frame damage or took impact, fire or flood damage that still impairs its use or safety after repair. The practical rule: disclose in writing any damage that would move a buyer's decision, measured by the 9990 list.
A branded title and the NMVTIS warning
A salvage, junk or revived-salvage brand stays on the buyer's title and bars the word "certified" (Vehicle Code 11713.18(a)(3)). Vehicle Code 11713.26 requires an NMVTIS vehicle history report for the VIN before any used car is displayed or offered at retail (11713.26(a)). If the report shows the car is or was a junk or salvage automobile, was reported as one by a junk yard, salvage yard or insurer, or has a title brand, you post the section's warning on the car while it is displayed, in 14-point bold black type with "Warning" in 18-point, on a red background at least 4 by 5.5 inches, next to the Buyers Guide, and you give the buyer a copy of the report on request before the sale (11713.26(b)). A car NMVTIS has no record of needs no warning, if you tried (11713.26(c)); recreational vehicles, motorcycles and off-highway vehicles are exempt (11713.26(h)).
Prior rental, taxi, police or fleet use
A former taxicab, rental vehicle or publicly owned vehicle, which is what a retired patrol car is, is clearly identified as such whenever you know its previous status (13 CCR 260.02(b)), and anything you say about a car's prior use or ownership must be accurate (260.02(a); Vehicle Code 11713(u)). A car your own dealership used as a demonstrator, rental, loaner or lease vehicle discloses that use and is never called new (Vehicle Code 11713(t)), and a demonstrator that was registered or sold at retail before is disclosed before the purchase order is signed (260.02(c)). The disclosure at sale is a line the buyer signs: "This vehicle was previously used as a rental vehicle."
A repaired or replaced odometer
An odometer may be serviced, repaired or replaced only if it keeps reading the mileage it read before. If it cannot, it is set to zero and the person doing the work attaches a written notice to the left doorframe giving the mileage before the work and the date (Vehicle Code 28053(a)). Failing to attach the notice, or removing or altering it with intent to defraud, is a violation (28053(b) and (c)), and a dealer who commits one violates the dealer article too (Vehicle Code 11713(n)). At sale, a doorframe notice means the odometer disclosure the odometers lesson covers is marked not actual, and the mileage before the replacement goes to the buyer in writing.
A lemon law buyback
When a manufacturer takes a car back under a warranty law, Civil Code 1793.23(c) requires it to retitle the car in its own name, have the DMV inscribe "Lemon Law Buyback" on the title, and affix a decal saying so to the left front doorframe (Vehicle Code 11713.12). First, any dealer who knows or should know the car was reacquired for failing its warranties gives the buyer, before the sale, the notice prescribed by 1793.24 and obtains a signed acknowledgment (1793.23(e)). That notice, letter-size in 10-point black type, states the year, make, model and VIN, whether the title says "Lemon Law Buyback", each problem the original owner reported and the repairs made (1793.24). Second, anyone who sells a car whose title says "Lemon Law Buyback" gives the buyer a statement the buyer signs: "THIS VEHICLE WAS REPURCHASED BY ITS MANUFACTURER DUE TO A DEFECT IN THE VEHICLE PURSUANT TO CONSUMER WARRANTY LAWS. THE TITLE TO THIS VEHICLE HAS BEEN PERMANENTLY BRANDED WITH THE NOTATION 'LEMON LAW BUYBACK'." (1793.23(f)). You receive these at purchase: each transferee before the retail sale gets an executed copy of the notice from its seller (1793.24(c)), and the manufacturer owes the retail buyer a one-year written warranty against the nonconformity (Civil Code 1793.22(f)). The DMV has the dealer file the signed statement with the titling documents, on a Statement of Facts, REG 256, or letterhead, signed by the buyer in person (Vehicle Industry Registration Procedures Manual 2.040).
Condition and the as-is choice
The Buyers Guide is where you disclose the car's warranty condition. It is displayed on every used car offered for sale (Vehicle Code 11713.1(t); 16 CFR 455.2(a)), and the box you check is the disclosure: the "As Is" box when you give no warranty, or the warranty terms when you give one (455.2(b)). California allows an as-is sale, but Civil Code 1792.4 adds its own condition: a conspicuous writing attached to the car before the sale, saying the car is sold as is, the entire risk of its quality is the buyer's, and the buyer pays for any repair. The buyer gets the final Guide or a copy, the Guide is part of the contract and the contract says so (455.3). A car sold as is, or with merchantability disclaimed, cannot be "certified" (Vehicle Code 11713.18(a)(7) and (8)).
The three-day right to cancel
The Car Buyer's Bill of Rights option, Vehicle Code 11713.21, made a dealer offer the individual buyer of a used car under $40,000 a paid option to return it by the close of the second day after delivery: $75 to $250, or 1 percent of the price, for at least 250 miles, against a restocking fee of no more than $175 to $500 that the option price counted toward. The section repealed itself on October 1, 2026 (11713.21(i)). A contract signed before that day keeps the option it was sold with. For every sale since (1784.28), the California Combating Auto Retail Scams Act, Civil Code 1784.20 and following, gives the buyer of a used car a right the dealer may not charge for and the buyer may not waive (1784.43(b)(4); 1784.21).
The right covers every retail sale or lease of a used vehicle at $50,000 or less (1784.43(a)(1)). It leaves out motorcycles, wholesale, fleet and auction sales, vehicles rated 10,000 pounds or more and a lease buyout by the lessee (1784.31(f) and (k); 1784.43(h) and (i)). The three days are calendar days, starting the day after the contract is signed and ending at your close of business on the third, or on your next open day if you are closed (1784.31(i)); the DMV's memo OLIN 2026-10 says business days, and the statute governs. The right ends past 400 miles (1784.43(a)(1)(B)). You may charge a restocking fee of 1.5 percent of the sale price, between $200 and $600, plus $1 a mile over 250, capped at $150 (1784.31(g)). The buyer returns the car free of liens other than the deal's own, in the condition delivered apart from reasonable wear and defects the buyer did not cause (1784.43(b)(6)). Within 48 hours you cancel the contract and refund everything but the allowed deductions (1784.43(d)), and you return the trade-in or, if you already sold it, pay the greatest of its contract value, its sale price and its fair market value (1784.43(a)(3)).
Three pieces of paper carry the right. A separate document titled "3-Day Right to Cancel Used Car Purchase or Lease" names the parties and the car, and states the deadline, the fee and how it is computed, the 400-mile limit, what the buyer must deliver and the trade-in rules (1784.43(b)), and in the negotiation's language when Civil Code 1632(b) lists it. The first page of the purchase or lease agreement carries the notice the section prescribes, which opens "CALIFORNIA DOES NOT HAVE A COOLING-OFF PERIOD FOR NEW VEHICLES" and goes on to the three-day right (1784.43(e)). Cancellation requests, proof of refunds and proof of returned trade-ins are kept two years (1784.44(a)(4)).
The 8 by 10 inch sign under Vehicle Code 11709.2 that described the two-day option went with it (former 11709.2(b)). The section SB 766 added in its place calls for a physical notice in at least 36-point type in each sales office and sales cubicle where terms are discussed and each room where contracts are regularly signed. It says there is no cooling-off period for new vehicles, that a used vehicle at $50,000 or less may be cancelled within 3 days for any reason, that a restocking fee and other restrictions may apply, and that the buyer should ask the dealer how (11709.2(a)). A dealer who also sells or leases motorcycles or off-highway vehicles at the same location adds, in the same type size, that the period does not cover them (11709.2(b)).
From your purchase file to the buyer's hands
| Fact | Where you learned it | What the buyer gets |
|---|---|---|
| Odometer reading | The odometer statement at purchase (odometers lesson) | Your odometer disclosure, marked not actual if a notice says so |
| Title brand | The title you took in (titles-and-transfers lesson) | The brand on their title, the NMVTIS warning, no "certified" |
| Junk, salvage or total-loss record | The NMVTIS report run before display (checking-a-car lesson) | The red warning and the report on request |
| Lemon law buyback | The brand, the decal, the 1793.24 notice from your seller | The 1793.24 notice and the signed 1793.23(f) statement |
| Taxi, rental, police or fleet use | Title history, exempt plates, the seller (buying-from-a-private-seller lesson) | Identified in the ad, a signed line on the purchase order |
| Known damage | Your inspection, the seller, the auction announcement | A written disclosure signed before the contract |
| Warranty condition | Your inspection and the smog test | The Buyers Guide, as part of the contract |
| Three-day right to cancel | The deal itself: used, retail, $50,000 or less | The separate disclosure, the first-page notice, the posted sign |
Sources
- Vehicle Code 9990, 9991, 9992 and 9993, vehicle damage disclosure, read 2026-10-22.
- Vehicle Code 11713, subdivisions (a), (n), (t) and (u); 11713.1(t); 11713.12; 11713.18; 11713.26; and 11713.21 as it read before its repeal on 2026-10-01, read 2026-10-22.
- Vehicle Code 11709.2 as repealed and re-added by SB 766, sections 8 and 9 (Statutes of 2025, chapter 354), read in the chaptered bill text 2026-10-22.
- Vehicle Code 11705, grounds for discipline, read 2026-10-22.
- Vehicle Code 28053, odometer service, repair and replacement, read 2026-10-22.
- 13 CCR 260.02 and 260.03, vehicle history and condition in advertising; 272.00, business records, read 2026-10-22.
- Civil Code 1710, deceit, and 1792.4, as-is sales, read 2026-10-22.
- Civil Code 1793.22(f), 1793.23 and 1793.24, the Automotive Consumer Notification Act, read 2026-10-22.
- Civil Code 1784.20 to 1784.44, the California Combating Auto Retail Scams Act (SB 766, Statutes of 2025, chapter 354), in particular 1784.21, 1784.28, 1784.31, 1784.43 and 1784.44; and 1632(b), read 2026-10-22.
- 16 CFR 455.2 and 455.3, the Federal Trade Commission's Used Car Rule, read 2026-10-22.
- DMV industry memo OLIN 2026-10, Implementation of CARS Act (SB 766), read 2026-10-22.
- DMV, Vehicle Industry Registration Procedures Manual, 2.040 Lemon Law Buybacks and Warranty Returns, read 2026-10-22.
- DMV, Lesson Plan Guidelines for Used Vehicle Dealer Education Programs, OL 2000 (rev. 12/2007).