Maserati and the California Lemon Law: Your Rights as an Owner

If your Maserati has been in the shop again and again for the same defect and the dealer still can't fix it, you may have a lemon. Under California's Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act — the state's lemon law — the manufacturer may be required to buy the vehicle back, replace it, or pay you a cash settlement, and to cover your attorney fees. This applies to every Maserati model sold or leased in California, including the Ghibli, Levante, Grecale, Quattroporte, MC20, and GranTurismo, whether new or bought used with the factory warranty still in effect.

What makes a Maserati a lemon in California

A vehicle qualifies as a lemon when it has a defect covered by the warranty that substantially impairs its use, value, or safety, and the manufacturer or its authorized dealer has been given a reasonable number of chances to repair it but has not succeeded. The problem does not have to leave you stranded — a persistent electronic or drivability defect can qualify just as a mechanical failure can. What matters is that the defect is covered, that it is substantial, and that Maserati has had a fair opportunity to fix it.

California law provides a presumption that a reasonable number of repair attempts has been reached when, within the first 18 months or 18,000 miles, any of the following occurs:

• The same serious safety defect has been subject to two or more repair attempts.
• Any warranty defect has been subject to four or more repair attempts.
• The vehicle has been out of service for repair of warranty defects for a cumulative total of more than 30 days.

Meeting these thresholds strengthens a claim, but they are not strict cutoffs. Vehicles can still qualify outside the 18-month or 18,000-mile window, and a claim can succeed even without the presumption when the repair history shows the manufacturer could not fix the problem.

Common Maserati defects that lead to lemon claims

Maserati's lineup shares many components with the wider Stellantis parts family, and owners across models report a recognizable set of recurring problems. The defects most often behind California lemon claims include:

• Electrical and infotainment failures — frozen or blank touchscreens, system resets, Bluetooth and backup-camera glitches, and unexplained warning lights, often tied to the Uconnect infotainment software used in the Ghibli, Levante, Quattroporte, and Grecale.
• Battery and parasitic drain — vehicles that will not start after sitting a few days, or accessories that behave erratically because of a parasitic draw on the battery.
• Transmission and drivetrain issues — rough or delayed shifting, hesitation, and jerking, particularly in the ZF-based automatics used across the Ghibli, Levante, and Quattroporte.
• Warning-light and sensor faults — recurring dashboard alerts, including intermittent key-fob and start-system warnings reported by Grecale owners.
• Oil leaks, coolant leaks, and engine-related complaints that send the car back for repeated diagnosis.

A single one of these problems, if it is substantial and cannot be repaired after reasonable attempts, can be enough to support a claim. The key is a documented pattern showing the dealer was given the chance to fix it and did not.

Recalls and how they affect your claim

Maserati has issued recalls that touch on the same electronic systems owners complain about. In 2025, Maserati recalled roughly 27,000 vehicles in the United States under NHTSA campaign 25V098000 because a radio software fault could prevent the rearview backup-camera image from displaying, a violation of the federal rear-visibility standard. The affected population spanned model-year 2021 through 2024 Ghibli, Quattroporte, and Levante, 2023 through 2024 Grecale, and MC20, GranTurismo, and GranCabrio models, with the fix delivered as a software update. A separate recall addressed park-assist camera software on certain Grecale and GranTurismo vehicles.

A recall is not automatically a lemon, and a lemon does not require a recall. But if your Maserati has a recognized defect that keeps coming back even after a recall repair or software update, that history can be powerful evidence in a lemon law claim.

What you can recover

If your Maserati qualifies, California law gives you a choice of remedies. A buyback (repurchase) refunds your down payment, monthly payments, and remaining loan or lease balance, plus incidental costs such as taxes and registration, reduced only by a mileage offset for your use before the first repair visit. You can instead choose a comparable replacement vehicle, or negotiate a cash-and-keep settlement in which you keep the car and Maserati pays you a lump sum. When a manufacturer willfully fails to honor its obligations, the law also allows a civil penalty of up to two times your actual damages.

It costs nothing up front

Because the Song-Beverly Act requires the manufacturer to pay your reasonable attorney fees and costs on a successful claim, reputable California lemon law firms handle these cases with no upfront cost to you. The most important thing you can do is keep every repair order — each visit, the date, and the problem you reported — because that paper trail is what proves your case. If your Maserati keeps coming back for the same issue, a free case review is the fastest way to learn whether you qualify.