California Supreme Court: a dealer’s arbitration clause doesn’t let the manufacturer force arbitration

What the court decided

In Ford Motor Warranty Cases (case S279969, decided in July 2025), the California Supreme Court looked at buyers whose purchase contracts with the dealer contained an arbitration clause. Ford was not a party to those contracts but tried to use them to require arbitration of the buyers’ lemon law claims.

The court ruled unanimously that Ford could not. The buyers’ claims come from the manufacturer’s warranty and California law, not from the dealer’s sales contract, so the manufacturer could not rely on that contract to force arbitration.

What it means for car owners

• An arbitration clause in your dealer contract does not, by itself, let the manufacturer move your lemon law claim out of court.
• Other agreements, such as one you signed directly with the manufacturer, can raise different questions.
• A manufacturer’s own dispute-resolution program is a separate process with its own rules.