Lukather

—After a bench trial, the court awarded plaintiff Paul Lukather damages, a civil penalty, prejudgment interest, and attorney fees and costs against defendant General Motors, LLC (GM), under the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act (Act), Civil Code section 1790 et seq., known as California’s “lemon law.” We affirm the judgment, rejecting GM’s contentions that (1) the evidence is insufficient to support the findings that GM violated Civil Code section 1793.2, subdivision (d)(2) (section 1793.2(d)(2)), and that it did so willfully so as to incur a civil penalty; (2) the court erred in rejecting GM’s mitigation of damages defense; and (3) the court abused its discretion in awarding prejudgment interest and attorney fees and costs.

BACKGROUND

On April 25, 2005, Cadillac of Whittier (dealer) leased to Lukather a new 2005 Cadillac manufactured by GM. The lease was financed by GMAC. Within a month the Cadillac began to exhibit an intermittent but recurring malfunction in the electronic stability control system. Lukather first brought the Cadillac in to the dealer to repair the malfunction on June 1, 2005, when the car had been driven only 854 miles. Between June 5, 2005, and…