Lemon Law

What Is Covered Under The Lemon Law?

Your vehicle may qualify under the Lemon Law if one or more of the following conditions have been met:

  1. The vehicle has been in the shop 3 or more times for the same problem, and the problem still exists;
  2. The vehicle has been in the shop one time by reason of a defect likely to cause death or substantial bodily injury, and the problem still exists; or
  3. The vehicle has been out of service for any number of problems 20 or more days, and the defect(s) still exists. The days out of service do not need to be consecutive.

To qualify under the Lemon Law, the problem or defect has to render the vehicle unfit, unreliable, or unsafe for ordinary use or significantly diminish the value of the vehicle, and has to have occurred during the Lemon Law rights period.

To qualify under the Lemon Law, the problem or defect has to render the vehicle unfit, unreliable, or unsafe for ordinary use or significantly diminish the value of the vehicle, and has to have occurred during the Lemon Law rights period.

The following table summarizes what is covered, how many times the vehicle has to be repaired for the same defect and the warranty period.

Vehicles Covered Repair Interval and Coverage Period
A self­propelled vehicle purchased or leased and primarily designed for the transportation of persons or property over public streets and highways, but does not include mopeds, motorcycles, motor homes, or vehicles over ten thousand pounds GVW. 1 repair attempt for a defect that might cause death or serious injury or 3 repair attempts or 30 calendar days out of service for other problems.
2 years or 24,000 miles.
Note: Generally, the term Repair Attempts, as it relates to Lemon Law, refers to one or more attempts to fix the same defect although some states consider a vehicle to be a lemon if it required the specified number of repairs within the coverage period.

A car is out of service while being repaired or waiting for parts.

Warranty Period refers to the Manufacturer`s Express Warranty. Where the Coverage Period lists more than 1 option, the period applies to that option which occurs first.

This is only a summary, to get the complete Lemon Law Statute select your state from the combo box menu on the right side of this page, and click Get Statute.
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