Lemon Law

What Vehicles Are Covered Under The Lemon Law?

In Maryland, the Lemon Law protects you from getting stuck if the new vehicle you buy turns out to be a problem. When a new car, light duty truck, motorcycle or multi­purpose vehicle has been repaired for the same problem four or more times, or the vehicle has been out of service for at least 30 days for repairs, under the warranty, you are entitled to a new vehicle or a refund for the vehicle you have bought. If the problem involves the steering or braking system, only one attempt to repair it is required.

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
Any passenger car or truck with a rated capacity of 1 ton or less. 1 repair attempt in the braking or steering system or 4 repair attempts or 30 calendar days out of service for other problems.
15 months or 15,000 miles. 12 months or 12,000 miles for leased vehicles.
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.
Was this helpful?
Search for an Attorney