Lemon Laws

• Author: Richard Leiter
• Pages: 59-72

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Everyone has heard of someone who has bought a new car that was a “lemon.” The car had either one major defect that could not be repaired or numerous minor defects that were always in need of repair.

Prior to the 1970s, when consumer advocacy hit its peak and numerous laws were enacted to protect the buyers of lemons, the only recourse the purchaser had was his or her warranty. As long as the manufacturer and dealer exercised their best efforts to fix the car while it was under warranty, the owner was stuck with the lemon. After the warranty period expired, the owner paid for the repairs.

“Lemon laws,” or new car warranty laws, were enacted to place limits on what the consumer must endure should he or she purchase a lemon. Under the terms of the lemon laws, if the car cannot be fixed, the consumer must be compensated, either with a new car or with a cash refund. States are split among those that leave the decision of the specific remedy up to the consumer, manufacturer, or seller. All states now have lemon laws. In many states, the consumer has at least one year from the date of purchase to make a claim under the law. Most states allow the consumer two years or 24,000 miles, whichever comes first, to make a claim.

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Table 5: Lemon Laws
State	Code Section	Title of Act	Definition of Defects	Time Limit for Manufacturer Repair	Remedies
ALABAMA	8-20 A-1, et seq.	Motor Vehicle Lemon Law Rights	Nonconformity to any applicable express warranties	24 months following delivery of vehicle or 24,000 miles, whichever comes first	Consumer’s option: replace with comparable new car or accept return of car and refund consumer full contract price and nonrefundable portions of extended warranties and services, all collateral charges, all finance charges incurred after first reported nonconformity and incidental damages; all this minus allowance for consumer’s use of nonconforming vehicle
ALASKA	45.45.300, et seq.	Motor Vehicle Warranties	Nonconformity to applicable express warranties	Term of express warranty or within 1 year from date of delivery to original owner, whichever is first	Replacement of vehicle with new, comparable one or refund full purchase price less a reasonable allowance for use of motor vehicle
ARIZONA	44-1261, et seq.	Motor Vehicle Warranties	Nonconformity to applicable express warranties of any defect/condition which substantially impairs use and value of motor vehicle	Time period of express warranty or the period of 2 yrs. or 24,000 miles, whichever is earlier	Replacement with new motor vehicle or refund to consumer of full purchase price including all collateral charges, less a reasonable allowance for consumer’s use of vehicle; maximum liability of seller is purchase price
ARKANSAS	4-90-401, et seq.	New Motor Vehicle Quality Assurance Act	Nonconformity to applicable manufacturer’s express warranty or implied warranty of any defect/condition that substantially impairs use, value, or safety of motor vehicle	24 months following delivery of vehicle or 24,000 miles, whichever comes later	Consumer’s option: replace with new motor vehicle acceptable to consumer or repurchase motor vehicle and return full purchase plus collateral and reasonably incurred incidental charges; less reasonable offset for use and physical damage
CALIFORNIA	Civ. §1793.22	Tanner Consumer Protection Act	Nonconformity to applicable express warranties which substantially impairs the use, value, or safety of motor vehicle	18 months from date of delivery to buyer or 18,000 miles, whichever occurs first	Replace the goods or reimburse buyer in an amount equal to the purchase price paid by the buyer, less the amount directly attributable to the use by the buyer prior to the discovery of the nonconformity

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State	Code Section	Title of Act	Definition of Defects	Time Limit for Manufacturer Repair	Remedies
COLORADO	42-10-101, et seq.	Motor Vehicle Warranties	Nonconformity to express warranties which substantially impairs use and market value of motor vehicle	Warranty period or within 1 year following date of original delivery of vehicle to consumer, whichever is the earlier date	Manufacturer’s option: replace with comparable vehicle or accept return of vehicle from consumer and refund full purchase price, including sales tax, fees and similar governmental charges, less a reasonable allowance for consumer’s use
CONNECTICUT	42-179	New Automobile Warranties	Nonconformity to applicable express warranties which substantially impairs the use, safety, or value of motor vehicle	Repair defects covered by written warranties within 2 years following original delivery or first 24,000 miles, whichever is first	Replace vehicle with new vehicle acceptable to consumer or refund (upon accepting return of vehicle) the (1) full contract price including but not limited to charges for undercoating, dealer prep, transportation, and installed options; (2) all collateral charges, including but not limited to sales tax, license and regulation fees, and similar government charges; (3) all finance charges after he first reports conformity and during any subsequent period vehicle is out of service due to repair; (4) all incidental damages, less a reasonable allowance for consumer’s use
DELAWARE	Tit. 6 §5001, et seq.	Automobile Warranties	Nonconformity to any applicable express warranty which substantially impairs the use, value, or safety of motor vehicle	Term of warranty or during period of 1 year following date of original delivery to consumer, whichever is earlier	Consumer’s option: replace with comparable new automobile acceptable to consumer or repurchase and refund full purchase, including all credits and allowances for any trade-in vehicle
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA	50-501, et seq.	Automobile Consumer Protection Act of 1984	Nonconformity to all warranties which results in significant impairment of vehicle	First 18,000 miles of operation or during period of 2 years following date of delivery to original purchaser, whichever is earlier	Consumer’s option: replace with comparable vehicle or accept return and refund full purchase price, including all sales tax, license fees, registration fees, and any similar governmental charges; less reasonable allowance for use

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State	Code Section	Title of Act	Definition of Defects	Time Limit for Manufacturer Repair	Remedies
FLORIDA	681.10, et seq.	Motor Vehicle Warranty Enforcement Act	Nonconformity to warranties which significantly impair the use, value, or safety of motor vehicle	24 months	Consumer’s unconditional option: Replace with vehicle acceptable to consumer or repurchase vehicle and refund to consumer full purchase price, including all reasonably incurred collateral and incidental charges, less reasonable offset for use
GEORGIA	10-1-780, et seq.	Motor Vehicle Warranty Rights Act	Nonconformity to applicable express warranties which significantly impair the use, value, or safety of motor vehicle	Within 12 months following purchase of vehicle or 12,000 miles following purchase of vehicle, whichever occurs first	Consumer’s option: replace with identical or reasonably equivalent vehicle including payment of all collateral charges which consumer/ lessor will incur a second time, less reasonable offset for use or repurchase and refund purchase price plus all collateral charges and incidental costs, less reasonable offset for use
HAWAII	481I-1, et seq.	Motor Vehicle Express Warranty Enforcement (Lemon Law)	Nonconformity to all applicable express warranties that substantially impairs the use and market value of vehicle	Express warranty period, 2 years after original delivery or first 24,000 miles, whichever occurs first	Replace with comparable vehicle or accept return and refund the full purchase price including all collateral charges, excluding interest, and less a reasonable allowance for consumer’s use of vehicle
IDAHO	48-901, et seq.	Not specified	Nonconformity to applicable express warranties which significantly impairs use, value, or safety of vehicle	2 year period following date of original delivery of vehicle to buyer or first 24,000 miles or period of express warranty, whichever is earlier	Consumer’s option: replace with comparable new vehicle or accept return and refund full purchase price including all collateral charges, less a reasonable allowance for buyer’s use of vehicle
ILLINOIS	815 ILCS 380/1, et seq.	New Vehicle Buyer Protection Act	Nonconformity to applicable express warranties which significantly impair the use, value, or safety of motor vehicle	Within statutory warranty period: the period of one year or 12,000 miles, whichever occurs first after date of delivery of a new vehicle to consumer	Replace with new vehicle of like model line, if available, or otherwise a comparable motor vehicle or accept return and refund consumer full purchase price of new vehicle, including all collateral charges, less a reasonable allowance for consumer use of vehicle

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State	Code Section	Title of Act	Definition of Defects	Time Limit for Manufacturer Repair	Remedies
INDIANA	24-5-13-1, et seq.	Indiana Motor Vehicle Protection Act of 1988	Nonconformity to applicable express warranties which

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