New Car Lemon Law: Your Rights Window and What a Buyback Pays
Your new vehicle keeps going back to the dealer for the same fault. We handle new-car lemon law claims nationwide. State lemon laws put a hard limit on how long you can act, usually months and miles, both running from the day you took delivery.
Does Your New Vehicle Qualify?
Three tests. You do not have to pass all three — most claims turn on the first or the second, and both are read against the third.
The same defect keeps coming back
Not three unrelated problems. The same one, written up the same way, on repair order after repair order.
Pennsylvania: 3 repair attempts for the same defect
New York: 4 repair attempts for the same defect
New Jersey: 3 repair attempts for the same defect (or 1 for serious safety defects)
Texas: 4 repair attempts for the same defect (or 2 for serious safety defects)
Florida: 3 repair attempts for the same defect, plus a final repair attempt after written notice
The car has spent too many days off the road
A separate route to the same place, and the one people forget. Add up every day the vehicle sat at a dealer for warranty work.
Pennsylvania: 30 cumulative calendar days
New York: 30 cumulative calendar days
New Jersey: 20 cumulative calendar days
Texas: 30 cumulative days
Florida: 30 cumulative calendar days (60 days for recreational vehicles)
You are still inside the rights window
This is the test that quietly ends most cases, and it is the one people check last. It runs on two clocks at once, and the next section is about how to read them.
The Window Closes on Mileage or on Time — Whichever Lands First
Read a lemon law deadline as two clocks running at once. Whichever one runs out first is your deadline. Nobody tells you this at the dealership.
What that means in practice: a New York owner driving 1,600 miles a month is out of the window in under a year, long before the two-year date on the calendar. The same car in New Jersey, driven the same way, is still inside its window. And a Florida owner is not on a mileage clock at all, because Florida's rights period runs on time alone.
If you are near either number, the date you make the call matters. Here is how the buyback process runs once a claim is open.
New-Car Thresholds in the Five States Where We’re Admitted
We take new-car claims nationwide. The five states below are where our attorneys hold bar admissions, which is why we publish their numbers in full. Every figure is the statute summary we maintain for that state. Read your own row before you read anyone else's.
| State | Statute | Rights window / filing deadline | Repair attempts | Days out of service | Arbitration required |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Automobile Lemon Law | 73 Pa. Stat. §1951 to §1960 | Within the first 12 months, 12,000 miles, or the express warranty period (whichever is earliest) | 3 repair attempts for the same defect | 30 cumulative calendar days | Yes — must use state-certified arbitration (the PA Lemon Law Arbitration program) |
| New York New York Lemon Law — New Car Lemon Law | N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §198-a | Within 18,000 miles or 2 years from original delivery (whichever is earlier) | 4 repair attempts for the same defect | 30 cumulative calendar days | Yes — must use the NYS New Motor Vehicle Lemon Law Arbitration Program if manufacturer participates |
| New Jersey New Jersey Lemon Law | N.J. Stat. §56:12-29 to §56:12-49 | Within 2 years or 24,000 miles from original delivery (whichever is earlier) | 3 repair attempts for the same defect (or 1 for serious safety defects) | 20 cumulative calendar days | No — consumer may proceed directly to court or use voluntary arbitration |
| Texas Texas Lemon Law | Tex. Occ. Code §2301.601 to §2301.613 | Within 6 months after the earliest of the express warranty expiration or 24 months/24,000 miles from original delivery | 4 repair attempts for the same defect (or 2 for serious safety defects) | 30 cumulative days | Yes — complaint must be filed with the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) which conducts a hearing |
| Florida Florida Lemon Law — Motor Vehicle Warranty Enforcement Act | Fla. Stat. §681.10 to §681.118 | Within 60 days after the end of the 24-month Lemon Law rights period | 3 repair attempts for the same defect, plus a final repair attempt after written notice | 30 cumulative calendar days (60 days for recreational vehicles) | Yes — must first go through the Florida New Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board |
When the State Window Has Already Closed
This is a sequencing question, not a second theory to argue alongside the first.
Check the state clock first. If you are inside it, the state statute is the stronger route: it names the remedy, it names the deadline, and in four of these five states it puts the manufacturer on the hook for your legal fees.
If the state window has shut, the next question is narrow. Does the vehicle still carry a written warranty from the manufacturer? That single fact decides whether the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C. §§2301–2312, is open to you. We keep a full breakdown of the federal act on its own page — read that rather than a summary here.
Leased and Demonstrator Vehicles
A lease is not a loophole. All five statutes cover vehicles leased in the state, not only vehicles bought there.
The personal-use limit
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Florida and Texas restrict coverage to vehicles used mainly for personal, family or household purposes. A pickup titled to your business may sit outside the statute even though it is the same truck with the same defect.
Demonstrators
Florida is the only one of the five whose covered-vehicle definition names demonstrator vehicles alongside new ones. If you bought a demo off the showroom floor in one of the other four, ask before you assume.
What a New-Car Buyback Actually Pays
Three outcomes, and the difference between them is money.
A refund
The manufacturer takes the car back and returns the purchase price.
A replacement
A comparable vehicle instead of cash.
A cash settlement
You keep the car and take a payment for what the defect cost you in value. Pennsylvania and New Jersey list this alongside refund and replacement.
Who Pays the Lawyer
Lemon law statutes shift fees onto the manufacturer, which is the whole reason a claim on a $34,000 car is worth bringing at all.
Four of these five say the manufacturer pays your attorney fees if you prevail. Texas is worded differently: a prevailing consumer may recover reasonable attorney fees. Same idea, softer language, and it is why the Texas record needs to be tight.
- Pennsylvania: Yes — manufacturer pays consumer's reasonable attorney fees if consumer prevails
- New York: Yes — manufacturer pays consumer's attorney fees if consumer prevails
- New Jersey: Yes — manufacturer pays consumer's attorney fees if consumer prevails
- Texas: Yes — prevailing consumer may recover reasonable attorney fees
- Florida: Yes — manufacturer pays consumer's attorney fees if consumer prevails
Easy Lemon charges no attorney fee unless we recover for you.
What Our Clients Say
New Car Lemon Law Questions
Still Have Questions?
Our team reviews every case individually. The fastest answer is a free consultation — no pressure, no commitment.
Get a Free Case Review →Our Easy Lemon Locations
California Mailing Address
10880 Wilshire Blvd Ste 1290
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Mail and service of process only.
Get Directions →Easy Lemon attorneys are admitted to practice in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Florida and Texas. An office or mailing address does not by itself mean we are admitted in that state.
Resolving Your Lemon Law
Case Has Never Been Easier
Our experienced attorneys handle everything — from paperwork to manufacturer negotiations. You focus on your life, we'll get you results.