Lemon Law FAQ
Common Questions About Lemon Law
If your car keeps going back to the dealer for the same problem, you're not the first. Manufacturers often stretch out repairs and wait for owners to give up before a buyback or replacement comes into play. The answers below cover what the law requires of them, state by state, and where Easy Lemon fits in.
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Know Your Rights Under Lemon Law
The 20 answers below cover whether a car qualifies, how to file, who pays the lawyers and what the manufacturer owes. Each one names the statute it rests on, so you can read the law yourself instead of taking our word for it.
A lemon law is a statute that makes the manufacturer refund or replace a defective vehicle, bought or leased, when it can't fix a warranty defect in a set number of repair attempts or days in the shop. There are two layers. The federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (15 U.S.C. §§2301-2312) governs any written warranty and lets a consumer sue for breach, and §2310(d)(2) lets the court add attorney's fees. Then each state sets its own numbers: N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §198-a, Tex. Occ. Code §2301.601 to §2301.613, Fla. Stat. §681.10 to §681.118, N.J. Stat. §56:12-29 to §56:12-49 and 73 Pa. Stat. §1951 to §1960. Our plain-English guide to the lemon law shows how one claim uses both.
Sometimes. Most state lemon laws cover new vehicles, but a used car still under the original manufacturer's warranty is often inside the statute's coverage window. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (15 U.S.C. §2301(6)) applies to any written warranty, new or used. New York and New Jersey go further with used car rules: New York's Used Car Lemon Law at N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §198-b, and New Jersey's statute (N.J. Stat. §56:12-29 to §56:12-49), which includes a Used Car Lemon Law for vehicles bought from dealers. Where you bought it and what warranty came with it decide the question; see what qualifies under the lemon law.
A vehicle qualifies when a warranty defect substantially impairs its use, value or safety and survives the number of repair attempts, or days out of service, that your state's statute sets. A 2024 Tesla Cybertruck we handled in New York was out of service only 19 days, but it had been back 4 times for the same loss of brake pressure, and New York's threshold is 4 attempts or 30 days (N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §198-a). Tesla repurchased it. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. New Jersey sets the bar at 3 attempts for the same defect, 1 for a serious safety defect, or 20 cumulative days out of service (N.J. Stat. §56:12-29 to §56:12-49). Texas is 4 attempts, 2 for serious safety defects, or 30 days (Tex. Occ. Code §2301.601 to §2301.613). The full checklist is on our lemon law qualifications page.
Each state statute defines it, and the answer changes at the state line. New York, Texas, Michigan and Maryland use 4 (N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §198-a; Tex. Occ. Code §2301.601; Mich. Comp. Laws §257.1401; Md. Code, Com. Law §14-1501). Pennsylvania and Ohio need 3 (73 Pa. Stat. §1951 to §1960; Ohio Rev. Code §1345.71 to §1345.77), and Ohio drops to 1 if the defect could cause death or serious injury. Florida is 3 tries, then written notice and one last attempt (Fla. Stat. §681.10 to §681.118). Illinois is 4 as well (815 ILCS 380). A client's 2025 Kia Telluride there went in 4 times in summer 2025 for a vibration above 45 mph, got a new transfer case and then a new transmission, and sat 60+ days. Kia bought it back. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. The areas we serve page has the count for your state.
Start with the paper trail: every repair order, the purchase or lease contract and the warranty booklet. Then the manufacturer has to hear from you in writing, because most statutes won't let you enforce the remedy until it has. Florida wants it once the car has been out of service 15 days (Fla. Stat. §681.10 to §681.118). Georgia wants certified mail or statutory overnight delivery (Ga. Code §10-1-780 to §10-1-795), Michigan requires written notice and then gives the manufacturer a final repair attempt (Mich. Comp. Laws §257.1401), and Illinois requires written notice as well (815 ILCS 380). Federal law has its own version: 15 U.S.C. §2310(e) requires a reasonable opportunity to cure before suit. Then the demand goes out, and most claims settle there. A new 2024 Volkswagen Taos in Georgia went that way: repair history documented, demand sent under Georgia's statute, and Volkswagen bought it back. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Usually a refund or a replacement. In New York, Texas and Florida it's a replacement vehicle or a refund of the purchase price minus a reasonable offset for the miles you drove (N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §198-a; Tex. Occ. Code §2301.601 to §2301.613; Fla. Stat. §681.10 to §681.118). That's how a 2024 Audi Q8 e-tron in Texas ended after 3 visits and 166 days in the shop: Audi repurchased it at the original price, less the statutory mileage offset. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. New Jersey and Pennsylvania add a cash settlement as a third option (N.J. Stat. §56:12-29; 73 Pa. Stat. §1951). Under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C. §2310(d) allows damages for breach of the written warranty plus attorney's fees.
No statute requires one. New York's arbitration program and the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles hearing process (N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §198-a; Tex. Occ. Code §2301.601 to §2301.613) are both open to consumers filing on their own. Counsel changes the other side's math, and the fee rule is why: 15 U.S.C. §2310(d)(2) lets a court order the manufacturer to pay the consumer's attorney's fees, and New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida each have a state fee-shifting provision too. The Texas Lemon Law has no attorney-fee provision of its own. Easy Lemon works on contingency, so there is no attorney's fee unless we recover for you.
Yes in the states listed here, and in many others. New York covers vehicles purchased, leased or registered in the state (N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §198-a). Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio each count a car leased in the state for personal, family or household use (Tex. Occ. Code §2301.601 to §2301.613; Fla. Stat. §681.10; N.J. Stat. §56:12-29; 73 Pa. Stat. §1951; Ohio Rev. Code §1345.71). The lessee brings the claim, and the refund follows what the lessee actually paid. A 2025 Kia Sorento one client leased in Ohio wouldn't start on pickup day; 4 visits and 41 days out of service later, Kia repurchased it and unwound the lease. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Check your state on the areas we serve page before you assume a lease is excluded.
It depends on the state, and the windows are shorter than most drivers expect. New York has two. The presumption covers the first 18,000 miles or 2 years (N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §198-a), and a New York lawsuit must be filed within 4 years of original delivery under §198-a(j). Pennsylvania's window is 12 months, 12,000 miles or the warranty term, whichever runs out first (73 Pa. Stat. §1951 to §1960). In Ohio the defect must be reported within 1 year or 18,000 miles, and a suit must be filed within 5 years of delivery (Ohio Rev. Code §1345.71; §1345.75(C)). Illinois gives 18 months (815 ILCS 380). New Jersey's lemon law sets no filing deadline of its own, but the defect must be reported within 2 years or 24,000 miles (N.J. Stat. §56:12-29). Maryland gives 3 years (Md. Code, Com. Law §14-1501). Texas gives you 6 months after the earliest of the warranty's expiration or 24 months/24,000 miles (Tex. Occ. Code §2301.601 to §2301.613). Miss a state deadline and a federal Magnuson-Moss claim can sometimes still be brought.
You may still have a warranty claim. Federal law doesn't count visits: the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (15 U.S.C. §§2301-2312) does not require a set number of repair attempts; it applies whenever a written warranty is breached and the manufacturer has had a reasonable opportunity to cure (§2310(e)). Dealer keeps telling you the noise is "normal"? Section 2308 bars a manufacturer from disclaiming implied warranties while a written warranty is in force, so it can still be a breach. Fees shift under §2310(d)(2). A state consumer-protection statute may give you a second claim. Bring the repair orders to a free case review and we can tell you which route the facts support.
A recall by itself is not a lemon law claim, but the defect behind it can be. A New York client's 2023 Mercedes-Benz GLE got its recall work, an engine update and a fuel pump, and the check engine light was back within weeks. Under statutes like Tex. Occ. Code §2301.601 to §2301.613 and N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §198-a, what matters is whether the problem substantially impairs use, value or safety and whether it outlasted the repair-attempt or days-out-of-service threshold. The GLE ran up 3 visits and 106 days, and it settled as cash and keep. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Days spent waiting at the dealer for recall parts count too: 20 cumulative days is the New Jersey line under N.J. Stat. §56:12-29, and 30 in New York and Texas. Check whether your vehicle has an open recall on our recall pages.
No statute promises an outcome, and past results do not predict any individual case. The law does tilt things once you hit the thresholds. N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §198-a, Fla. Stat. §681.10 to §681.118 and N.J. Stat. §56:12-29 each presume a reasonable number of attempts at the statutory count, and 15 U.S.C. §2310(d)(2) lets the court make the manufacturer, not the consumer, the party paying attorney's fees when the consumer prevails. From January 2025 to October 2026, Easy Lemon resolved 97% of the qualifying manufacturer claims in which a demand letter was sent to the manufacturer. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. The ones that resolve quickly share one thing: complete repair orders.
It depends mostly on the paperwork, because the statutes do part of the work. Hit your state's threshold and the law presumes a reasonable number of attempts; the manufacturer then has to rebut it. Florida gets there at 3 attempts plus a final attempt following written notice (Fla. Stat. §681.10 to §681.118). New Jersey gets there at 3 attempts or 20 days out of service (N.J. Stat. §56:12-29 to §56:12-49). Maryland gets there at 4 attempts, or 1 where the defect causes failure of the braking or steering system and survives notice and an opportunity to cure (Md. Code, Com. Law §14-1501 to §14-1504). The cases that drag are the ones missing repair orders, or where the dealer never wrote the defect down. Get a written repair order every visit, even when they say they found nothing.
In a successful case, the manufacturer. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C. §2310(d)(2), lets a court award the consumer's attorney's fees and costs against the warrantor. New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida go further in their lemon laws: a consumer who wins recovers reasonable attorney's fees (N.J. Stat. §56:12-29; 73 Pa. Stat. §1951; Fla. Stat. §681.10). New York's lemon law lets the court award them (N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §198-a), and the Texas Lemon Law (Tex. Occ. Code §2301.601) has no attorney-fee provision of its own. That's what makes contingency possible. You pay nothing upfront, and there's no attorney's fee unless we recover for you. Read the fee terms before you sign anything. Ours fit on one page.
Four things carry a claim: the purchase or lease contract, the warranty booklet, every repair order (dated, with mileage in and out) and a copy of any written notice you sent the manufacturer. A 2024 Rivian R1S we handled in Florida (4 visits, 69+ days out of service) came down to a file of 3 repair orders, a loaner agreement and the purchase papers. Rivian repurchased it. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Repair orders matter most because the statutory thresholds are counted from them: 4 attempts under N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §198-a, 3 under 73 Pa. Stat. §1951, 30 cumulative business days out of service under 815 ILCS 380. The notice copy matters because Florida (Fla. Stat. §681.10 to §681.118) and Georgia (Ga. Code §10-1-780) require notice before the remedy attaches. Photos, dash-cam clips and texts with the service advisor help but don't replace repair orders.
Get the records, check your state's number, send written notice, then demand the remedy. Records first: a repair order for every visit, including the ones where the dealer finds nothing. The number is 3 attempts in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio (N.J. Stat. §56:12-29; 73 Pa. Stat. §1951; Ohio Rev. Code §1345.71) and 4 in New York and Texas (N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §198-a; Tex. Occ. Code §2301.601). Notice goes to the manufacturer in writing. Michigan, Georgia and Florida require it and give the manufacturer a final repair attempt (Mich. Comp. Laws §257.1401; Ga. Code §10-1-780; Fla. Stat. §681.10). The remedy is replacement or refund, and under 15 U.S.C. §2310(d) damages with attorney's fees. Our qualifications guide covers each step.
There is no published average, and no statute sets a dollar figure. The remedy is a formula. For a covered vehicle, New York, Texas and Florida provide a refund of the purchase price minus a reasonable offset for use, or a replacement (N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §198-a; Tex. Occ. Code §2301.601 to §2301.613; Fla. Stat. §681.10 to §681.118). New Jersey and Pennsylvania allow a negotiated cash settlement instead (N.J. Stat. §56:12-29; 73 Pa. Stat. §1951). For a used car outside the state statute, a Magnuson-Moss claim under 15 U.S.C. §2310(d) is measured by the loss in value caused by the breach. Mileage at the first repair moves the number most.
Yes. You bought it from the dealer, but the state lemon law claim runs against the manufacturer that issued the warranty (Tex. Occ. Code §2301.601 to §2301.613; Fla. Stat. §681.10 to §681.118). When a client's new 2024 Kia EV9 from Golling Kia in Michigan lost all power and locked its steering column, the claim went to Kia, and Kia bought it back. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. If the dealer sold a used car with its own written warranty, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (15 U.S.C. §2301(6)) makes the dealer a warrantor, and two states add dealer-specific used car laws: N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §198-b and the Used Car Lemon Law within N.J. Stat. §56:12-29 to §56:12-49. A car sold "as is" with no written warranty falls outside both. Keep the paperwork from the sale.
The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C. §§2301-2312, is the 1975 federal law that governs written consumer-product warranties, car warranties included. Section 2302 says the terms have to be disclosed in plain language before the sale. Call a warranty "full" and it must meet §2304: repair within a reasonable time, and a refund or replacement if it can't be fixed. Under §2308, a warrantor can't disclaim implied warranties while a written warranty is in force. Then §2310(d) gives the consumer the right to sue, and §2310(d)(2) puts attorney's fees on the warrantor. It applies in every state, next to state lemon laws such as N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §198-a and 73 Pa. Stat. §1951.
A lemon title, or lemon law buyback brand, is a notation on a vehicle's title showing the manufacturer repurchased the car under a lemon law. New York requires it on the title of a bought-back vehicle (N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §198-a), so the next buyer can see the history. Shopping used? Run the VIN and read the title before you sign; a branded car usually resells for less. Already own one that came with a new written warranty? The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (15 U.S.C. §§2301-2312) still applies to that warranty. And if your own car is headed for a buyback, ask us how your state's branding rule affects the refund math.
Does Your Car Qualify?
Repeat trips to the service desk wear anyone down, and many owners don't know that the Lemon Law covers them. If a serious defect is still there after multiple repair attempts, you may be owed a refund, a replacement or cash compensation. You may have a case if any of these apply:
The same problem is back after the dealer said it was fixed, more than once.
A safety problem such as brake failure, stalling or an electrical malfunction.
More than 30 days in the shop across visits, still unfixed.
The manufacturer's warranty is still running, or ran out only recently.
If one of these describes your car, you may qualify for a Lemon Law claim. Below is what to do next and what Easy Lemon handles.
What Compensation Am I Entitled To?
Depending on your state and your repair history, you may qualify for a refund, a replacement vehicle, reimbursed costs and your attorney's fees. The Lemon Law puts the cost of a defective vehicle on the automaker, not the buyer:
A refund that covers your purchase price, down payment, monthly payments, taxes and fees.
A replacement vehicle comparable in make and value.
Money back for what you paid out of pocket on repairs, towing and rental cars.
Your attorney's fees, which the manufacturer generally pays in a successful case. You pay no attorney's fees unless we recover for you.
Read the first offer carefully. Manufacturers often open low or push for arbitration, which slows the payout. Easy Lemon compares any offer with what your state's statute provides before you answer it.
Why Choose Easy Lemon?
Because we deal with the manufacturer so you don't have to, from the first notice letter to the final paperwork.
A car under written warranty that an authorized dealer has repaired again and again without success may qualify for a refund or a replacement vehicle, and you pay no attorney's fees unless we recover for you.
Experience You Can Trust
The drivers we represent don't have to argue with the manufacturer themselves. That part is ours.
Fast, Hassle-Free Process
We gather the repair orders, send the notices, file what needs filing and negotiate with the automaker. Your part is mostly answering our questions and keeping your receipts.
No Upfront Costs
Nothing upfront, and no attorney's fees unless we recover for you.
Clear, Straightforward Guidance
We explain your options in plain English and tell you which statute applies, the same way the answers above do.
Don’t Let a Defective Car Drain Your Wallet
Waiting rarely helps. Warranty windows close, and some filing deadlines are only months long. If your car keeps going back to the shop, send us the repair orders and we'll tell you whether a refund or replacement claim is worth bringing.
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