Lemon Law

A lemon law protects buyers of new vehicles that turn out to have defects the manufacturer cannot fix. Every state has one, and the details differ. In general, if a covered defect substantially impairs the vehicle's use, value, or safety and the manufacturer fails to repair it after a reasonable number of tries, the buyer can demand a replacement or a refund. Many state laws also require the manufacturer to pay the buyer's attorney's fees, which is why lawyers often take these cases without charging upfront.

California's version, the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, shows how the "reasonable number of attempts" is often defined. Under California Civil Code section 1793.22, a buyer is presumed to have given the manufacturer enough chances if, within 18 months or 18,000 miles, a defect likely to cause death or serious injury was repaired two or more times, the same defect was repaired four or more times, or the vehicle was out of service for more than 30 days for repairs. Other states use similar thresholds, often based on the first 12 to 24 months.

Lemon law claims are usually individual cases, not class actions. When the same defect shows up across a whole model, owners may also have class claims under warranty law, such as the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. Keep every repair order, because the repair history is the core evidence.

Learn more in our lemon law explainer and Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act explainer, and see vehicle defect cases like the Jeep 4xe battery lawsuit.