If you purchased a vehicle that has had the same issue repaired over and over again, you may have a valid lemon car law claim.

Lemon laws vary by state, but often cover many different types of vehicles. In addition to cars, trucks and SUVs, your state’s lemon law may cover your RV, boat or motorcycle as well.

A vehicle that has undergone repairs for the same problem multiple times and still isn’t fixed could be covered under your state’s lemon law, which means you could be eligible for a refund or replacement of the defective vehicle.

While lemon laws are state-specific, common factors used to determine whether or not a vehicle is a lemon include the number of miles driven, major defects, reasonable repair attempts, and the number of days spent in the shop.

The most important aspect of a lemon law claim is your documented history of the repair attempts on your vehicle. Remember, the first time you take your car in to have a problem addressed, you have no way of knowing whether it’s the first and last time you’ll have it in for that problem or if it’s the first of six times you’ll have it in for that same issue.

Even if the issue seems relatively minor, don’t wait to take the vehicle back to the dealership to have it repaired. If too much time passes or too many miles accumulate on the vehicle, the warranty will expire, and you’ll be stuck with your lemon. (However, if the manufacturer issues a recall over the issue, the dealership should repair the problem at no charge even if it’s out of warranty.)

Don’t let the service advisor at the dealership rush you when you take the vehicle in for repairs. Look over the paperwork to ensure the accurate date, mileage and a clear description of the problem is legible and keep a copy of the repair orders, invoices and receipts.

Even if you believe the dealership’s service department has full records of your car’s repairs in its computers, you never know when a dealership might go out of business. In that event, you would no longer be able to count on anyone else having records to prove your lemon law complaint.

State and federal lemon laws

As lemon laws do vary from state to state, it is important to be aware of your state’s protections. For instance, only six states have used car lemon laws — New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Connecticut. These states have laws that provide drivers with the protection of a statutory used car warranty, explains Edmunds.

Other states do have used car protections, but they do not require dealers to provide an owner with a replacement or refunds for a used car determined to be a “lemon.” These include Pennsylvania, Nevada, Illinois, New Mexico, Maine, Connecticut, Kentucky, and Arizona.

The state that you live in may also affect the process of proving your vehicle is a lemon. Generally, lemon laws require vehicle owners to allow dealerships to attempt to fix the alleged defect multiple times before the owner can submit a lemon law claim and pursue reimbursement or replacement.

Most states allow dealerships three attempts. However, if these attempts take the vehicle out of use by the owner for more than a month, the owner may be able to pursue compensation for their lemon regardless of how many attempts have been made.

In addition to state laws, the federal law offers protections for owners of both used and new cars. These laws are designed to protect buyers both before and after they purchase a vehicle. 

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) imposes a Used Car Rule, requiring dealers who list five or more vehicles annually to provide a guide for potential buyers. This guide must detail the kinds of repairs covered under the vehicle’s warranty, and must notify potential buyers fit the problems that used car buyers can run into.

Additionally, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act that mirrors many of the protections offered by state laws, in addition to other protections. The law is often called the Federal Lemon Law. It offers protections to the owners of used cars as well as the owners of new cars.

Reportedly, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act requires a dealer to honor a warranty, and prohibits them from using a disclaimer to not honor the implied warranty if a car is sold with an express written warranty.

In addition, the law may allow a driver to seek compensation for attorney’s fees if they successfully file a lemon law claim under the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act.

Make your lemon law claim sooner rather than later

Your vehicle doesn’t have to be completely broken down to be considered a lemon. Over the years, cars with horrible odors or defective paint jobs have been considered lemons.

The sooner you can show that your warrantied vehicle has been taken to the shop for multiple attempts at repairs, the better your chances for securing a successful claim.

Lemon laws vary greatly by state, according to Credit Karma. In Arizona, you must make four attempts with the manufacturer to have a problem fixed before you can file a claim under the lemon law. In Georgia, you must make three such attempts unless the defect is a safety issue, which requires only one repair attempt by the manufacturer.

The National Automobile Dealers Association tracks statistics for the industry, and reports that in 2020 alone, 16,623 new car dealerships sold 14.5 million new vehicles. How many of those were lemons is unknown, but dealerships wrote more than 265 million repair orders, with service and parts sales totaling more than $111 billion, per the NADA.

In some cases, consumers have successfully filed lawsuits against auto dealers who refused to abide by lemon laws, or auto manufacturers who created lemon vehicles. In one case from New Jersey, a used car dealer was required to pay $105,000 after violating lemon laws by not disclosing information about vehicles to purchasers.

In another lawsuit against Ford Motors, owners of Ford Fiestas and Ford Focuses became eligible to receive up to $22,000 each after winning a class action lawsuit claiming that the manufacturer had knowingly sold defective vehicles. The plaintiffs in this case claimed that these vehicles were prone to suddenly accelerating or decelerating, which may be extremely dangerous. Internal documents presented by the plaintiffs indicated that Ford may have known about these issues for years and continued to build and sell the cars. Thousands of consumers who owned these lemons were expected to apply for compensation through the settlement.

If you have a vehicle that you believe qualifies as a lemon under your state’s lemon law, an experienced lemon law attorney can make sure you dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t’ in your lemon law application. Top Class Actions has laid the groundwork for you by connecting you with an attorney specializing in lemon law.

Join a free lemon law defective vehicle investigation

If you have a defective vehicle that is under warranty and is still not fixed after multiple attempts, you may qualify for help under your state’s Lemon Law.

(Note: Residents of North Carolina do not qualify for this investigation.)

Learn more by filling out the form on this page for a free case evaluation by experienced Lemon Law attorneys or call (877) 289-0615.

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