Key takeaways
- Each state sets its own protection period, repair-attempt test, days-out-of-service test, notice rules and filing deadline.
- Some states require you to use a manufacturer's or a state-run dispute program before you can sue.
- The federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act applies in every state, alongside the state lemon law.
- Each state page links to the official statute so you can read the exact wording.
Lemon laws share a basic idea: if the manufacturer can't fix a warranty defect after a fair chance, it has to buy the vehicle back or replace it. The details change at every state line, and those details decide many claims. One state counts three repair attempts, another four. One measures the protection period from delivery, another runs it with the warranty. Some states require written notice to the manufacturer, and some send you to arbitration first.
Use the state pages to check your rules, then read your repair orders against them. If you bought the vehicle in one state and live in another, look at both pages and ask a lawyer which law applies.
What each state page covers
- The statute and a link to the official text
- Which vehicles are covered, including leased and used vehicles where the law addresses them
- The protection period
- The repair-attempt, serious-safety and days-out-of-service tests
- Notice and dispute-program requirements
- The deadline to bring a claim, where the statute sets one
- Remedies and attorney's fees
Where a state page doesn't list a rule, we haven't confirmed it in the statute text, not that the state lacks one. Ask us, or read the statute linked on that page.