Lemon law by state
Every US state has a lemon law that entitles the owner of a defective new vehicle to a replacement or refund. The rules differ by state on three points: the coverage window, the number of failed repair attempts required, and the cumulative days out of service that trigger a presumption. This hub summarizes all 50 states and links each one to its statute.
Pricing
Free: VIN decoding and NHTSA safety recall lookups, unlimited, no signup and no credit card. Paid: a full vehicle history report is $9.99 for one VIN, $14.99 for a 3-report pack and $24.99 for a 10-report pack. One-time payment, no subscription and no auto-renewal.
Frequently asked questions
What generally qualifies a car as a lemon?
A defect that substantially impairs the vehicle's use, value or safety, that the manufacturer cannot fix after a reasonable number of attempts — typically 3 to 4 repair attempts, or roughly 30 cumulative days out of service, within the coverage window.
Do lemon laws cover used cars?
In some states, yes, most often when the vehicle is still covered by the original manufacturer warranty. Coverage varies by state; check your state's page.
What do I get if my car is a lemon?
Usually a replacement vehicle or a refund of the purchase price less a mileage offset, plus in many states the manufacturer pays your attorney fees.
Data sources
- NHTSA vPIC VIN decoding API
- NHTSA safety recall database
- NHTSA complaints database
- NMVTIS (U.S. DOJ) title-brand records
CleanVins is not affiliated with Carfax, AutoCheck, NHTSA or NMVTIS.