What is Lemon Law?
A law that makes a carmaker buy back or replace a new vehicle with a serious defect it can't fix within a reasonable time. Every US state has one.
Lemon laws give buyers a remedy when a product keeps failing to meet basic standards of quality and performance. Many kinds of products can be defective, but "lemon" is mostly used for cars, trucks, and motorcycles. In the United States, lemon law protection comes from state law, and every state and the District of Columbia has its own version.
The details vary by state, but new-vehicle lemon laws generally require the manufacturer to buy back a vehicle with a significant defect it can't repair within a reasonable time. They weigh the nature of the problem, how many days the car has been out of service for the same issue, and how many repair attempts have been made. The obligation falls on the manufacturer, not the dealership, since the manufacturer is the one that warrants the car. Lemon laws go further than a warranty: a warranty might cover a repair at no cost, but it doesn't set a deadline for finishing it or require a buyback when the repair fails.
Some state laws cover only certain vehicles, such as those bought for personal rather than business use, or under a certain weight. A few states, New York among them, also have more limited lemon laws for used cars, and California's Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act covers boats, electronics, and appliances as well. At the federal level, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975 makes manufacturers honor their warranties, and like most state lemon laws, it can make the warrantor pay the winning side's attorney. Buyers can pursue claims under both, but Magnuson-Moss doesn't protect a product bought "as is" without a warranty.