These are the sources behind The Lemon File’s rules: each state’s lemon law in official text, the federal statutes and regulations, the state agencies that run the programs, and the carmakers’ own warranty booklets, with the edition or currency note and the date we read them. Every page also cites its sources at the claim, so you can check any rule where you see it. How we check explains how rules are read, worded and rechecked.
This page is general information, not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Lemon laws, deadlines and required steps vary by state and change. The statute, the maker, a state board or a court decides a claim.
Federal law
All read 11 November 2026. US Code sections in the 2024 edition on govinfo; eCFR sections in the version “up to date as of” 9 November 2026.
| Source | What we use it for | Edition |
|---|---|---|
| Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C. 2301-2312 (2301, 2302, 2303, 2304, 2306, 2308, 2310) | Full and limited warranties; the refund-or-replace right under full warranties only; service contracts; implied warranties; the tie-in ban; informal dispute programs; fees; the federal court threshold | US Code, 2024 edition |
| 16 CFR 700, 701 and 702 | FTC interpretations, including the “void if serviced elsewhere” ban (700.10(c)) and service contracts (700.11); warranty disclosure and pre-sale availability | eCFR as of 9 Nov 2026; no change after 22 Dec 2016 in the eCFR record |
| 16 CFR 703 | Informal dispute programs: no fee to consumers, decision time, not binding on any person | eCFR as of 9 Nov 2026 |
| 16 CFR 455, Used Car Rule | The Buyers Guide, who counts as a dealer, which vehicles are covered | eCFR as of 9 Nov 2026; last changed effective 27 Jan 2017 (81 FR 81664) |
| 91 FR 6507 | Withdrawal of the CARS Rule | Published and effective 12 Feb 2026 |
| 49 U.S.C. 30120 | Recall remedies: free remedy, 60 days, reimbursement, the 15-year limit, new vehicles with open recalls | US Code, 2024 edition |
| 49 CFR 579.5 | Service bulletins and warranty extensions sent to NHTSA | eCFR as of 9 Nov 2026 |
| IRS standard mileage rates | Business rate for the Virginia and Maine offsets and New Jersey’s used-car refund: 72.5 cents a mile 1 Jan-30 Jun 2026 (IR-2025-128), 76 cents 1 Jul-31 Dec 2026 (IR-2026-29), 70 cents for 2025 | Page last reviewed 28 Jul 2026 |
Federal agencies
- FTC: the consumer alert of 7 July 2022 on warranty restrictions, the March 2023 alert on auto service contracts and extended warranty scams, and Auto Warranties and Auto Service Contracts (April 2024).
- FCC: the notice of apparent liability, FCC 22-99, on auto-warranty robocalls (a proposed fine; we do not describe it as imposed or collected).
- NHTSA: its own recall lookup, which we link rather than build.
- BBB AUTO LINE: the program operator’s own description of how its program works, used only for facts about that program, never as a recommendation.
State lemon laws
New-car lemon laws, all read 11 November 2026 in the official text linked. Where the official site gives a currency or version note, it is quoted; many give none. “Not confirmed” means we could not read the current official text; it does not mean the state has no law.
| State | Statute | Currency note | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Code of Ala. 8-20A-1 to -6 | None noted | Read |
| Alaska | AS 45.45.300-.360 | None noted | Read |
| Arizona | A.R.S. 44-1261 to -1267 | No “current through” note | Read |
| Arkansas | Ark. Code 4-90-401 to -417; session laws Act 297 of 1993 and Act 1134 of 2001 | Current code published through a commercial vendor; not read | Not confirmed in current text |
| California | Civ. Code 1793.2, 1793.22, 1794, 1795.4; Code Civ. Proc. 871.20-871.30 | 1793.2 last amended Stats. 2024, ch. 196, effective 1 Jan 2025 | Read |
| Colorado | C.R.S. 42-10-101 to -110 | “Colorado Revised Statutes 2026” | Read |
| Connecticut | C.G.S. 42-179 to -190 | None noted | Read |
| Delaware | 6 Del. C. 5001-5009 | None noted | Read |
| District of Columbia | D.C. Code 50-501 to -509 | None noted | Read |
| Florida | Fla. Stat. 681.10-681.118 | “The 2026 Florida Statutes” | Read |
| Georgia | O.C.G.A. 10-1-780 to -798, as posted by the Attorney General | “Current through 2024 Regular and Extraordinary Session”; a 2025 bill (SB 153) reworded 10-1-782(23) only | Read in the AG’s official copy |
| Hawaii | HRS 481I-1 to -4 | None noted | Read |
| Idaho | Idaho Code 48-901 to -913 | None noted | Read |
| Illinois | 815 ILCS 380/1-8 | Official repository “updated on 10/30/2026 with all Public Acts through 104-854” | Read |
| Indiana | IC 24-5-13, official 2026 Indiana Code file (Legislative Services Agency) as archived 3 August 2026; a capture of 8 November 2026 has the same chapter text | The General Assembly’s site shows a blank page to our reader and to a browser, so we could not open the live file | Older official copy only |
| Iowa | Iowa Code ch. 322G | None noted | Read |
| Kansas | K.S.A. 50-645, 50-646 | None noted | Read |
| Kentucky | KRS 367.840-.846, .860-.870 | 367.842 “Effective: July 12, 2012” | Read |
| Louisiana | La. R.S. 51:1941-1948 | None noted | Read |
| Maine | 10 M.R.S. 1161-1169 | None noted | Read |
| Maryland | Com. Law 14-1501 to -1504 | None noted | Read |
| Massachusetts | G.L. c. 90, s. 7N1/2 | No version note | Read |
| Michigan | MCL 257.1401-.1410 | “Complete Through PA 114 of 2026” | Read |
| Minnesota | Minn. Stat. 325F.665 | None noted | Read |
| Mississippi | Miss. Code 63-17-151 to -165, Motor Vehicle Commission copy | “Mississippi Code (2019 Edition)”; current code published through a commercial vendor | Not confirmed in current text |
| Missouri | RSMo 407.560-407.579 | 407.560 “Effective – 28 Aug 2021” | Read |
| Montana | MCA 61-4-501 to -533 | MCA 2025 | Read |
| Nebraska | Neb. Rev. Stat. 60-2701 to -2709 | None noted | Read |
| Nevada | NRS 597.600-597.688 | None noted | Read |
| New Hampshire | RSA 357-D | The site would not open for us | Not confirmed |
| New Jersey | N.J.S.A. 56:12-29 and following, in the Legislature’s statutes database (search “56:12-29”) | None noted | Read |
| New Mexico | NMSA 57-16A-1 to -9 | 2025 compilation | Read |
| New York | Gen. Bus. Law 198-a | “most recent revision (from 2014-09-22)” | Read |
| North Carolina | G.S. 20-351 to 20-351.11 | Latest session-law note 2007-420 | Read |
| North Dakota | N.D.C.C. 51-07-16 to -22 | None noted | Read |
| Ohio | Ohio Rev. Code 1345.71-1345.78 | Sections effective 1987, 1999 and 2011, as the site shows | Read |
| Oklahoma | 15 O.S. 901, 901.1, in enrolled HB 3217 (2022) | Enrolled 2022 act; later amendments not checked | Read |
| Oregon | ORS 646A.400-646A.418 | None noted | Read |
| Pennsylvania | 73 P.S. 1951-1963: Act 28 of 1984, as amended by Act 151 of 2024 | Act 151 approved 18 Nov 2024, in effect six months later | Read |
| Rhode Island | R.I. Gen. Laws 31-5.2-1 to -14 | None noted | Read |
| South Carolina | S.C. Code 56-28-10 to -110 | None noted | Read |
| South Dakota | SDCL ch. 32-6D | None noted | Read |
| Tennessee | Tenn. Code 55-24-101 and following | Official code published through a commercial vendor; not read | Not confirmed |
| Texas | Occ. Code 2301.601-2301.613, 2301.712; 43 TAC ch. 224 | “current through the 89th Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 2025” | Read |
| Utah | Utah Code 13-20-1 to -8 | 13-20-2 effective 6 May 2026 (2026 General Session); rule R152-20 in force 19 August 2026 | Read |
| Vermont | 9 V.S.A. 4170-4181 | None noted | Read |
| Virginia | Va. Code 59.1-207.9 to -207.16:1 | History through 2022, c. 411 | Read |
| Washington | RCW 19.118 | Latest session law in the chapter: 2021 c 201 | Read |
| West Virginia | W. Va. Code 46A-6A-1 to -9 | None noted | Read |
| Wisconsin | Wis. Stat. 218.0171 | The site would not open for us; agency pages read instead | Not confirmed in current text |
| Wyoming | W.S. 40-17-101 | Title 40 file dated May 2026 | Read |
Used-car and service contract laws
Read 11 November 2026 for our used-car and extended warranty pages:
- Used-car warranties and “as is” limits: Arizona A.R.S. 44-1267; Connecticut ch. 743f; District of Columbia D.C. Code 28:2-316.01; Hawaii HRS ch. 481J; Illinois 815 ILCS 505/2L; Kansas K.S.A. 50-639; Maine 11 M.R.S. 2-316(5) and 10 M.R.S. 1474; Maryland Com. Law 2-316.1; Massachusetts c. 106, s. 2-316A and c. 90, s. 7N1/4; Minnesota 325F.662; New Jersey N.J.S.A. 56:8-67 and following; New Mexico NMSA 57-16A-3.1; New York Gen. Bus. Law 198-b; Rhode Island ch. 31-5.4; West Virginia 46A-6-107; California Civ. Code 1795.5.
- Service contract laws: Texas Occ. Code ch. 1304; Florida Fla. Stat. ch. 634, Part I; Washington RCW 48.110; Illinois 215 ILCS 152; Missouri RSMo 385.200-385.220; Arizona A.R.S. 20-1095 and following; North Carolina G.S. 66-370 to 66-373; New York Insurance Law art. 79; Virginia Va. Code 59.1-435 to -441; California Civ. Code 1794.41.
- General limitation periods (the Uniform Commercial Code’s 2-725 as each state enacted it): read for California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Texas, Arizona, Virginia, Massachusetts, Washington, North Carolina and Missouri, and cited only on those states’ pages.
State agency pages
For process, forms and program fees, read 11 November 2026. Where an agency page differs from the statute, our pages follow the statute.
- Arizona: Attorney General, auto purchases
- Arkansas: Attorney General lemon law guide
- California: Department of Consumer Affairs, Arbitration Certification Program and its list of makers that opted into the newer procedure (59 entries on 11 Nov 2026; republished by 15 December each year)
- Colorado: Attorney General public advisory (August 2024)
- Connecticut: Department of Consumer Protection, Lemon Law Program
- Delaware: Department of Justice, Consumer Protection Unit
- District of Columbia: Office of the Attorney General, lemon law alert
- Florida: Attorney General, how the Florida lemon law works
- Georgia: Consumer Protection Division, Georgia lemon law
- Hawaii: Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, RICO
- Illinois: Attorney General lemon law handout
- Indiana: Attorney General lemon law guide
- Louisiana: Motor Vehicle Commission, consumer protection laws
- Maine: Attorney General, lemon law
- Maryland: Attorney General, lemon law
- Massachusetts: new and leased car lemon law guide and applying for lemon law arbitration
- Minnesota: Attorney General, car laws handbook
- Mississippi: Motor Vehicle Commission (its statute copy, linked above)
- Missouri: Attorney General, Know Your Rights
- Montana: Department of Justice, vehicles and lemon law
- New Hampshire: DMV, New Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board
- New Jersey: Division of Consumer Affairs, Lemon Law Unit
- New York: Attorney General, new car lemon law and used car lemon law
- North Carolina: Department of Justice, lemon law
- Ohio: Attorney General, lemon laws
- Rhode Island: Attorney General, lemon law
- South Carolina: Department of Consumer Affairs, lemon law
- Texas: Department of Motor Vehicles, lemon law
- Vermont: DMV, lemon law
- Virginia: Attorney General, lemon law
- Washington: Attorney General, lemon law
- Wisconsin: Department of Transportation, lemon law
For states not listed, our pages rest on the statute alone, and we add the agency’s page once we have read it.
Carmakers’ warranty booklets
Warranty terms come from each maker’s own US warranty booklet, named on the page with its model year and the date we read it. A maker appears here only as the publisher of the booklet we cite, never as a recommendation. As of 11 November 2026 we had read current booklets, mostly for the 2026 model year, from Acura, BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, FCA US (one Jeep booklet), Ford, Genesis, GMC, Honda (its hybrid booklet), Hyundai, Infiniti, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Tesla. For Audi, Kia, Lexus, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Toyota, Volvo and Volkswagen we read only the maker’s web pages or an older booklet, and for Rivian its guide as filed in an NHTSA record; the page says which. See car warranty coverage by maker.
What we don’t use
- Law firm pages and blogs, lawyer directories, “free case review” and case-evaluation sites, and lemon-law firm networks: never a source for a rule, a number or a statement.
- Legal summary and lemon-law-by-state sites: never a source. Where official text could not be read, the row says “not confirmed” instead.
- Warranty sellers and warranty-review or “best extended car warranty” pages: never a source, and never linked.
- Car pricing guides, dealer blogs, forums, social media and video sites: never a source.
- Figures seen only in search results: not published. A page we could not open is not cited.
If a source we cite has changed, or you know of an official text we should read, please tell us.
Sources on this page checked on 11 November 2026.