Lemon Law in District of Columbia

Most state lemon laws apply when:

• You bought or leased a new vehicle. A handful of states (California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island) also have a separate used-car lemon law.
• The vehicle has a substantial defect — covered by the warranty and impairing use, value, or safety. Cosmetic squeaks don't count; brakes that fail or a transmission that won't shift do.
• The defect appeared inside the state's window — typically 1–2 years or 12,000–24,000 miles, whichever comes first.
• The dealer or manufacturer has had a reasonable number of repair attempts and still hasn't fixed it.

What "reasonable number" actually means:

• Most states: 3–4 repair attempts for the same problem, or 30+ cumulative days out of service.
• Safety defects — brakes, steering, airbags — often qualify after just 1–2 attempts.
• You have to give the manufacturer the chance to fix it. One bad service visit and a demand for a refund will get you laughed out of arbitration.

A few myths:

• "Lemon laws only cover cars." Most states cover all motor vehicles. Some include motorcycles, RVs, and boats. A few have broader consumer-product lemon laws.
• "My used car is covered." Usually no. Federal law (Magnuson-Moss) might still help if there was a written warranty, but state lemon-law refund machinery typically doesn't reach used vehicles outside those seven states.
• "I just don't like it." Buyer's remorse isn't a defect. The problem has to be real, substantial, and not caused by you.