Guide to Used Vehicle Warranty Law

Under the Massachusetts Lemon Laws, newly purchased vehicles are covered under state-backed warranty protection for a certain period of time, dependent on how many miles are on the vehicle at the time of sale.  

Dealerships have a responsibility under the lemon law to repair defects that impact the use of safety of the vehicle. If the dealership fails to fix the defect or the vehicle was out of service for more than 10 business days and the problem still exists, you have a right to return the vehicle to the dealership at purchase price.

If the dealership does not abide by their responsibilities under the lemon law, Lemon Law arbitration is available through the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation (OCABR).

The Lemon Law Applies to the following vehicles:

• Used cars, vans, or trucks purchased from a Massachusetts dealer for personal or family purposes. Used motorcycles and commercial vehicles are not eligible.
  • In Massachusetts, a dealer is defined as someone who sells more than three cars in a 12-month period, even if they do not have a valid used car dealer license.
• Used car that cost at least $700
• Vehicles sold with than 125,000 miles on the odometer at the time of sale
  • When purchasing a used vehicle, dealers must provide you with a correct, written Limited Used Vehicle Warranty disclosure describing your rights under the lemon law. This warranty explains the timeframe during which you are entitled to warranty repairs (the term of protection)
  • The warranty must be signed, dated and included with purchase documents

Defects that are not eligible:

• Issues that affect appearance only
• Items covered by the manufacturer’s warranty and the dealer confirms that the repairs were made
• Damage caused by negligence, abuse, vandalism, or accidents unrelated to the defect
• Issues caused by repair attempts made by someone other than the dealer, its agent, or the manufacturer
• Substantial changes made by you that caused the car to have problems.

Your vehicle is eligible for warranty repairs if the defects occur during the term of protection. The term of protection is based on how many miles are on the odometer at the time of sale.

If you've confirmed that your vehicle is eligible under the Lemon Law and still within its warranty period, the selling dealer must accept the vehicle within three business days of a telephone or written request for repair. 

• TIP: The dealer cannot deny your repair request, but they can arrange for another shop to make the repairs on their behalf

The dealership cannot charge more than a total of $100 for any repair attempts done under the lemon law warranty. If the dealer refuses to make repairs under warranty, this is considered an invalid refusal, and the vehicle may be considered out of service after three days of denying service at no cost. 

• If the dealer didn't give you a warranty or gave you one that is incomplete or inaccurate, your warranty doesn't begin to expire until you have a complete and accurate copy.
• If the dealer needs to order parts during a repair attempt, the days out of service while waiting for parts do not count toward the 11-business day requirement of the law.
  • A maximum of 21 calendar days during the warranty period will not be counted toward the 11-business day limit if parts are ordered.
• Any repair performed on a covered defect during the warranty period carries its own 30-day warranty. This “defect” warranty begins the day the repair is completed and is valid even after the original car warranty expires.

• If after three repair attempts for the same defect the vehicle is still not fixed, or after the vehicle is out of service for a cumulative of 11 business days for any combination of defects and problems still exists, you have a right to return the vehicle at repurchase price.
• The dealer also has a right to offer to buy back your car instead of making repairs.
• The dealer must make the offer to buy back your car in writing.
• If the dealer offers you a full refund and you refuse to accept it, you will not be entitled to any further warranty repairs.
• You have at least five business days from when you receive the dealer’s offer to decide whether to accept the offer.
• You must cooperate with the dealer to determine the repurchase price by providing relevant receipts and documentation of costs to be reimbursed.

Repurchase Amount:

• The repurchase price for vehicles returned to the seller under the lemon law includes the following:

Calculating the Repurchase Amount:

Vehicle Return Process: 

• If you traded in a vehicle and the dealer still has it, they do have the option of returning it to you rather than refunding the trade-in amount
  • If the dealer has the trade-in and wants to keep it, they must refund you the amount of the trade-in.  
• You and the dealer must resolve any issues preventing the transfer of clear title
  • You must transfer the title back to the dealer by contacting the Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) and explaining that you are returning your vehicle under the Lemon Law and ask that a new title is issued to you as soon as possible.
• If your car is financed, you will need to get a lien release from the finance company
  • The RMV won't give you a title in your name until you provide the lien release
  • The dealer is only responsible to repurchase the vehicle under the terms described above
  • This means that it is possible, if you have negative equity or haven’t yet made many loan payments, that you will need to pay more than the amount of the award to pay the remainder of the loan.

• If the dealership fails to abide by their responsibilities under the lemon law and is refusing to buy the car back, you may apply for state-certified arbitration through The Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation.
• A state-certified arbitrator will hear the case to determine whether the standards for refund are met and order the dealership the buy back the vehicle.
• Both you and the dealership are given the opportunity to present what took place.
• All hearings are held virtually through Microsoft Teams video conferencing platform.
• Requests for arbitration must be made within six months from the date of sale, or the date you took possession of the vehicle.