Maine lemon law: when your car is a lemon and how to claim
In Maine, a new car counts as a lemon after 3 repairs for the same problem, 1 for a serious safety defect or 15 business days in the shop within the first 36 months or 18,000 miles. First, send the manufacturer a written notice: the free letter below does it.
Checked against official sources: Oct 22, 2026
Your next 4 steps in Maine
Keep every repair order
Get a written repair order at every visit, with the date, mileage and days in the shop. In Maine, a car is presumed a lemon after 3 repairs for the same problem, 1 for a serious safety defect or 15 business days in the shop.
Send the manufacturer a written notice
Send written notice to the manufacturer (or the authorized dealer, who must pass it on) saying you want a refund or replacement. Write your notice letter ↓
Let the manufacturer make its final repair attempt
This starts the manufacturer's 7-business-day final repair chance.
Ask for a refund or replacement, use arbitration, or call a lawyer
If your manufacturer has a dispute program that meets the state’s rules (check your warranty booklet), you may have to use it first. See the Arbitration section below. If you win, the court can make the manufacturer pay your lawyer (see What you can get), so many lemon law lawyers charge nothing up front.
When a car is a lemon in Maine
Within the warranty, 3 years or 18,000 miles (whichever comes first), your vehicle is presumed a lemon if the same defect has been repaired 3 or more times and still exists; if a serious failure of the brakes or steering has been repaired once; or if the vehicle has been out of service for repairs for a total of 15 or more business days (any defects). After that, you must send written notice asking for a refund or replacement, and the manufacturer gets one final chance of 7 business days to fix the vehicle at a repair shop reasonably accessible to you.
Period: You must report the defect during the express warranty, within 3 years of the vehicle's original delivery to a consumer, or within its first 18,000 miles (odometer miles), whichever comes first.
Is your car a lemon in Maine? A quick check
Notice to the manufacturer
Send written notice to the manufacturer (or the authorized dealer, who must pass it on) saying you want a refund or replacement. This starts the manufacturer's 7-business-day final repair chance. For a brake or steering failure, you can send it after one repair attempt. Treat this notice as required: the Attorney General will not accept your application to the State Lemon Law Arbitration Program without it. (Under 10 M.R.S. § 1163(6), a court cannot hold the missing notice against you unless the manufacturer clearly disclosed the requirement and its mailing address in the warranty or owner's manual.) The Attorney General offers a sample notice letter; keep proof of mailing.
Arbitration
Maybe — check your warranty booklet for an arbitration program (e.g. BBB AUTO LINE). If the manufacturer has a federally compliant dispute program, you must first use it or the state program before claiming a refund or replacement. The state program is free; you must apply within 3 years of original delivery or within the warranty term, whichever comes first; a decision is issued within 45 days; and either side can appeal to Superior Court within 21 days.
Maine Lemon Law Arbitration Program (Office of the Attorney General)
Deadline to sue or file in Maine
The chapter sets no lawsuit deadline. State arbitration must be requested within 3 years of original delivery or within the warranty term, whichever comes first (10 M.R.S. § 1169(1)); an appeal of an arbitration decision must be filed in Superior Court within 21 days.
What you can get
The manufacturer must replace the vehicle with a comparable one or take it back and refund you; you may refuse a replacement and take a refund instead. The refund covers the full purchase price (or lease payments made), finance charges paid, collateral charges such as sales tax and registration fees, and reasonable towing, storage and alternative-transportation costs while the vehicle could not be driven. The manufacturer may deduct a use allowance, which can never exceed the lesser of 10% of the purchase price or one-third of the IRS business mileage rate times the miles on your arbitration application plus your miles beyond 20,000.
Attorney fees: A court may award reasonable attorney fees and costs to a consumer who wins a lemon law case, and must award them if a manufacturer appeals a state arbitration award and loses (10 M.R.S. §§ 1167, 1169(5)).
Free lemon law notice letter
Most states require you to tell the manufacturer in writing and give it a last chance to fix the car. Fill this in, download the letter, sign it and mail it to the manufacturer. Keep a copy.
Send it by certified mail with return receipt so you have proof, and keep the receipt.
Who to contact
- Office
- Maine Office of the Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division (Lemon Law Arbitration Program)
- Phone
- 207-626-8848
Official page · Official lemon law guide
Forms
What the law covers
- New vehicles
- Yes
- Used vehicles
- Yes
- Leased vehicles
- Yes
- Which vehicles
- Any motor vehicle sold or leased in Maine that is designed to carry people or property on public roads: cars, vans, trucks, motorcycles and RVs, new or used, as long as the defect is covered by an express warranty. Not covered: vehicles used mainly for commercial purposes with a gross vehicle weight of 8,500 lbs or more.
- Who can claim
- The buyer (not for resale) or lessee, anyone the vehicle is transferred to while an express warranty still applies, and anyone else entitled to enforce the warranty. Government agencies and businesses that register 3 or more vehicles are not covered.
Used cars in Maine
Maine's Lemon Law covers used vehicles still under an express warranty within 3 years/18,000 miles. Separately, dealers must give an inspection warranty on used cars; if a car is sold "as is" with implied warranties properly disclaimed, the only warranty is that it can pass state inspection.
Good to know
- If a manufacturer appeals a state arbitration award without reasonable basis, the court must double the award; if it neither pays nor appeals within 21 days, you can recover at least twice the award (10 M.R.S. § 1169(5), (8)).
- Upon your request, the manufacturer or dealer must give you copies of all repair records and technical bulletins on your vehicle (10 M.R.S. § 1169(9)).
- A buyback lemon must carry a written disclosure on resale, and its title is branded (10 M.R.S. § 1163(7)).
Questions about Maine's lemon law
How many repair attempts make a car a lemon in Maine?
Within the warranty, 3 years or 18,000 miles (whichever comes first), your vehicle is presumed a lemon if the same defect has been repaired 3 or more times and still exists; if a serious failure of the brakes or steering has been repaired once; or if the vehicle has been out of service for repairs for a total of 15 or more business days (any defects). After that, you must send written notice asking for a refund or replacement, and the manufacturer gets one final chance of 7 business days to fix the vehicle at a repair shop reasonably accessible to you.
How long does Maine's lemon law cover a car?
You must report the defect during the express warranty, within 3 years of the vehicle's original delivery to a consumer, or within its first 18,000 miles (odometer miles), whichever comes first.
Do I have to notify the manufacturer in Maine?
Send written notice to the manufacturer (or the authorized dealer, who must pass it on) saying you want a refund or replacement. This starts the manufacturer's 7-business-day final repair chance. For a brake or steering failure, you can send it after one repair attempt. Treat this notice as required: the Attorney General will not accept your application to the State Lemon Law Arbitration Program without it. (Under 10 M.R.S. § 1163(6), a court cannot hold the missing notice against you unless the manufacturer clearly disclosed the requirement and its mailing address in the warranty or owner's manual.) The Attorney General offers a sample notice letter; keep proof of mailing.
Do I have to go to arbitration in Maine?
If the manufacturer has a federally compliant dispute program, you must first use it or the state program before claiming a refund or replacement. The state program is free; you must apply within 3 years of original delivery or within the warranty term, whichever comes first; a decision is issued within 45 days; and either side can appeal to Superior Court within 21 days.
What can I get under Maine's lemon law?
The manufacturer must replace the vehicle with a comparable one or take it back and refund you; you may refuse a replacement and take a refund instead. The refund covers the full purchase price (or lease payments made), finance charges paid, collateral charges such as sales tax and registration fees, and reasonable towing, storage and alternative-transportation costs while the vehicle could not be driven. The manufacturer may deduct a use allowance, which can never exceed the lesser of 10% of the purchase price or one-third of the IRS business mileage rate times the miles on your arbitration application plus your miles beyond 20,000.
Is there a deadline to file a lemon law claim in Maine?
The chapter sets no lawsuit deadline. State arbitration must be requested within 3 years of original delivery or within the warranty term, whichever comes first (10 M.R.S. § 1169(1)); an appeal of an arbitration decision must be filed in Superior Court within 21 days.
Does Maine's lemon law cover used cars?
Maine's Lemon Law covers used vehicles still under an express warranty within 3 years/18,000 miles. Separately, dealers must give an inspection warranty on used cars; if a car is sold "as is" with implied warranties properly disclaimed, the only warranty is that it can pass state inspection.
Car not covered, or the period has passed? Federal warranty law may still help, and small claims court can handle smaller repair bills.
Federal warranty lawSources
- 10 M.R.S. § 1163 – Rights and duties
- 10 M.R.S. § 1161 – Definitions
- 10 M.R.S. § 1165 – Informal dispute settlement
- 10 M.R.S. § 1169 – State motor vehicle dispute arbitration
- Maine Attorney General – Maine Lemon Law
- Maine Attorney General – Buying a Used Vehicle
Last checked: Oct 22, 2026.
Law: Maine Lemon Law, Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 10, §§ 1161–1169