Michigan lemon law: when your car is a lemon and how to claim

Your next 4 steps in Michigan

1. Keep every repair order

   Get a written repair order at every visit, with the date, mileage and days in the shop. In Michigan, a car is presumed a lemon after 4 repairs for the same problem or 30 days in the shop.

2. Send the manufacturer a written notice

   Before claiming a refund or replacement, send the manufacturer written notice of the need for repair by return receipt service (e.g. certified mail, return receipt). Write your notice letter ↓

3. Let the manufacturer make its final repair attempt

   The manufacturer must then tell you which repair facility to use and gets 5 business days to fix the vehicle.

4. 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 Michigan

Your vehicle is presumed a lemon if the same defect that substantially impairs its use or value has been repaired 4 or more times within 2 years of the first repair attempt and still exists, or if it has been out of service for repairs for a total of 30 or more days (or parts of days), for any defects, during the warranty or the first year after delivery, whichever is earlier. Before you get a remedy, the manufacturer gets one final chance: after you send written notice, it names a reasonably accessible repair facility and has 5 business days after the vehicle is delivered there to fix it.

Period: You must first report the defect to the manufacturer or a dealer during the manufacturer's express warranty or within 1 year of delivery to the original buyer, whichever ends first. Repairs reported in time must be made even after the warranty expires.

Is your car a lemon in Michigan? A quick check

Notice to the manufacturer

Before claiming a refund or replacement, send the manufacturer written notice of the need for repair by return receipt service (e.g. certified mail, return receipt). You can send it any time after the third repair attempt for the same defect, or after the vehicle has been out of service for at least 25 days. The manufacturer must then tell you which repair facility to use and gets 5 business days to fix the vehicle.

Write your notice letter below.

Arbitration

Maybe — check your warranty booklet for an arbitration program (e.g. BBB AUTO LINE). If the manufacturer runs or takes part in an informal dispute program that meets federal rules (such as BBB AUTO LINE), you must use it first. Its decision binds the manufacturer only if you accept it, and you can still sue. Michigan has no state-run lemon arbitration.

Deadline to sue or file in Michigan

The Michigan Lemon Law sets no deadline of its own to sue (MCL 257.1401–257.1410). A lawsuit for breach of the car's warranty under Michigan's commercial code generally must be filed within 4 years after the breach, which for a warranty is usually when the car was delivered to you; the sale contract may shorten this to as little as 1 year (MCL 440.2725). Check your contract and talk to a lemon law lawyer well before then.

What you can get

Within 30 days the manufacturer must, for a purchase, either replace the vehicle with a comparable one currently in production and acceptable to you or refund the purchase price (you may demand a refund). For a lease, you get a refund of the lease price paid, or a replacement if you agree. The price includes the vehicle sales price, cash paid, trade-in allowance, manufacturer-installed options, other manufacturer charges, sales tax, license, registration and similar government fees (minus manufacturer rebates and incentives). Deductions: damage beyond normal use, and a use allowance = price × (miles before your first defect report + miles beyond 25,000) ÷ 100,000. You also get towing and rental-car costs caused by the defect if they were not provided free. A lessor cannot charge an early-termination fee.

Attorney fees: A court may award a consumer who wins costs and expenses, including attorney fees based on actual time spent, unless it finds such an award inappropriate (MCL 257.1407(2)).

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

Michigan Department of Attorney General, Consumer Protection Team

Phone

877-765-8388

Official page · Official lemon law guide

Questions about Michigan's lemon law

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