Vermont lemon law: when your car is a lemon and how to claim
In Vermont, a new car counts as a lemon after 3 repairs for the same problem or 30 calendar days in the shop within the warranty term. 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 Vermont
Keep every repair order
Get a written repair order at every visit, with the date, mileage and days in the shop. In Vermont, a car is presumed a lemon after 3 repairs for the same problem or 30 calendar days in the shop.
Send the manufacturer a written notice
After the repair attempts (or 30 days out of service), you must notify the manufacturer and any lessor in writing, on the form the manufacturer gives you at delivery, and say whether you choose the state Arbitration Board or the manufacturer's program (9 V.S.A. § 4173(a)). Write your notice letter ↓
Let the manufacturer make its final repair attempt
Before the hearing the manufacturer gets one final repair attempt, which must be finished at least 5 days before the hearing.
Ask for a refund or replacement, use arbitration, or call a lawyer
To get a refund or replacement under the lemon law, you choose the Vermont Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board or the manufacturer’s program. See the Arbitration section below.
When a car is a lemon in Vermont
Your vehicle is presumed a lemon if the same defect has been repaired at least 3 times (with at least the first repair within the warranty) and still exists, or the vehicle has been out of service for repairs a total of 30 or more calendar days during the warranty. Each repair must be shown by a written repair order, and the 3 repairs must be by the same dealer unless you show good cause for using a different one. A vehicle is not counted as out of service if it is available to you for a major part of the day. The defect must substantially impair the vehicle's use, market value or safety. Before the hearing the manufacturer gets one final repair attempt, which must be finished at least 5 days before the hearing.
Period: The term of the manufacturer's express warranty. For the 3-repair test, at least the first repair must happen within the warranty; you must file within 1 year after the warranty expires.
Is your car a lemon in Vermont? A quick check
Notice to the manufacturer
After the repair attempts (or 30 days out of service), you must notify the manufacturer and any lessor in writing, on the form the manufacturer gives you at delivery, and say whether you choose the state Arbitration Board or the manufacturer's program (9 V.S.A. § 4173(a)).
Arbitration
State board or maker program. The lemon-law remedy is decided in arbitration: you choose either the state-run Vermont Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board or the manufacturer's program, and that choice rules out the other. It is free for consumers, and a hearing must be held within 45 days of the notice (extendable by up to 30 days for good cause).
Deadline to sue or file in Vermont
File within 1 year after the manufacturer's express warranty expires (9 V.S.A. § 4179(a)).
What you can get
At your choice, a comparable new replacement vehicle (with adjustment for model-year differences) or a refund of the full purchase price, plus trade-in and down payment credits, finance charges, credit charges, registration fees, similar charges, and incidental and consequential damages. The use deduction is purchase price × miles driven before the first repair attempt ÷ 100,000. The state refunds a proportional share of Vermont purchase and use tax if you file a claim with the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles within 90 days of the order. Lessees get back deposits and payments, minus a use allowance, and the lease ends. The manufacturer must pay within 30 days of the Board's decision (15 days after a final court ruling); if it does not complete the transaction by the order's effective date, you get an extra 10 percent of the award.
Attorney fees: Only in limited cases: the winning party gets attorney fees for getting a Board decision confirmed in court (9 V.S.A. § 4176(a)(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
- Vermont Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board (Vermont DMV)
- Phone
- 802-828-2943
Official page · Official lemon law guide
Forms
What the law covers
- New vehicles
- Yes
- Used vehicles
- Yes
- Leased vehicles
- Yes
- Which vehicles
- Passenger motor vehicles bought, leased or registered in Vermont that are still under the manufacturer's express warranty. Not covered: motorcycles, motor-driven cycles, snowmobiles, tractors, road-building equipment, the living portion of recreation vehicles, and trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating over 12,000 pounds.
- Who can claim
- The buyer (not for resale), a lessee under a lease of 2 years or more, anyone the vehicle is transferred to while the express warranty lasts, and anyone else entitled to enforce the warranty. Government entities and businesses that register or lease 3 or more vehicles are excluded.
Used cars in Vermont
A used vehicle can qualify if the first repair attempt happened while the manufacturer's express warranty was in effect and the other requirements are met, according to the Vermont DMV.
Good to know
- You lose lemon-law remedies if you stop making your loan or lease payments (9 V.S.A. § 4173(b)).
- Returned lemons resold in Vermont must carry a window sticker and a title notice, and a vehicle found to have a serious safety defect cannot be resold in Vermont (9 V.S.A. § 4181).
- The vehicle must be brought to the hearing for inspection or a test drive by Board members.
Questions about Vermont's lemon law
How many repair attempts make a car a lemon in Vermont?
Your vehicle is presumed a lemon if the same defect has been repaired at least 3 times (with at least the first repair within the warranty) and still exists, or the vehicle has been out of service for repairs a total of 30 or more calendar days during the warranty. Each repair must be shown by a written repair order, and the 3 repairs must be by the same dealer unless you show good cause for using a different one. A vehicle is not counted as out of service if it is available to you for a major part of the day. The defect must substantially impair the vehicle's use, market value or safety. Before the hearing the manufacturer gets one final repair attempt, which must be finished at least 5 days before the hearing.
How long does Vermont's lemon law cover a car?
The term of the manufacturer's express warranty. For the 3-repair test, at least the first repair must happen within the warranty; you must file within 1 year after the warranty expires.
Do I have to notify the manufacturer in Vermont?
After the repair attempts (or 30 days out of service), you must notify the manufacturer and any lessor in writing, on the form the manufacturer gives you at delivery, and say whether you choose the state Arbitration Board or the manufacturer's program (9 V.S.A. § 4173(a)).
Do I have to go to arbitration in Vermont?
The lemon-law remedy is decided in arbitration: you choose either the state-run Vermont Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board or the manufacturer's program, and that choice rules out the other. It is free for consumers, and a hearing must be held within 45 days of the notice (extendable by up to 30 days for good cause).
What can I get under Vermont's lemon law?
At your choice, a comparable new replacement vehicle (with adjustment for model-year differences) or a refund of the full purchase price, plus trade-in and down payment credits, finance charges, credit charges, registration fees, similar charges, and incidental and consequential damages. The use deduction is purchase price × miles driven before the first repair attempt ÷ 100,000. The state refunds a proportional share of Vermont purchase and use tax if you file a claim with the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles within 90 days of the order. Lessees get back deposits and payments, minus a use allowance, and the lease ends. The manufacturer must pay within 30 days of the Board's decision (15 days after a final court ruling); if it does not complete the transaction by the order's effective date, you get an extra 10 percent of the award.
Is there a deadline to file a lemon law claim in Vermont?
File within 1 year after the manufacturer's express warranty expires (9 V.S.A. § 4179(a)).
Does Vermont's lemon law cover used cars?
A used vehicle can qualify if the first repair attempt happened while the manufacturer's express warranty was in effect and the other requirements are met, according to the Vermont DMV.
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
- 9 V.S.A. chapter 115 – Motor Vehicle Arbitration
- Vermont DMV – Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board (Lemon Law)
- Vermont DMV – Lemon Law FAQs
- Vermont DMV – Lemon Law Brochure (VX-132)
- Vermont DMV – Lemon Law contact information
Last checked: Oct 22, 2026.
Law: Vermont Lemon Law (Motor Vehicle Arbitration), 9 V.S.A. §§ 4170–4181