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Lemon law buyback calculator
When a car is a lemon, the maker buys it back: the price, the taxes and fees, and costs like towing, minus a deduction for the miles you drove before the trouble began. Each state sets that deduction its own way.
How the deduction works
Most states take off a share of the price for the miles you drove before the first repair visit for the defect: the price times those miles, divided by 120,000 (some use 100,000). A few charge cents per mile with a cap, a few count all miles, and Ohio and West Virginia set no deduction. Where a state's law only says "a reasonable allowance", we use the common formula and say so.
| State | Deduction | From |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Alaska | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Arizona | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Arkansas | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| California | miles ÷ 120,000 | The law |
| Colorado | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Connecticut | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Delaware | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| District of Columbia | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Florida | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Georgia | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Hawaii | miles ÷ 100,000 | The law |
| Idaho | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Illinois | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Indiana | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Iowa | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Kansas | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Kentucky | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Louisiana | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Maine | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Maryland | miles ÷ 120,000, max 15% | Common formula |
| Massachusetts | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Michigan | miles ÷ 120,000 (+ miles over 25,000) | Common formula |
| Minnesota | 10¢ a mile, max 10% | The law |
| Mississippi | 20¢ a mile | The law |
| Missouri | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Montana | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Nebraska | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Nevada | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| New Hampshire | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| New Jersey | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| New Mexico | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| New York | miles ÷ 120,000, over 12,000 | Common formula |
| North Carolina | miles ÷ 120,000 | The law |
| North Dakota | 10¢ a mile, max 10% | The law |
| Ohio | None | The law |
| Oklahoma | miles ÷ 120,000, over 15,000 | The law |
| Oregon | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Pennsylvania | 10¢ a mile, max 10% | The law |
| Rhode Island | miles ÷ 100,000 | The law |
| South Carolina | miles ÷ 120,000 | The law |
| South Dakota | miles ÷ 100,000 | The law |
| Tennessee | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Texas | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Utah | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Vermont | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Virginia | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
| Washington | miles ÷ 120,000 | The law |
| West Virginia | None | The law |
| Wisconsin | miles ÷ 100,000 | The law |
| Wyoming | miles ÷ 120,000 | Common formula |
Is your car a lemon?
The buyback only applies if the car qualifies. Check it against your state's numbers in about ten taps.
Your state: Montana
What model year is it?
Who pays the lawyer? Montana's lemon law shifts fees only in some cases, but federal warranty law lets an owner who wins make the maker pay the lawyer.* * So most lemon law lawyers ask nothing up front. Some charge costs, or a share of a settlement: ask before you sign. You never pay us. More