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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: South Dakota
What model year is it?
Who pays the lawyer? In South Dakota, an owner who wins can 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