Lemon law in Missouri

At a glance

Who qualifies

Which vehicles

New motor vehicles bought mainly for personal, family, or household use, including demonstrators. Commercial vehicles, off-road vehicles, mopeds, electric bicycles, and motorcycles are not covered. For motor homes, only the chassis, engine, powertrain, and parts are covered.

“the term shall not include vehicles used as a commercial motor vehicle, off-road vehicles, mopeds, electric bicycles as defined in section 300.010 , motorcycles or recreational motor vehicles”

revisor.mo.gov

Repair attempts

The car is presumed a lemon if the same defect has been repaired 4 or more times within the period and still exists.

“The same nonconformity has been subject to repair four or more times by the manufacturer, or its agents, and such nonconformity continues to exist”

revisor.mo.gov

Serious safety defects

The law does not say.

Days out of service

The car is presumed a lemon if it is out of service for repair of the defect a total of 30 or more working days, not counting routine maintenance.

“for a cumulative total of thirty or more working days, exclusive of down time for routine maintenance as prescribed by the manufacturer”

revisor.mo.gov

Used vehicles

Only partly. A later owner is covered if the car was transferred while the original express warranty still applied.

“any person to whom such new motor vehicle is transferred for the same purposes during the duration of an express warranty applicable to such new motor vehicle”

revisor.mo.gov

Leased vehicles

Only lease-purchase vehicles are named, and only if a manufacturer's warranty came with the sale. The law does not mention ordinary leases.

“The term "new motor vehicle" shall also include demonstrators or lease-purchase vehicles as long as a manufacturer's warranty was issued as a condition of sale.”

revisor.mo.gov

Deadlines

Protection period

The manufacturer's express warranty term or 1 year after first delivery, whichever ends first. The law sets no mileage limit of its own.

“during the period of one year following the date of original delivery of the new motor vehicle to a consumer, whichever expires earlier”

revisor.mo.gov

Time limit to file

You must sue within 6 months after the warranty ends or 18 months after first delivery, whichever is earlier. If you used the manufacturer's dispute program, you have 90 days after its final decision.

“shall be commenced within six months following expiration of the terms, conditions, or limitations of the express warranty, or within eighteen months following the date of original delivery”

revisor.mo.gov

Steps

1. Keep every repair order. Each visit to the dealer should give you a work order with the date, the mileage, what you reported and what they did. Ask for one every time, even when they find nothing. These papers are your case.
2. Check the dates. The manufacturer's express warranty term or 1 year after first delivery, whichever ends first. The law sets no mileage limit of its own. You must sue within 6 months after the warranty ends or 18 months after first delivery, whichever is earlier. If you used the manufacturer's dispute program, you have 90 days after its final decision.
3. Tell the manufacturer in writing. The law asks for written notice. See written notice below.
4. Use the dispute program if one is required. See arbitration below for whether you must go there before court.
5. Ask for a refund or a replacement, or file. Send the letter, then file before the time limit if the manufacturer will not buy the vehicle back or replace it.

Written notice

Yes. You must notify the manufacturer in writing before using the law, and the manufacturer then gets 10 calendar days at a repair shop to fix the car.

“to give written notification to the manufacturer of the need for the repair of the nonconformity, in order to allow the manufacturer an opportunity to cure the alleged defect”

revisor.mo.gov

Arbitration

If the manufacturer has a dispute program that meets federal rules (16 CFR 703), you must use it before you can get a refund or replacement. The state does not run its own program.

“provisions of sections 407.560 to 407.579 concerning refunds or replacements shall not apply to any consumer who has not first resorted to such procedure”

revisor.mo.gov

What you get

The manufacturer chooses either a comparable new replacement or a full refund including sales tax, license, registration, and title fees, minus a reasonable allowance for your use. The law sets no per-mile figure.

“the manufacturer shall, at its option, either replace the new motor vehicle with a comparable new vehicle acceptable to the consumer, or take title of the vehicle from the consumer and refund to the consumer the full purchase price”

revisor.mo.gov

Do it yourself

You can bring a lemon law claim without a lawyer. It takes letters, records and patience. The usual route:

1. Put your repair orders in date order and count the attempts and the days out of service.
2. Send the manufacturer the letter below, by a tracked method, to the address in your owner's manual or warranty booklet.
3. If it offers a final repair, let it try within the time the law gives it.
4. If it refuses or does not answer, file with the manufacturer's dispute program or the state program (Missouri Attorney General's Office, Consumer Protection Division), then court if you need to.
5. Do not sell or trade in the vehicle while the claim is open.

[Your name]
[Your address]
[Date]

[Manufacturer name]
[Address from your owner's manual or warranty booklet]

Re: Lemon law claim, [year make model], VIN [VIN]

I bought (or leased) this vehicle on [date] from [dealer], in Missouri. It has a defect that the dealer has not been able to fix: [describe it in one or two sentences].

It has been in for repair of this defect [number] times, on [dates], and out of service for a total of [number] days. Copies of the repair orders are enclosed.

Under Missouri New Motor Vehicle Warranty Law (Lemon Law) (Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 407.560 to 407.579), I ask you to repurchase or replace the vehicle. Please reply in writing within 15 days. I can bring the vehicle in for a final repair attempt if the law gives you one.

[Your name]
[Phone and email]

What a buyback pays in Missouri

The law asks for a reasonable allowance for your use without a fixed formula. Makers and courts often use the one several states write into law: the price times the miles driven before the first repair visit for the defect, divided by 120,000. For a $40,000 car with 6,000 miles at the first repair and 15,000 now, that is about $2,000.

Estimate your buyback

Questions people ask about Missouri's lemon law

Find a Missouri lemon law lawyer

Yes. If you win in court after following the law's steps, the court must award your costs and attorney fees. But if you recover less than 10 percent more than the manufacturer's earlier settlement offer, you can owe its costs and fees.

“including attorney's fees based on actual time expended, determined by the court to have been reasonably incurred by the plaintiff”

revisor.mo.gov

Because the manufacturer usually pays the lawyer's fees when you win, most lemon law lawyers charge you nothing up front. A lawyer also knows what the manufacturer offers in cases like yours and what the use deduction should be.

Send the free case check below and we find a lemon law firm that takes Missouri cases like yours. The firm contacts you, and you decide whether to hire them.

Sources

• Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 407.560 to 407.579, Missouri New Motor Vehicle Warranty Law (Lemon Law)
• Missouri Attorney General's Office, Consumer Protection Division
• Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2310, the federal warranty law that also lets owners recover attorney fees.

Each quote above is copied from the page it links to, checked 2026-10-26. If a page has moved, the citation still finds the law.