Lemon law in South Carolina

At a glance

Who qualifies

Which vehicles

New private passenger vehicles and motorcycles (including three-wheel motorcycles) sold and registered in South Carolina and normally used for personal, family, or household purposes. The living area of recreational vehicles and off-road vehicles are not covered.

“a private passenger motor vehicle, as classified by Section 56-3-630, but excluding the living portion of recreational vehicles and off-road vehicles, which is sold and registered in this State”

scstatehouse.gov

Repair attempts

The car is presumed a lemon if the same defect has been repaired three or more times during the warranty and still exists.

“the same nonconformity has been subject to repair three or more times by the manufacturer, or its agent, within the express warranty term, but the nonconformity continues to exist”

scstatehouse.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 repairs for a total of 30 or more calendar days during the warranty.

“the vehicle is out of service by reason of repair for a cumulative total of thirty or more calendar days during the express warranty.”

scstatehouse.gov

Used vehicles

No. The law covers only new vehicles, including dealer demonstrators that have not been titled.

“has not been used for other than demonstration purposes and on which the original title has not been issued from the new motor vehicle dealer.”

scstatehouse.gov

Leased vehicles

Yes. The law refers to vehicles purchased or leased by the consumer.

“The cost of the arbitration board must be borne by the manufacturer of the vehicle purchased or leased by the consumer.”

scstatehouse.gov

Deadlines

Protection period

Defects that show up in the first 12 months after purchase or the first 12,000 miles, whichever comes first, and are reported during the warranty.

“If a new motor vehicle does not conform to all applicable express warranties within the first twelve months of purchase or the first twelve thousand miles of operation, whichever occurs first”

scstatehouse.gov

Time limit to file

You must file a lawsuit within three years after the vehicle was first delivered to you.

“Any action brought under this chapter must be commenced within three years following the date of original delivery of the motor vehicle to the consumer.”

scstatehouse.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. Defects that show up in the first 12 months after purchase or the first 12,000 miles, whichever comes first, and are reported during the warranty. You must file a lawsuit within three years after the vehicle was first delivered to you.
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

If the manufacturer told you about this requirement at the time of sale, you must notify it in writing, by registered, certified, or express mail, and give it a final chance to fix the car within 10 business days.

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

scstatehouse.gov

Arbitration

If the manufacturer has a dispute program that meets federal rules, you must use it before you can get a refund or replacement under this law. The law lets the Department of Consumer Affairs set up a state arbitration board for manufacturers that do not have their own program.

“the provisions of Section 56-28-40 concerning refunds or replacement do not apply to any consumer who has not first resorted to those procedures or to the alternate procedure provided in Section 56-28-90.”

scstatehouse.gov

What you get

The manufacturer must replace the car with a comparable one or, at its option, refund the full purchase price plus finance charges, sales tax, and license and registration fees. It may deduct for use before your first report: the price times miles driven, divided by 120,000.

“must be calculated by multiplying the full purchase price of the vehicle by a fraction having as its denominator one hundred twenty thousand and having as its numerator the number of miles that the vehicle traveled before the first report of nonconformity.”

scstatehouse.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 (South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs), 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 South Carolina. 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 Enforcement of Motor Vehicle Express Warranties (South Carolina Lemon Law) (S.C. Code Ann. §§ 56-28-10 to 56-28-110), 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 South Carolina

The refund is reduced for your use of the car: 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 South Carolina's lemon law

Find a South Carolina lemon law lawyer

Yes. If you win, the court may award your costs and attorney fees based on actual time spent, unless it decides that would be inappropriate.

“a sum equal to the aggregate amount of cost and expenses (including attorney's fees based on actual time expended)”

scstatehouse.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 South Carolina cases like yours. The firm contacts you, and you decide whether to hire them.

Sources

• S.C. Code Ann. §§ 56-28-10 to 56-28-110, Enforcement of Motor Vehicle Express Warranties (South Carolina Lemon Law)
• South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs
• 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.