State lemon law
Arizona Lemon Law
When a new vehicle keeps failing, Arizona law can require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. These are the numbers the statute actually sets.
4
Repair attempts
30
Days out of service
24
Months covered
24,000
Miles covered
What counts as a lemon in Arizona
Meeting any one of these raises a presumption that the manufacturer has had a reasonable number of attempts. The repairs have to fall inside the shorter of the express warranty term or two years or 24,000 miles, whichever comes first.
- The same defect has been subject to repair four or more times and still exists.
- The vehicle has been out of service for repair for a cumulative total of 30 or more calendar days.
Failing all of these does not end a claim. The presumption is a shortcut through the evidence, not the whole of the law, and a vehicle that misses it can still be a lemon on ordinary warranty grounds. It does mean the owner has to prove what the presumption would have assumed.
Which vehicles the law reaches
New motor vehicles bought in Arizona. A 2026 amendment expanded the definition of consumer to include people leasing a vehicle rather than buying it.
What you have to send the manufacturer
The presumption only applies where the manufacturer had prior direct written notice of the defect from the consumer and an opportunity to repair it.
Keep every repair order. The dates a vehicle went in and came out are what the whole test is counted from, and they are the one part of the record the owner controls.
What you get
Replacement with a new vehicle, or the return of the vehicle for a refund of the full purchase price, less an allowance for use. The allowance covers use before the first written report of the defect and any later period when the vehicle was not off the road for repair.
The deadline
The statute sets the window the attempts must fall in rather than a filing deadline of its own: the warranty term, or two years, or 24,000 miles, whichever ends first.
Used cars
Arizona separately gives used car buyers an implied warranty of merchantability from licensed dealers, which is unusual (§ 44-1267).
Worth knowing
- The clock is measured on whichever ends first of three things, so a long warranty does not extend the two-year limit.
- The use allowance stops running while the vehicle is out of service for repair.
How Arizona compares
20 states ask for fewer repair attempts than Arizona's 4, and 29 others ask for the same 4. 7 states count fewer days out of service. 15 states stop counting at fewer than 24,000 miles.
Before you file: what is already on record
A lemon law claim is about your car. What other owners have reported about the same year, make and model is separate, and it is public: it can tell you whether the failure is a known pattern, whether NHTSA is investigating it, and whether a recall already covers the repair you have been paying for.
Under investigation 2010 Ford Fusion 2012 Ford Focus 2011 Hyundai Sonata 2013 Ford F-150 2010 Toyota Prius 2011 Ford Fusion
Where this comes from
Read from Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 44-1261 to 44-1267 and from Arizona Attorney General, Consumer Protection, checked on 2026-08-20. Nothing on this page is copied from another summary, and there are a great many of them that disagree with the statutes they describe.
- A.R.S. § 44-1264 (the presumption)
- A.R.S. § 44-1263 (replacement or refund)
- A.R.S. § 44-1262 (repair during the warranty)
- Auto purchases, Arizona Attorney General
- Arizona Attorney General, Consumer Protection
This is not legal advice. It is a reading of a public statute, written by somebody who is not a lawyer and does not know your car, your paperwork or your state's case law. A lemon law claim turns on facts this page cannot see. Take the statute and your repair orders to Arizona Attorney General, Consumer Protection, or to a lawyer in Arizona.
Compiled and maintained by guarledes . Data last checked 2026-08-20.
Independent developer and analyst