What qualifies as a lemon in Illinois?

The same defect has been through at least four repair attempts and still substantially impairs the use, market value or safety of the vehicle. The vehicle has been out of service for a total of 30 or more business days inside the first 12 months or 12,000 miles. These attempts must fall inside the first 12 months or 12,000 miles of ownership, whichever comes first. (New Vehicle Buyer Protection Act, 815 ILCS 380)

State lemon law

Illinois Lemon Law

When a new vehicle keeps failing, Illinois law can require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. These are the numbers the statute actually sets.

Repair attempts

Days out of service

Months covered

12,000

Miles covered

What counts as a lemon in Illinois

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 first 12 months or 12,000 miles of ownership, whichever comes first.

The same defect has been through at least four repair attempts and still substantially impairs the use, market value or safety of the vehicle.
The vehicle has been out of service for a total of 30 or more business days inside the first 12 months or 12,000 miles.

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 vehicles bought in Illinois, where the defect substantially impairs the use, market value or safety of the vehicle.

What you get

A replacement vehicle or the return of the purchase price, decided by the manufacturer's arbitration board. The manufacturer may not dispute the board's decision.

The deadline

The Attorney General states that a Lemon Law complaint has to be filed within 12 months of the purchase date, which is the shortest window on this list after Texas.

Where it is decided

A claim is started through the manufacturer's designated representative rather than through the dealer, and is heard by the manufacturer's arbitration board. Illinois runs no state board of its own.

Worth knowing

Illinois counts 30 business days out of service, which is six working weeks rather than a calendar month.
The board's decision binds the manufacturer but not the consumer.

How Illinois compares

20 states ask for fewer repair attempts than Illinois's 4, and 29 others ask for the same 4. 7 states count fewer days out of service. 0 states stop counting at fewer than 12,000 miles.

Every state's thresholds side by side

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.

Check your VIN for open recalls Look up your year, make and model

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 New Vehicle Buyer Protection Act, 815 ILCS 380 and from Illinois Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division, 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.

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 Illinois Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division, or to a lawyer in Illinois.

Compiled and maintained by guarledes . Data last checked 2026-08-20.
Independent developer and analyst