State lemon law
Kentucky Lemon Law
When a new vehicle keeps failing, Kentucky 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
12
Months covered
12,000
Miles covered
What counts as a lemon in Kentucky
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 12,000 miles of operation or the first 12 months from delivery, whichever is earlier.
- The same defect has been subject to repair four or more times and still exists.
- The vehicle has been out of service for repair of the same defect for a cumulative total of at least 30 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 or leased in Kentucky. An agreement that waives these rights is void as against public policy.
What you have to send the manufacturer
Once the attempts are used up, the buyer must report the defect in writing to the manufacturer.
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
A refund or a replacement vehicle.
The deadline
An action must be commenced within two years of the original delivery. The dispute resolution system has to be used before going to court.
Where it is decided
Kentucky requires the dispute to go through a qualifying dispute resolution system, either the state's own or one meeting the federal standard, before any judicial relief.
Worth knowing
- The 30 days out of service must be for the same defect here, not for any defects added together, which is stricter than most states.
- The periods extend where parts are unavailable because of war, civil unrest, fire, flood or natural disaster.
How Kentucky compares
20 states ask for fewer repair attempts than Kentucky'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.
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 Ky. Rev. Stat. §§ 367.841 to 367.846 and from Kentucky Attorney General, Office of 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.
- Ky. Rev. Stat. § 367.842 (options and the deadline)
- Ky. Rev. Stat. § 367.841 (definitions and the presumption)
- Kentucky Attorney General, Office of 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 Kentucky Attorney General, Office of Consumer Protection, or to a lawyer in Kentucky.
Compiled and maintained by guarledes . Data last checked 2026-08-20.
Independent developer and analyst