State lemon law
Maryland Lemon Law
When a new vehicle keeps failing, Maryland law can require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. These are the numbers the statute actually sets.
4
Repair attempts
1
If it is a safety defect
30
Days out of service
24
Months covered
18,000
Miles covered
What counts as a lemon in Maryland
Meeting any one of these raises a presumption that the manufacturer has had a reasonable number of attempts. The repairs have to fall inside 24 months or 18,000 miles from delivery, whichever comes first.
- The same problem has been repaired four or more times during the warranty period and still exists.
- A problem with the braking or steering system has been repaired at least once and the vehicle still does not meet Maryland's safety inspection requirements.
- The vehicle could not be used for 30 days or more during the warranty period because of a problem.
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 Maryland, inside the 24-month, 18,000-mile warranty period.
What you have to send the manufacturer
Notice to the manufacturer must go by certified mail, and a copy goes to the Motor Vehicle Administration.
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
At the consumer's option, a comparable vehicle acceptable to them, or the return of the vehicle for a refund of the full purchase price including license and registration fees.
The deadline
The qualifying repairs have to fall inside the warranty period, which Maryland sets at 24 months or 18,000 miles.
Worth knowing
- Maryland singles out brakes and steering: one failed repair is enough where the car will not pass the state safety inspection afterwards.
- The mileage limit, 18,000 miles, is lower than the two-year term suggests for anybody with a long commute.
How Maryland compares
20 states ask for fewer repair attempts than Maryland's 4, and 29 others ask for the same 4. 7 states count fewer days out of service. 8 states stop counting at fewer than 18,000 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 Md. Code, Com. Law §§ 14-1501 to 14-1504 and from Office of the Attorney General of Maryland, 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.
- Md. Code, Com. Law § 14-1502
- Righting your new car's wrongs, Maryland Attorney General
- Office of the Attorney General of Maryland, Consumer Protection Division
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 Office of the Attorney General of Maryland, Consumer Protection Division, or to a lawyer in Maryland.
Compiled and maintained by guarledes . Data last checked 2026-08-20.
Independent developer and analyst