State lemon law
Pennsylvania Lemon Law
When a new vehicle keeps failing, Pennsylvania law can require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. These are the numbers the statute actually sets.
3
Repair attempts
30
Days out of service
12
Months covered
12,000
Miles covered
What counts as a lemon in Pennsylvania
Meeting any one of these raises a presumption that the manufacturer has had a reasonable number of attempts. The repairs have to fall inside one year from delivery, 12,000 miles of use, or the end of the express warranty, whichever comes first.
- The same defect has been subject to repair three times and still exists.
- The vehicle has been out of service for any defects 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 vehicles bought or leased in Pennsylvania and covered by a manufacturer's express warranty, where the defect substantially impairs the use, value or safety of the vehicle.
What you get
At the purchaser's option, replacement with a comparable vehicle of equal value, or the return of the vehicle for a refund of the full purchase or lease price including collateral charges, less an allowance for use that may not exceed ten cents a mile driven or ten percent of the price, whichever is less. Payment is due within 30 days of the purchaser's election.
The deadline
The act does not set a filing deadline of its own. What it sets is the window the defect has to appear in: one year, 12,000 miles, or the end of the warranty, whichever comes first.
Worth knowing
- Pennsylvania caps the deduction for use, at ten cents a mile or ten percent of the price, whichever is less. Most states divide by 100,000 or 120,000 miles instead, with no cap.
- The 30 days out of service can be for any defects added together, not just for the one being claimed.
How Pennsylvania compares
No state on this site asks for fewer than Pennsylvania's 3 repair attempts, and 19 others ask for the same 3. 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 Automobile Lemon Law, Act 28 of 1984, 73 P.S. §§ 1951-1963 and from Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Bureau 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.
- Act 28 of 1984, the Automobile Lemon Law
- Automobile Lemon Law, PA Office of Attorney General
- Lemon Law Protection fact sheet, PennDOT
- Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Bureau 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 Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Bureau of Consumer Protection, or to a lawyer in Pennsylvania.
Compiled and maintained by guarledes . Data last checked 2026-08-20.
Independent developer and analyst