State lemon law
South Carolina Lemon Law
When a new vehicle keeps failing, South Carolina 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 South Carolina
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 the first 12,000 miles of operation, whichever comes first.
- Three repair attempts for the same defect.
- Thirty or more days out of service for repairs, which do not have to be consecutive.
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 passenger cars, vans, motorcycles and small trucks where the defect impairs the use or substantially lowers the market value of the vehicle.
What you have to send the manufacturer
Every written notification the act requires must be sent by registered, certified or express mail.
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 replacement or a refund, less an allowance for use. The allowance is the full purchase price multiplied by the miles driven before the first report of the defect, divided by 120,000.
The deadline
The defect has to show up inside the first 12 months or 12,000 miles, which is the shortest coverage window on this list.
Worth knowing
- The use allowance stops at the first report of the defect, so the months spent arguing about it are not charged to the owner.
How South Carolina compares
No state on this site asks for fewer than South Carolina'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 Enforcement of Motor Vehicle Express Warranties, S.C. Code §§ 56-28-10 et seq. and from South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs, 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.
- S.C. Code Title 56, Chapter 28
- Lemon Law, SC Department of Consumer Affairs
- Lemon law checklist, SC Department of Consumer Affairs
- South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs
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 South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs, or to a lawyer in South Carolina.
Compiled and maintained by guarledes . Data last checked 2026-08-20.
Independent developer and analyst