State lemon law
South Dakota Lemon Law
When a new vehicle keeps failing, South Dakota 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 South Dakota
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 the original delivery or the first 12,000 miles, whichever comes first, which south dakota calls the lemon law rights period.
- The same defect has been through four or more repair attempts, at least one of them inside the rights period, plus a final attempt by the manufacturer, and it still exists.
- The vehicle has been out of service in the custody of the manufacturer or a dealer for repair attempts including the final one, at least one of them inside the rights period, for a cumulative total of 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 where the defect significantly impairs the use, value or safety and arose in ordinary use, rather than from an accident, abuse or an unauthorized modification.
What you have to send the manufacturer
Notice of the defect must be a written statement to the manufacturer describing the vehicle, the defect, and every previous attempt to fix it, naming who made each attempt and when.
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 vehicle or a refund, once the final repair attempt has failed.
The deadline
At least one repair attempt has to fall inside the rights period: one year or 12,000 miles, whichever comes first.
Worth knowing
- The final repair attempt is part of the test rather than a step after it, so the count is four attempts plus one.
- The notice South Dakota requires is unusually specific: it has to list every previous repair attempt, who made it and when.
How South Dakota compares
20 states ask for fewer repair attempts than South Dakota'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 Manufacturer's Warranty, S.D. Codified Laws ch. 32-6D and from South Dakota Consumer Protection, Office of the Attorney General, 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.D. Codified Laws ch. 32-6D
- S.D. Codified Laws § 32-6D-1 (definitions)
- Automotive fast facts, South Dakota Consumer Protection
- South Dakota Consumer Protection, Office of the Attorney General
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 Dakota Consumer Protection, Office of the Attorney General, or to a lawyer in South Dakota.
Compiled and maintained by guarledes . Data last checked 2026-08-20.
Independent developer and analyst