What qualifies as a lemon in Washington?

The same serious safety defect has been subject to diagnosis or repair two or more times, at least one of them during the warranty, and still exists. The same defect has been subject to diagnosis or repair four or more times, at least one of them during the warranty, and still exists. The vehicle has been out of service for diagnosis or repair for a cumulative total of 30 calendar days, at least 15 of them during the warranty. Two or more different serious safety defects within a twelve-month period, each subject to at least one repair attempt, at least one of which falls during the warranty. These attempts must fall inside arbitration must be requested within 30 months of delivery, and at least one repair attempt has to fall inside the manufacturer's written warranty. (Motor Vehicle Warranties, RCW ch. 19.118)

State lemon law

Washington Lemon Law

When a new vehicle keeps failing, Washington law can require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. These are the numbers the statute actually sets.

Repair attempts

If it is a safety defect

Days out of service

Months covered

What counts as a lemon in Washington

Meeting any one of these raises a presumption that the manufacturer has had a reasonable number of attempts. The repairs have to fall inside arbitration must be requested within 30 months of delivery, and at least one repair attempt has to fall inside the manufacturer's written warranty.

The same serious safety defect has been subject to diagnosis or repair two or more times, at least one of them during the warranty, and still exists.
The same defect has been subject to diagnosis or repair four or more times, at least one of them during the warranty, and still exists.
The vehicle has been out of service for diagnosis or repair for a cumulative total of 30 calendar days, at least 15 of them during the warranty.
Two or more different serious safety defects within a twelve-month period, each subject to at least one repair attempt, at least one of which falls during the warranty.

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 whose manufacturer's written warranty runs at least one year or 12,000 miles, whichever comes first. Washington separates a serious safety defect, meaning a life-threatening malfunction affecting control of the vehicle or a fire or explosion risk, from other defects, and asks for half as many attempts.

What you get

At the consumer's option, replacement with an identical or reasonably equivalent vehicle with the taxes and fees paid, or repurchase at the purchase price with collateral and incidental charges, less an offset for use. The offset is the miles driven before the first repair attempt multiplied by the purchase price and divided by 120,000, or by 90,000 for a motor home and 25,000 for a motorcycle.

The deadline

A request for arbitration must reach the Attorney General within 30 months of the original delivery of the vehicle.

Where it is decided

The Attorney General runs the arbitration program and screens requests for eligibility. Washington is one of the few states where the state, rather than the manufacturer, hears the case.

Worth knowing

The two-attempt safety test can also be met by two different serious safety defects inside a year, which no other state on this list allows.
The 30 days out of service are not enough on their own: at least 15 of them have to fall inside the written warranty.

How Washington compares

20 states ask for fewer repair attempts than Washington's 4, and 29 others ask for the same 4. 7 states count fewer days out of service. Washington sets no mileage limit at all, which is unusual: most states end the window at a mileage as well as a date.

Every state's thresholds side by side

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.

Check your VIN for open recalls Look up your year, make and model

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 Motor Vehicle Warranties, RCW ch. 19.118 and from Washington State Attorney General, Lemon Law Program, 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.

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 Washington State Attorney General, Lemon Law Program, or to a lawyer in Washington.

Compiled and maintained by guarledes . Data last checked 2026-08-20.
Independent developer and analyst