North Carolina lemon law

The North Carolina lemon law (known also as the New Motor Vehicles Warranties Act) applies to all new motor vehicles sold in the state that are under ten,000 pounds. The law covers vehicles that are either bought or leased.


As per the North Carolina lemon law, if a vehicle has a serious defect that prevents it from conforming to its warranty & the consumer reports the issue within the express warranty period, the manufacturer has the duty to repair the nonconformity. A serious nonconformity is that substantially affects the vehicle's use, value, or safety. If the manufacturer is unable to repair the nonconformity after a reasonable number of attempts, the vehicle must be repurchased or replaced at the discretion of the consumer. The manufacturer is presumed to have had a reasonable chance to repair the nonconformity after four unsuccessful attempts to repair the same nonconformity, or after twenty business days in which the vehicle was out of commission to repair or a series of non-conformities.

In order for this presumption to apply, the consumer has to notify the manufacturer in writing of the defect, & give the manufacturer up to 15 days to make repairs. The consumer must also give the manufacturer written notice of intent to file a claim under North Carolina lemon law at least ten days before submitting the claim.

The manufacturer has no liability if the nonconformity was caused by abuse, odometer tampering, or modification by the consumer. Additionally, the defect must have become apparent within the first 24 months or 24,000 miles.

If a vehicle that was bought by a consumer is repurchased by the manufacturer under North Carolina lemon law, the manufacturer must pay the full purchase cost of the vehicle including charges for service contracts & warranty(s), dealer preparation & delivery, installed options, tax, tags, & registration, finance charges incurred after the consumer first reported the nonconformity, & any costs that were a direct consequence of the nonconformity.

Before filing a North Carolina lemon law claim with the judiciary process, the consumer must try to resolve the issue with the manufacturer's settlement board, if it's, & if the board is certified & information about the lemon law method was included with the warranty at the time of sale.

If a leased vehicle is repurchased under North Carolina lemon law, the lessee (consumer) will receive a sum that includes all payments made on the lease, including tax, tags, registration, & other government fees paid on obtaining the lease, & any costs that were a direct consequence of the nonconformity. The reasonable offset for usage of the vehicle is subtracted from this total, as calculated above.

The manufacturer is entitled to a reasonable offset for the consumer's use of the vehicle. The offset is calculated by dividing the number of miles driven by the consumer by 100,000, & multiplying the result by the acquisition cost.