New York Used Car Lemon Law: Warranty, Repairs and Refunds

New York's used car lemon law, General Business Law section 198-b, makes a dealer give you a written warranty on most used cars that cost at least $1,500 and have no more than 100,000 miles. The warranty runs 90 days or 4,000 miles up to 36,000 miles on the odometer, 60 days or 3,000 miles below 80,000, and 30 days or 1,000 miles from 80,000 to 100,000. If the dealer can't fix a covered defect in three tries, or the car sits in the shop 15 days or more, you can push for a full refund through the Attorney General's arbitration program. Private sales get none of this.

I read the statute and the Attorney General's guides on the morning of October 17, 2026, and one AG document gets a number wrong (flagged below). This is general information, not legal advice; if real money is on the line, talk to a New York consumer lawyer.

Which cars and sales are covered

The law only reaches a sale or lease by a dealer, and it defines a dealer as anyone who sold or leased three or more used vehicles in the previous 12 months. That catches the guy flipping cars from his driveway, too. The statute carves out banks, an employer selling to its own employee, lease buyouts and government sellers. The AG's used-car lemon law fact sheet lists the rest of the test: the car was bought, leased or transferred after 18,000 miles or two years from original delivery, whichever came first; the price or agreed lease value was at least $1,500; it had fewer than 100,000 miles; and you use it mostly for personal purposes.

Under 18,000 miles, the Bill of Rights printed in the statute points you to the new car lemon law instead. Motor homes, off-road vehicles and historical vehicles are out. Used motorcycles have been covered since September 1, 2004, per the AG's guide.

If you bought from a private seller, the AG is blunt: the lemon law does not protect you. Its FAQ points to small claims court for purchases of $5,000 or less. Before you pay a stranger, read our New York private-sale title transfer guide

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What the warranty has to cover

Section 198-b(b)(2) lists the minimum covered parts, and it's a powertrain-style list, not a full warranty. Engine internals and pumps, transmission and torque converter, drive axles, brake hydraulics and calipers, radiator, steering gear and power steering pump, plus alternator, generator, starter and ignition (battery excluded). A/C and the infotainment screen aren't on the list.

The dealer can repair or reimburse you the reasonable cost. Dealers may also write in exclusions the law allows, such as skipped maintenance, collisions, racing, carrying passengers for hire, or an odometer that's been stopped or altered. What they can't do is make you waive the warranty. Section 198-b(d) voids any waiver, and if the dealer never handed you the warranty, the law treats it as given anyway.

Here is the number problem. Page 4 of the AG's used car lemon law consumer guide (PDF) shows the first mileage band as "60 days or 4,000 miles." The statute text later in that PDF, and the fact sheet, say 90 days. Go with the statute. If a dealer quotes you 60 days on a 30,000-mile car, show them section 198-b(b)(1)(a).

Three repairs or 15 days, then a refund

The law presumes the dealer had a fair shot if the same defect was repaired three or more times within the warranty and persists, or the car was out of service a cumulative 15 or more days during it. Days spent waiting on parts don't count, provided the dealer tried hard to get them, but at 45 total days out of service you qualify regardless. Shop days extend the warranty, and a failure you report before it ends still has to be fixed after it runs out.

A refund means the full purchase price including sales tax, minus a reasonable amount for damage beyond normal wear. The AG's guide says no mileage deduction applies, and the sales tax comes back from the state on form AU-11, not from the dealer. You can turn down a replacement car. The dealer can refuse if the defect doesn't substantially impair the car's value or came from abuse or neglect, so keep every work order.

How arbitration works in New York

You can sue or arbitrate, and either has to start within four years of the car's original delivery to you. If the dealer runs its own dispute program that meets the federal rules at 16 CFR Part 703, it can make you try that first, but that result doesn't bind you. The state program binds both sides. The AG's lemon law program page says the New York State Dispute Resolution Association runs hearings under contract. You email the request form to [email protected] or mail it to the Lemon Law Unit at 28 Liberty Street.

The hearing is supposed to happen within 35 days of the administrator receiving your filing fee. I couldn't find the fee amount on any AG page I read (the statute just says "prescribed"), so ask. If you win and accept the award, the dealer has 30 days to comply, then owes $25 per business day late, capped at $500.

Where a history report fits

None of this tells you whether the car was already somebody's lemon. A manufacturer buyback can come with a title brand, and a CARFAX can show flood or lemon titles plus last reported mileage, per CARFAX's own report page. Our lemon law buyback title brand post covers those brands. The report shows the past; 198-b covers what breaks after you buy. CarVins resells CARFAX and AutoCheck under license and isn't affiliated with either. As of mid October 2026 a single report has been roughly $5.50 for guests or $4.50 for members, about $6.75 for both, against $39.99 to $44.99 retail. The cart shows the real price.

And don't treat 198-b as a change-of-mind return. It only helps with covered defects, which is a different thing from the return myths in our can you return a used car post. The federal Buyers Guide sticker in our FTC Buyers Guide explainer doesn't override state law. An "as-is" box on that sticker doesn't cancel the 198-b warranty either.