Iowa Lemon Law: Do You Qualify?

Iowa lemon law at a glance

Coverage window

The "lemon law rights period": the term of the manufacturer’s written warranty, two years after original delivery, or the first 24,000 miles of operation attributable to a consumer, whichever expires first. Miles on the vehicle before it was delivered to a consumer are not counted. If a defect reported during that period has not been cured when it ends, the presumption terms are extended up to two years after delivery or 24,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Repair attempts

A reasonable number of attempts is presumed after the same defect that substantially impairs the vehicle has been examined or repaired at least 3 times, or at least 1 time for a defect likely to cause death or serious bodily injury, plus a final manufacturer attempt if one is undertaken, and the defect still exists.

Substantial impairment

"Substantially impair" means to render the vehicle unfit, unreliable, or unsafe for warranted or ordinary use, or to significantly diminish its value. It is an element of the presumptions and an affirmative defense that the defects do not substantially impair the vehicle.

Days out of service

30 or more cumulative calendar days out of service for repair of defects that substantially impair the vehicle, not counting routine maintenance and extended by any days repair services were not available because of war, invasion, strike, fire, flood or natural disaster. Twenty or more days lets you give the manufacturer written notice and a further ten days out of service to fix it.

Written notice

You may give the manufacturer written notice by certified or registered mail or overnight service. The manufacturer then has ten days after receiving it to offer a repair facility and ten days after you deliver the vehicle to fix it. If the manufacturer has no certified dispute program, the notice is needed before you sue. The Attorney General publishes a Motor Vehicle Defect Notification Form and says to notify both the manufacturer and the corresponding dispute resolution program "through the available portal, email, or certified mail"; the statute’s methods are certified or registered mail or overnight service.

Dispute program

If the manufacturer has a program certified by the Attorney General and told you how and where to file, the refund-or-replacement provision does not apply to a consumer who has not first used it. The program must decide within sixty days of your notification (sixty-seven if you had not already notified the manufacturer of the defect). The Attorney General publishes a list of manufacturers’ national offices and dispute resolution programs.

Deadline to sue

Within one year from the end of the lemon law rights period or its extension; both end at 24,000 miles of operation attributable to a consumer if that comes first. After a dispute-program decision, within six months after the date the decision says the manufacturer must act; an appeal of a decision is due within fifty days of receiving it or twenty-five days from your acceptance, whichever is first.

Used vehicles

The law covers a "new or previously untitled" vehicle, and also another person entitled by the terms of the warranty to enforce it during the lemon law rights period, which still runs from the original delivery. A "warranty" is the manufacturer’s written warranty or promise, "excluding statements made by the dealer". Iowa has no separate used-vehicle lemon law.

Vehicles not covered

A "motor vehicle" is a self-propelled vehicle primarily designed for transporting persons or property over public streets and highways. Mopeds, motorcycles, autocycles, motor homes and vehicles over 15,000 pounds GVWR are excluded.

Defenses

The manufacturer can raise as affirmative defenses that the defects do not substantially impair the vehicle, that a defect results from an accident, abuse, neglect, or unauthorized modification or alteration by someone other than the manufacturer or its authorized service agent, that the claim was not filed in good faith, and any other defense allowed by law.

Dealers and repair records

The chapter, except for its resale provisions, imposes no liability on a franchised dealer, and a dealer is not made a defendant. Each time the vehicle comes back after an examination or repair, the manufacturer or its service agent must give you an itemized repair order with the diagnosis, the work, the date and the odometer reading. A manufacturer or its service agent may not refuse to examine or repair a defect to avoid liability under the chapter.

Waivers and other rights

An agreement by a consumer that waives, limits, or disclaims the chapter’s rights is void. The chapter does not prohibit a consumer from pursuing other rights or remedies under any other law.

Iowa lemon law: frequently asked questions

How many repair attempts does the Iowa lemon law require?

The presumption of a reasonable number of attempts arises after the same defect has been examined or repaired at least three times, or at least once for a defect likely to cause death or serious bodily injury, plus a final manufacturer attempt if undertaken, and the defect still exists. It also arises at thirty or more cumulative days out of service. The Attorney General’s guide mentions 20 days, but in the statute twenty days is only the notice threshold.

Do I have to send the manufacturer a notice?

The statute says you "may" give written notice by certified or registered mail or overnight service, after three attempts, one safety attempt, or twenty days out of service. It is required to sue where the manufacturer has no certified dispute program. If the manufacturer fails to offer a repair facility or to repair within ten days, the final-attempt requirement does not apply.

Must I use the manufacturer’s dispute program first?

Only if the manufacturer has a program certified by the Iowa Attorney General and has told you how and where to file a claim. In that case the refund-or-replacement provision does not apply to a consumer who has not first resorted to it. Where there is no certified program, none is required.

How long do I have to sue under the Iowa lemon law?

Generally one year from the end of the lemon law rights period or its extension. If you used a certified program, you have six months after the date the decision says the manufacturer must fulfill it, and an appeal of a decision must be filed within fifty days of receiving it, or twenty-five days from your acceptance, whichever occurs first.

What can I recover if my car qualifies in Iowa?

You choose between a replacement vehicle acceptable to you and a refund of the full purchase or lease price, less a reasonable offset for use, plus collateral and reasonably incurred incidental charges. In an action under § 322G.8(1) or (2), a consumer who prevails is awarded pecuniary loss, reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. The statute does not limit other rights or remedies under other law.

Statutes cited on this page

• Iowa Code § 322G.2(3) (Consumer: purchaser or lessee of a new or previously untitled motor vehicle)
• Iowa Code § 322G.2(8) (Lemon law rights period: warranty term, two years, or 24,000 miles, whichever expires first)
• Iowa Code § 322G.2(13) (Motor vehicle: excludes mopeds, motorcycles, autocycles, motor homes and vehicles over 15,000 pounds GVWR)
• Iowa Code § 321.1(6A) (Autocycle: three-wheeled, two front wheels, a steering wheel; excluded by § 322G.2(13))
• Iowa Code § 322G.2(9) (Lessee: a lease of one year or more under a written lease making the lessee responsible for repairs)
• Iowa Code § 322G.15(2) (Vehicles bought or leased in Iowa, or elsewhere if the consumer is an Iowa resident)
• Iowa Code § 322G.2(14) (Nonconformity: a defect that fails to conform to the warranty, not one that results from accident, abuse, neglect, modification or alteration by others)
• Iowa Code § 322G.2(20) (Substantially impair: unfit, unreliable or unsafe for warranted or ordinary use, or significantly diminished value)
• Iowa Code § 322G.4(3)(a)(1) (Presumption: same nonconformity examined or repaired at least three times)
• Iowa Code § 322G.4(3)(a)(2) (Presumption: a nonconformity likely to cause death or serious bodily injury examined or repaired at least one time)
• Iowa Code § 322G.4(3)(a)(3) (Presumption: thirty or more cumulative days out of service)
• Iowa Code § 322G.4(3)(b) (Extension of the terms for an uncured reported nonconformity)
• Iowa Code § 322G.4(1) (Written notification and the manufacturer's final attempt to cure)
• Iowa Attorney General, Vehicles & Travel page (guidance: notify the manufacturer and the dispute resolution program)
• Iowa Attorney General, Motor Vehicle Defect Notification Form (guidance: the three situations that open the notice)
• Iowa Code § 322G.6(11) (Certified dispute program: resort first)
• Iowa Code § 322G.8(1) (Court action within one year from the end of the lemon law rights period)
• Iowa Code § 322G.2(18) (Reasonable offset for use: miles times purchase price, divided by 120,000)
• Iowa Code § 322G.2(1) (Collateral charges: installed items, earned finance charges, use taxes, title charges)
• Iowa Code § 322G.2(6) (Incidental charges: towing and alternative transportation; not loss of use, loss of income or personal injury)
• Iowa Code § 322G.4(2)(b) (Refunds to the consumer and lienholder, or to the lessee and lessor; no early-termination penalty; use tax refunded to the manufacturer)
• Iowa Code § 322G.5 (Affirmative defenses)
• Iowa Code § 322G.11 (A franchised dealer has no liability under the chapter and is not made a defendant)
• Iowa Code § 322G.3(4) (An itemized repair order each time the vehicle is returned) and § 322G.4(4) (no refusal to repair to avoid liability)
• Iowa Code § 322G.13 (A waiver of the chapter’s rights is void)
• Iowa Code § 322G.8(9) (Other rights or remedies under any other law are not prohibited)
• Iowa Code § 322G.8(3) (Prevailing consumer: pecuniary loss, reasonable attorney's fees and costs)
• Iowa Code § 322G.8(7) (Continuing damages of $25 per day; double or triple for a bad-faith appeal)

This page summarizes the statute in plain language and is not legal advice. The linked official text controls.