New Mexico Lemon Law Refund Calculator

How the New Mexico buyback is calculated

Under the Motor Vehicle Quality Assurance Act.

• Under the Motor Vehicle Quality Assurance Act, the manufacturer must replace the vehicle with a comparable motor vehicle or accept its return and refund the full purchase price including all collateral charges, less a reasonable allowance for your use of the vehicle.
• Collateral charges are the additional charges not directly attributed to the manufacturer's suggested retail price label, and include all taxes, license, title and registration fees and other governmental charges related to the purchase.
• The reasonable allowance for use is the amount directly attributable to your use of the vehicle before you first reported the problem to the manufacturer, agent or dealer, and during any later period when the vehicle was not out of service for repair. The statute gives no per-mile or percentage formula, so our estimate subtracts a stand-in of our own (the vehicle price times the miles on the vehicle divided by 120,000), not a statutory figure: the real allowance can differ.
• The statute does not address finance charges, and its refund clause names no towing, rental or other incidental costs, so this estimate adds none. The refund is made to you or your lienholder as your interests may appear.
• The Act provides no multiplied damages (the Unfair Practices Act is a separate claim, not estimated here). A consumer who prevails in court is entitled to reasonable attorneys' fees and court costs from the manufacturer, but one who does not prevail and sued for frivolous reasons or in bad faith owes the manufacturer's fees and costs.

New Mexico lemon law: frequently asked questions

How much can I recover under the New Mexico lemon law?

The full purchase price including all collateral charges (taxes, license, title and registration fees and other governmental charges), less a reasonable allowance for your use of the vehicle, or a comparable replacement vehicle. The statute gives no formula for the allowance, so our estimate subtracts a mileage-based stand-in of our own that is not in the statute. Finance charges and incidental costs are not addressed by the statute.

Who decides between a replacement and a refund?

The statute says the manufacturer shall replace the vehicle with a comparable motor vehicle or accept its return and refund the price. It does not say who chooses between the two.

How is the allowance for my use calculated?

The statute describes it in words only: the amount directly attributable to your use before your first report of the problem, and during any later period when the vehicle was not out of service for repair. It gives no per-mile or percentage figure, and the subtraction applies to both a replacement and a refund.

Does the manufacturer have to pay my attorney?

If you prevail in an action to enforce the Act, you are entitled to reasonable attorneys' fees and court costs from the manufacturer. If you do not prevail and brought the action for frivolous reasons or in bad faith, you owe the manufacturer's reasonable fees and costs.

Does the lemon law refund a used car?

The refund and replacement provision is written for a new motor vehicle. A used vehicle bought from a used motor vehicle dealer has a separate implied warranty for fifteen calendar days or five hundred miles, whichever is earlier; the seller's maximum liability is the purchase price paid unless the seller knew or should have known of the defect and did not disclose it, and remedies run through Chapter 55, Article 2 of the New Mexico statutes. Our calculator does not estimate that remedy. Whether a used vehicle still under the manufacturer's warranty is "new" for the refund provision is not stated in the Act.