Rhode Island Lemon Law: Do You Qualify?

Rhode Island lemon law at a glance

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New vehicles: the term of protection is one year or 15,000 miles of use from the date of original delivery, whichever comes first. It is extended by any period during which repair services are not available as a direct result of a war, invasion, fire, flood or other natural disaster, or a strike.

Repair attempts

Four or more repairs of the same nonconformity by the manufacturer or its agents or authorized dealers within the term of protection, with the nonconformity continuing to exist or recurring within the term. The statute has no separate count for safety defects.

Days out of service

A cumulative total of 30 or more calendar days during the term of protection, for any nonconformity (not only the same one). The manufacturer is afforded one additional opportunity, not to exceed seven calendar days, to cure. The 30-day period and that opportunity are extended by the days repair services were unavailable.

Notice

The statute does not require written notice. The manufacturer’s duty to make repairs follows a report of the nonconformity to the manufacturer, its agent or its authorized dealer during the term of protection, and the statute does not say the report must be written. The additional opportunity to cure begins on the day the manufacturer first knows or should have known that the limits were met.

What counts as a nonconformity

Any specific or generic defect or malfunction, or any concurrent combination of them, that substantially impairs the use, market value, or safety of a motor vehicle. It is an affirmative defense that the nonconformity does not substantially impair the vehicle, or is the result of abuse, neglect, or unauthorized substantial modification or alteration by the consumer or lessee.

Vehicles and people covered

An automobile, truck, motorcycle or van with a registered gross vehicle weight of less than 10,000 lbs., sold, leased or replaced by a dealer or manufacturer, not a motorized camper. A consumer includes a buyer other than for resale, a person to whom the vehicle is transferred during its warranty, and a lessee who leases for one year or more under a written lease that makes the lessee responsible for repairs, or under a lease-purchase agreement.

Dispute program and board

If the manufacturer has a qualifying informal dispute procedure and gave you clear and conspicuous written notice of it at delivery, the refund-or-replacement section does not apply until you have first used it or the state Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board. The Attorney General’s board decides within 90 days of the date the director deems the dispute eligible, and you accept or reject the decision within 5 days. The board’s regulation says a request is due no later than 60 days after the one-year period from the date of purchase. Using a procedure never bars your remedies.

Deadline to sue

Within three years of original delivery or within two years of the date the mileage reached 15,000 miles, whichever is earlier. The period is tolled from the start of a dispute procedure until 30 days after a final decision.

Refund formula

The allowance for use is the contract price times a fraction with 100,000 as the denominator and, as the numerator, the miles before your first report plus the miles driven afterwards while the vehicle was not out of service for repair.

What the refund includes

The full contract price including credits and allowances for a trade-in, less the allowance for use, plus sales tax, registration fee, finance charges and nonremovable options added by an authorized dealer or lessor, and towing and reasonable rental costs where a tow and a comparable rental were not provided at no cost. The refund goes to you and the lienholder as your interests may appear. A replacement is due within 30 calendar days of the return.

Leases

The lessee receives the lessee cost (the deposit and rental payments paid) and the lessor receives the lease price less those payments; the lease ends and no penalty for early termination is assessed.

Fees and other claims

The court shall award reasonable attorney’s fees to a prevailing plaintiff. A manufacturer’s failure to comply is a deceptive trade practice, so the private action of chapter 6-13.1 is also available. The chapter does not limit other rights and remedies, and an agreement that waives, limits or disclaims its rights is void.

Used vehicles: warranty and presumption

Chapter 31-5.4 requires a dealer’s written warranty of at least 60 days or 3,000 miles (36,000 miles or less at sale) or 30 days or 1,000 miles (up to 100,000 miles), required only after a new-car warranty in effect at the sale expires. The warranty term is extended while the dealer has the vehicle for repair and while repair services are unavailable. The presumption is three repairs by the selling dealer or its agent with the defect continuing, or 15 or more days out of service (not counting days waiting on parts), and 45 days even if parts were unavailable.

Used vehicles: refund and limits

The dealer refunds the full purchase price including sales or compensating use tax, less a reasonable allowance for damage not attributable to normal wear or usage and an adjustment for modifications, or may offer a comparably priced replacement that you need not accept. Defenses: the defect does not substantially impair the vehicle’s value, or results from abuse, neglect, or unreasonable modifications. The deadline to sue is four years from delivery. The chapter does not apply to vehicles sold for less than $1,500 or to registered classic cars.

Rhode Island lemon law: frequently asked questions

How many repairs does the Rhode Island lemon law require?

Four or more repairs of the same nonconformity within the term of protection (one year or 15,000 miles of use from original delivery, whichever comes first), with the nonconformity continuing or recurring within the term. Alternatively, a cumulative total of 30 or more calendar days out of service for any nonconformity within the term. The manufacturer is also afforded one additional opportunity, not to exceed seven calendar days, to cure.

Does the Rhode Island lemon law cover leases and later owners?

Yes for a lessee who leases for one year or more under a written lease that makes the lessee responsible for repairs, or under a lease-purchase agreement; the lessee receives the lessee cost, the lessor receives the lease price less those payments, and no early-termination penalty is assessed. A person to whom the vehicle is transferred during its warranty is also a consumer, and the rights inure to a subsequent transferee, so a later owner inside the term of protection can claim against the manufacturer. The Attorney General’s page answers "Is there a Lemon Law for a car sale between private parties?" with "No, however, a private party cannot sell a car that does not meet the inspection standards of the state."

Is there a lemon law for used cars in Rhode Island?

Chapter 31-5.4 gives a consumer who buys a used passenger vehicle from a dealer a minimum written warranty, and a refund of the full purchase price including sales or compensating use tax (less an allowance for damage not attributable to normal wear or usage) if the dealer fails to correct a defect that substantially impairs the vehicle’s value after a reasonable period. A “dealer” is a seller that sold or offered three or more used vehicles in the previous twelve months, not counting a bank, a sale to the seller’s own employee, a lessor selling to its lessee, or the state. If the refund to the lienholder would not discharge the lien, the dealer notifies you in writing by registered or certified mail that you have thirty days to pay the difference. The law does not apply to vehicles sold for less than $1,500.

Do I have to go through arbitration first?

Only if the manufacturer has a qualifying informal dispute procedure (one that complies with 16 CFR Part 703 or is approved) and gave you clear and conspicuous written notice of it at delivery. In that case, to claim a refund or replacement you must first use it or the state Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board. Using a procedure never precludes your rights and remedies under the chapter. The board is run by the Attorney General for new vehicles; a request carries a nonrefundable $20 filing fee, and a manufacturer’s appeal of a board decision requires a bond.

Can I also bring other claims, and how long do I have?

The chapter says nothing in it limits the rights or remedies otherwise available, and a manufacturer’s failure to comply is a deceptive trade practice with the remedies of chapter 6-13.1. A Lemon Law action must be commenced within three years of original delivery or two years of the date the mileage reached 15,000 miles, whichever is earlier; the Uniform Commercial Code gives four years after the cause of action accrues for breach of a contract for sale, and ten years after a product was first purchased for a breach of warranty from a defect. Whether the lemon-law deadline displaces those is a question for an attorney.

Statutes cited on this page

• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.2-1(10) (term of protection: one year or 15,000 miles from original delivery)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.2-1(9) (nonconformity: a defect that substantially impairs the use, market value, or safety)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.2-5(a) (reasonable number of attempts presumed: four repairs or 30 calendar days)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.2-5(b) (the term of protection, the 30-day period and the additional opportunity are extended while repair services are unavailable)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.2-5(b) (the additional opportunity to cure begins when the manufacturer first knows or should have known)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.2-4 (affirmative defenses: no substantial impairment; abuse, neglect or unauthorized substantial modification)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.2-1(4) (lessee: a lease of one year or more where the lessee is responsible for repairs, or a lease-purchase agreement)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.2-7 (informal dispute settlement procedures; tolling)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.2-7.1(b) (state Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.2-7.1(g)(1) (the board decides within 90 days; the consumer accepts or rejects within five days)
• 470-RICR-00-00-1 § 1.5(C)(4) (a request to the Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board is due 60 days after the first year from the date of purchase)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.2-12 (commencement of action)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.2-3(a)(1) (manufacturer must accept return and, at the consumer’s or lessee’s option, refund the full contract price less a reasonable allowance for use, or replace)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.2-3(a)(5) (reasonable allowance for use: 100,000-mile formula)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.2-3(a)(3)(iii)-(iv) (incidental costs refunded; towing and rental)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.2-3(b) (lease: the lessee receives the lessee cost, the lessor the lease price less those payments; no early-termination penalty)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.2-11 (attorney’s fees)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.2-13 (a manufacturer’s failure to comply is a deceptive trade practice)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.2-8 (waiver of rights prohibited; rights inure to a subsequent transferee)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.2-6 (rights and remedies cumulative)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.4-2(a) (required written warranty: 60 days or 3,000 miles; 30 days or 1,000 miles)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.4-2(d) (a new-car warranty in effect at the sale: the dealer warranty is required only for the time after it expires)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.4-3(b) (presumption: three repairs by the selling dealer, or 15 days out of service)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.4-3(c)-(d) (used vehicles: the warranty term is extended while the dealer has the vehicle for repair and while repair services are unavailable)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.4-3(a) (dealer must accept return and refund the full purchase price)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.4-3(a) (used vehicles: refund to the consumer and lienholder; notice of a shortfall)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.4-3(a) (used vehicles: affirmative defenses)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.4-4(d) (used vehicles sold for less than $1,500; classic cars)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-5.4-5(c) (used vehicles: the court may award attorneys’ fees to a prevailing plaintiff)
• Rhode Island Attorney General, Lemon Law (a car sale between private parties)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 6A-2-725(1) (four years for an action for breach of a contract for sale)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 6A-2-725(5) (ten years after the product was first purchased for a breach of warranty from a defect)

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