Vermont Lemon Law Refund Calculator

How the Vermont buyback is calculated

Under the Vermont New Motor Vehicle Arbitration law.

• If the manufacturer cannot fix a covered defect that substantially impairs the use, market value, or safety of your vehicle after a reasonable number of attempts, the manufacturer must, at your option within 30 days of the effective date of the Board’s order, replace the vehicle or refund your money.
• The refund is the full purchase price as shown in your purchase contract, with credit for any trade-in or downpayment, plus finance charges, credit charges, registration fees and similar charges, and incidental and consequential damages (the statute lists none). Refunds go to you and the lienholder as your interests may appear.
• The allowance for use is the full purchase price multiplied by a fraction: the miles on the vehicle before the first repair attempt, divided by 100,000. It counts only use before that first attempt, not the miles you drove afterwards.
• For example, on a $35,000 vehicle with 5,000 miles at the first repair attempt, the allowance is $35,000 × 5,000 ÷ 100,000 = $1,750.
• The Vermont purchase and use tax is refunded by the State in the proportionate amount, not by the manufacturer; you file that claim with the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles within 90 days of the effective date of the order. The calculator shows it as its own line, in proportion to the price refunded.
• If the manufacturer fails to complete the transaction by the effective date of the order, you receive an additional 10 percent of the total award. Our high estimate includes that 10 percent.
• A lessee’s refund and allowance are different (§ 4172(i)): the allowance multiplies your deposit and rental payments by the miles before the first repair over the miles allowed in your lease, with miles over the allowance added. The calculator asks for the miles allowed in your lease, the miles over them and the purchase and use tax in your payments, and applies that formula; without the miles allowed it divides by 100,000 and says the figure is approximate.

Vermont lemon law: frequently asked questions

How is the use allowance calculated in Vermont?

By multiplying the full purchase price by a fraction. The top of the fraction is the number of miles the vehicle traveled before the first attempt to repair it, and the bottom is 100,000. Miles driven after the first repair attempt are not part of the allowance.

What does the Vermont refund include?

The full purchase price in the contract, credit for a trade-in or downpayment, finance charges, credit charges, registration fees and similar charges, and incidental and consequential damages. The Vermont purchase and use tax is refunded by the State instead, in the proportionate amount.

How is a leased vehicle handled?

A lessee receives the aggregate deposit and rental payments made, plus incidental and consequential damages, less a reasonable allowance for use and allocated purchase and use tax payments. The allowance is those payments multiplied by the miles traveled before the first repair attempt over the miles allowed in the lease; miles over that allowance are added first. Our calculator applies that formula from the miles allowed, the excess miles and the allocated tax you enter; without the miles allowed it divides by 100,000 and says so.

Do I pay a filing fee or the dealer’s costs?

No filing fee or costs are assessed against the consumer for the Board or the manufacturer’s mechanism. If a dealer or its staff are called to testify or produce records, the person who requests them must arrange in advance to reasonably compensate the dealer’s actual expense; if you prevail, the manufacturer reimburses you those costs.

Is there an extra amount if the manufacturer is late?

Yes. The manufacturer must refund within 30 days of fax receipt of a Board decision or within 15 days of final adjudication, and you receive an additional 10 percent of the total award if it does not complete the transaction by the effective date of the order.

Who pays my attorney?

The chapter has no attorney-fee provision for a Board award. In a court proceeding to confirm a decision, the party who prevails is awarded the attorney’s fees incurred in obtaining confirmation, with costs, and that party can be either side. Fees are not part of the calculator’s figures.