Ohio Lemon Law: Does Your New Car Qualify? What to Send First

Yes, Ohio's lemon law applies when a warranty defect that substantially impairs your new car's use, value or safety was reported in the first 12 months or 18,000 miles, whichever came first, and the manufacturer still has not fixed it after a reasonable number of tries. Three failed repairs of the same problem, 30 days in the shop, eight repairs in total, or one failed repair of a dangerous defect is enough for the law to presume the manufacturer had its chance. The first thing you send is a certified letter to the manufacturer, not the dealer, listing the problems, the repair attempts and your VIN, and saying whether you want a refund or a new car.

The manufacturer's usual first answer is a request for one more repair attempt. If that repair fails, you go to the manufacturer's arbitration program when the Attorney General has approved it, or straight to court when it has not.

The four repair tests Ohio uses

Ohio presumes the manufacturer has had a reasonable number of repair attempts when any one of these happened during the first year or first 18,000 miles, whichever came first:

• Three repairs, same problem: substantially the same defect was repaired three or more times and it never went away or came back.
• 30 days down: the car was out of service for repairs a cumulative 30 or more calendar days.
• Eight repairs, any problems: eight or more repair attempts in total, on one defect or several.
• One repair, dangerous defect: one repair attempt on a defect likely to cause death or serious injury when the car is driven, and the defect is still there or came back.

The defect has to be one the factory warranty covers. Reporting it to any authorized dealer counts as reporting it to the manufacturer, so your service visits are your reports. Once you reported a defect inside the window, the manufacturer has to keep repairing it after the year or 18,000 miles run out, and those later visits still help show it had a reasonable number of tries. Only visits inside the window count toward the four tests.

The law covers people who bought a new passenger car, motorcycle or other personal-use vehicle designed to carry no more than a one-ton load, people who leased one for a term of 30 days or more, and anyone the car passes to while the factory warranty runs.

What the manufacturer owes you

You choose the remedy. The manufacturer either replaces the car with a new one you accept, or takes it back and refunds two things:

• The full purchase price: the contract price plus transportation, undercoating, dealer-installed options and accessories, dealer services, dealer prep and delivery; all finance, credit insurance, warranty and service contract charges you paid; and sales tax, license and registration fees and other government charges.
• Incidental damages: fees your lender or leasing company charged to make or cancel the loan or lease, and your costs caused by the defect, such as towing, rental cars, meals and lodging.

Ohio's refund list contains no deduction for the miles you drove. If a buyback offer subtracts a mileage charge, ask the manufacturer in writing which Ohio provision it relies on.

With a car loan, the refund check is made out jointly to you and the lienholder on your title; the lender takes its payoff, cancels the lien and sends you the rest right away. With a lease, the refund counts your down payment, security deposit, taxes, title fees, monthly payments and the residual value, and the leasing company deducts its balance before paying you.

Your claim runs against the manufacturer. Ohio's lemon law gives you no refund or replacement claim against the dealer, whose job here is to repair the car and hand you an itemized repair order every time.

What to do today

1. Collect every repair order. Ohio requires the manufacturer or dealer to give you a fully itemized written statement each time the car comes back from service, listing your concerns, the work performed or attempted, the parts and the cost of parts and labor, even when the warranty pays. Ask the service department to print any you are missing, including visits where the shop found nothing.
2. Count against the four tests. On one sheet, write a line per visit: date in, date out, mileage, the problem you reported and what the shop did. Add up the days out of service.
3. Find the manufacturer's address and its dispute program. The owner's manual or warranty booklet lists the address, and your dealer can give it to you too. Most manufacturers run an arbitration program; the warranty materials explain how to apply.
4. Mail the certified letter below to the manufacturer with a return receipt and copies of the repair orders. Keep a copy of everything you send.
5. Call the Ohio Attorney General's Consumer Protection Section at 800-282-0515 and ask whether your manufacturer's arbitration program is approved by the Attorney General. The answer sets your next step.
6. Keep receipts for towing, rental cars, meals and lodging caused by the defect. They go into the refund as incidental damages.
7. Keep your maintenance receipts with the repair orders. The one defense Ohio's lemon law names is abuse, neglect or an unauthorized modification by someone other than the manufacturer or its dealer, and receipts showing you followed the owner's manual schedule answer it.

Where it splits

If the manufacturer asks for one more repair, let it, at the dealer it names, and get the itemized repair order. That request is the usual first reply. If the defect comes back, write to the manufacturer the same week with the new order and move to arbitration or court.

If the program is approved by the Attorney General and the manufacturer told you about it in writing, file there before you sue; Ohio requires it. The program is free, you can ask for an oral hearing in person or by phone, and the board must decide within 40 days of receiving your dispute, with limited extensions the rules list. Expect to wait several weeks for the hearing date. You decide whether to accept the decision; once you accept, the manufacturer must carry it out. If you reject it, you can sue, and the five-year deadline pauses from the day you file in arbitration until the decision.

If the program is unapproved, or the manufacturer has none, you can go straight to court. You can still try the manufacturer's program first, and its decision binds you only if you accept it.

If you bought the car used, or the defect first showed up after 12 months or 18,000 miles, check the dates against the original delivery. A later owner is covered while the factory warranty runs, but the defect must have been reported within the first year or 18,000 miles from original delivery, so gather the earlier owner's repair orders too. Our used car lemon law guide covers transferred warranties. Past that window, a covered defect the manufacturer fails to fix is a warranty claim under the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, where a court can award attorney's fees to a consumer who wins.

Your leverage

• Fees paid by the manufacturer: a consumer who sues under the lemon law and wins recovers reasonable attorney's fees and all court costs on top of the refund or replacement.
• Five years to sue: file in the court of common pleas or another court with jurisdiction within five years of the car's original delivery.
• Attorney General complaint: file on the Ohio Attorney General's complaint page or by phone at 800-282-0515. The Consumer Protection Section runs an informal dispute resolution process that works complaints outside court.

Call a lemon law attorney when the manufacturer turns down your letter, when you reject the arbitration decision, or when a buyback offer leaves out finance charges, taxes, fees or your incidental costs.

Certified letter to the manufacturer

To: [Manufacturer name], [customer relations or consumer affairs address from the owner's manual or warranty booklet]

Sent by certified mail, return receipt requested

Re: Ohio lemon law request for [refund / replacement], [year, make, model], VIN [number]

I [bought / leased] this vehicle new from [dealer name, city] on [delivery date]. Since delivery it has had the following defects covered by your warranty, which substantially impair its [use / value / safety]:

1. [Defect], first reported to [dealer] on [date] at [mileage] miles. Repair attempts: [dates and repair order numbers]. Status: [still present / came back on date].

2. [Second defect, same details, if any.]

The vehicle has been out of service for repairs a total of [number] days. Copies of every repair order are enclosed.

Under Ohio Revised Code sections 1345.71 to 1345.78, I request [a refund of the full purchase price plus incidental damages / a new replacement vehicle]. My incidental costs so far are [towing, rentals, other] totaling $[amount]; receipts are enclosed.

Please reply in writing by [date, two weeks from today] to [address, email, phone]. If your company runs a dispute program approved by the Ohio Attorney General, include its application and rules with your reply.

[Your name], [date]

Enclosed: purchase or lease contract, repair orders, maintenance receipts, expense receipts.

For delivery proof, follow our steps for sending a demand letter by certified mail.

Today

1. Pull every repair order and count visits and days out of service against the four tests.
2. Mail the certified letter to the manufacturer with copies of the repair orders.
3. Call 800-282-0515 and find out whether the manufacturer's arbitration program is approved by the Attorney General.

What comes back: most often a request for one final repair attempt, sometimes a replacement or buyback offer. If that repair fails or the offer leaves out items on the refund list, file with the manufacturer's arbitration program the same week if the Attorney General approved it and the manufacturer told you about it in writing; otherwise send a final demand and go to court. An approved board decides within 40 days of receiving your dispute, and you choose whether to take its decision or sue.