Guides
Lemon law for a leased car
A lease does not take you out of the lemon law in most states. Test your car with the checker, then read how a claim on a lease differs from one on a purchase.
Does your leased car meet your state’s lemon law tests?
New York, November 5, 2026 read on the official state page
Not yet: one more repair attempt
| Protection period | 2 years or 18,000 miles, whichever comes first: until January 5, 2028 or 18,000 miles. You are inside it. |
| Repair attempts, same defect | Not met: needs 4, you have 3 |
| Days out of service | Not met: needs 30 calendar days, you have 10 |
| Notice | Report each defect to the manufacturer or its dealer; a dealer must notify the manufacturer in writing within 7 days. |
| Dispute step | Attorney General’s Lemon Law Arbitration Program (requests to the Lemon Law Unit). |
Tests as written in the law; a court or arbitrator decides. N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 198-a (new) and § 198-b (used) · New York Attorney General
The New York lemon law in detailMost state lemon laws treat a lessee like a buyer: the person who leases a new car and drives it is the consumer the law protects, even though the leasing company owns the car. In the texts and official pages we read on November 1, 2026, leases are named in states including Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, New York, Texas and Virginia, sometimes with conditions: Minnesota counts leases of more than four months, Florida and Georgia leases of at least a year. The tests are the same as for a purchase. What changes is the remedy. In a lease buyback, the lessee usually gets back the payments made, less an allowance for use, and the lessor gets paid off, so the lease ends. A replacement is usually a comparable new car under a lease on the same terms.
Which vehicles does the law cover?
Minnesota
Vehicles covered
| Covered: Cars, pickups, vans, RV chassis; lessees over 4 months; personal use at least 40% of the time. | |
| Used cars | Not covered. |
State laws read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
States whose text names leases
| State | Vehicles and leases covered |
|---|---|
| Arkansas | New vehicles bought or leased in Arkansas, leases of at least 1 year. Not mopeds, motorcycles, the living quarters of a motor home, or vehicles over 10,000 lb gross weight other than motor homes. |
| Connecticut | Passenger and combination vehicles and motorcycles, bought or leased; later owners during the warranty. |
| Delaware | Passenger vehicles bought or leased in Delaware or registered there, except motor-home living quarters. |
| Florida | New vehicles sold in Florida, including demonstrators, leased vehicles and RVs (60 days out of service); not motorcycles, mopeds or trucks over 10,000 lb. |
| Georgia | Personal use, or a business with up to 10 vehicles a year other than limousines; leases of at least 1 year. Not trucks over 12,000 lb, motorcycles, golf carts, mopeds, ATVs, boats or trailers; on a motor home, the chassis. Miles on the vehicle at delivery do not count. |
| Illinois | New cars bought or leased in Illinois, light trucks and vans under 8,000 lb, RVs (not trailers). |
| Indiana | Vehicles under 10,000 lb sold to a buyer in Indiana; leases over 4 months. Not conversion vans, motor homes, motorcycles and other listed vehicles. |
| Kansas | New vehicles sold or leased in Kansas, registered at 12,000 lb or less. |
| Kentucky | Kentucky residents who buy or lease a new vehicle. Not motor homes, motorcycles, mopeds, vehicles with more than 2 axles, altered vehicles or tractors. |
| Louisiana | Passenger and passenger-and-commercial vehicles sold in Louisiana, personal watercraft and personal-use ATVs, and leases. Not vehicles of 10,000 lb gross weight or more, or vehicles used only for commercial purposes. |
| Maine | Vehicles bought or leased in Maine under an express warranty. Not vehicles of 8,500 lb or more in commercial use; a business that registers 3 or more vehicles is not a consumer. |
| Massachusetts | New cars, motorcycles, vans and trucks bought or leased in Massachusetts (leases of at least 1 year) for personal use. Not auto homes, off-road vehicles or business use. |
| Michigan | Passenger cars, SUVs, pickups and vans bought or leased in Michigan or by a Michigan resident; not motor homes, buses, motorcycles or off-road vehicles. |
| Minnesota | Cars, pickups, vans, RV chassis; lessees over 4 months; personal use at least 40% of the time. |
| Mississippi | New motor vehicles, including demonstrators and lease-purchases. Not motorcycles, off-road vehicles, mopeds or the parts added to a motor home. |
| Montana | Passenger vehicles for personal use, bought or leased. |
| New Hampshire | Vehicles up to 11,000 lb, motorcycles, off-highway vehicles and snowmobiles; leases of at least 2 years. Not mopeds, tractors or government vehicles. |
| New Jersey | Newly bought or leased cars, motorcycles, emergency vehicles, farm tractors and parts of motor homes. |
| New York | New cars bought, leased or transferred within 18,000 miles or 2 years of delivery. |
| North Carolina | New cars, pickups, motorcycles and most vans, up to 10,000 lb, sold or leased in North Carolina; not house trailers. |
| Ohio | New vehicles bought or leased (leases of at least 30 days), and a later owner during the warranty. Not recreational vehicles or mobile homes. |
| Oregon | New vehicles bought or leased; motor homes need 60 calendar days out of service. |
| Rhode Island | Cars, trucks, vans and motorcycles under 10,000 lb, bought or leased; not campers. |
| South Dakota | Self-propelled road vehicles and ATVs of at least 200 cc on 4 or more wheels. Not motor homes, vehicles of 15,000 lb gross weight or more, or electric bicycles. |
| Texas | New cars, trucks, vans, motorcycles, ATVs, motor homes and towable RVs, bought or leased. Loaner days do not count. |
| Utah | New vehicles bought or leased, including road motorcycles and the chassis of a motor home, up to 14,000 lb. Trailers follow a mediation rule (§ 13-20-8). |
| Vermont | New vehicles sold, leased or registered in Vermont; dealers cannot be sued. |
The tests do not change
A leased car is a lemon on the same terms as a bought one: the same protection period from delivery, the same number of repair attempts, the same days out of service, the same notice. A lease of three years often outlasts the protection period, so the clock that matters is the one that started on the day the car was delivered, not the lease term.
Money in a lease buyback
The money flows in two directions. The lessee is repaid what he or she put into the lease; the lessor is paid the balance that keeps it whole. Some states spell out both sides, others leave it to the program or the court. Keep the lease contract, the statement of payments and the payoff quote from the leasing company in the file; the buyback calculator gives an order of magnitude with the price as the starting point.
Gap insurance and the end of the lease
When a lemon lease ends in a buyback, the gap insurance and any service contract bought with it end too. Ask for a refund of the unused part of those products from the companies that sold them; this is separate from the lemon law claim and is often forgotten.