The Lemon Law in Maryland

Maryland's lemon law covers new passenger vehicles, motorcycles, multipurpose vehicles and trucks with a rated capacity of 3/4 ton or less registered in Maryland; motor homes and fleet purchases of five or more vehicles are excluded. The protection period is the first 18,000 miles or 24 months after delivery, whichever comes first. The consumer must report the defect during that period by written notice to the manufacturer by certified mail, return receipt requested, and give the manufacturer a chance to fix it; repairs must be completed within 30 days of the manufacturer receiving the notice. A reasonable number of attempts is presumed if the same defect was repaired 4 or more times and still exists, the vehicle was out of service for repairs for a total of 30 or more days, or a brake or steering failure was repaired once without bringing the vehicle into compliance with state safety inspection laws. If a defect that substantially impairs the vehicle's use and market value cannot be fixed, the manufacturer must, at the consumer's option, replace the vehicle with a comparable one acceptable to the consumer or refund the full purchase price, including license and registration fees and similar charges, minus a reasonable allowance for use (no more than 15% of the purchase price) and for damage beyond normal wear. A lawsuit must be filed within 3 years of original delivery, and a court may award attorney's fees to a winning plaintiff.

1) Written notice: if a new vehicle does not conform to its warranties during the warranty period (the first 18,000 miles or 24 months after original delivery, whichever comes first), the consumer must report the defect during that period by written notice to the manufacturer or factory branch, sent by certified mail, return receipt requested. The seller must clearly disclose this procedure in writing at the time of sale or delivery. 2) Opportunity to cure: the consumer must give the manufacturer or its agent an opportunity to fix the defect, and the repairs must be completed within 30 days after the manufacturer receives the notice. 3) Arbitration: Maryland has no state-run lemon law arbitration program. If the manufacturer has an informal dispute program that fully complies with federal rules (16 C.F.R. Part 703), the consumer may use it, and doing so does not prevent the consumer from seeking other legal remedies. 4) Deadline: any action under the lemon law must be started within 3 years after the vehicle was originally delivered to the consumer. A court may award reasonable attorney's fees to a winning plaintiff.

Maryland generally does not allow sellers of consumer goods to disclaim the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness, so "as is" language in consumer sales is unenforceable. For used cars, this rule does not apply to a titled vehicle that is more than 6 model years old and has been driven more than 60,000 miles, if the seller gives the buyer notice on the form prescribed under the Transportation Article; in that case any exclusion of implied warranties must be in writing, conspicuous, mention merchantability (for that warranty), and be separately signed by the buyer.