The Lemon Law in Michigan

Michigan's lemon law covers new passenger vehicles, SUVs, pickup trucks and vans bought or leased in Michigan (or by a Michigan resident) that come with a manufacturer's express warranty; motor homes, buses, other trucks and vehicles with fewer than four wheels are excluded. Business buyers are covered only if they buy or lease fewer than 10 new vehicles a year. The defect must be reported during the express warranty or within one year of delivery, whichever is earlier. A reasonable number of attempts is presumed if the same defect was repaired four or more times within two years and still exists (the consumer must give written notice after the third attempt, and the manufacturer then gets 5 business days to fix it), or the vehicle was out of service for 30 or more days during the warranty or first year. The manufacturer must then, within 30 days, replace the vehicle with a comparable one or refund the purchase price (the consumer may demand a refund), including collateral charges and towing/rental costs, minus a reasonable allowance for use.

1) Report the defect: the consumer must first report the defect to the manufacturer or a new-vehicle dealer during the express warranty term or within 1 year after delivery to the original consumer, whichever is earlier. 2) Written notice and final repair attempt: before seeking a refund or replacement, the consumer (or a representative) must send the manufacturer written notice by return-receipt service of the need for repair, so the manufacturer has a chance to fix it. Notice is due any time after the third repair attempt for the same defect, or after the vehicle has been out of service in a repair facility for at least 25 days. The manufacturer must tell the consumer as soon as reasonably possible of a reasonably accessible repair facility, and then has 5 business days after the vehicle is delivered there to make the repair. 3) Arbitration: Michigan has no state-run lemon law arbitration program. If the manufacturer has or takes part in an informal dispute program that complies with federal rules (16 C.F.R. Part 703), binds the manufacturer to any decision the consumer agrees to, and lets the consumer reject the decision and pursue lemon law remedies, the lemon law does not apply to a consumer who has not first used that program. 4) Deadline: the lemon law act does not state a separate deadline to sue.