Check your lemon law timing.

What this calculator checks

Every state starts its lemon law clock from different events. This calculator takes four inputs — your original delivery date, your express warranty's expiration date, your mileage at delivery, and your current mileage — and applies your state's rule to them. When a rule depends on a mileage limit, it estimates the date you'll reach (or reached) that limit from your average driving since delivery, so check that date against your repair orders and odometer records. It can't see extensions, tolling, or facts it doesn't ask about, so treat every result as an estimate to confirm, not a final date.

The timing rules, state by state

• Texas: file with TxDMV within 6 months after the earliest of your warranty expiring, 24 months after purchase, or 24,000 miles after delivery.
• California: the presumption window is 18 months / 18,000 miles. If the manufacturer opted in to AB 1755, a lawsuit is due within 1 year after the warranty expires and no later than 6 years after delivery. For other manufacturers the Act states no period of its own; ask an attorney.
• Florida: the rights period is the first 24 months after delivery, and a claim is due no later than 60 days after it ends (or 30 days after a manufacturer's certified program finishes, if later).
• New York: a court action must be commenced within 4 years of original delivery.
• Pennsylvania: the calculator shows the eligibility window — 1 year, 12,000 miles, or the warranty term, whichever ends first — because the lemon law states no suit deadline of its own.
• Illinois: suit must be commenced within 18 months of original delivery, extended by the days a claim was pending in the manufacturer's dispute program.
• Ohio: an action must be commenced within 5 years of original delivery, tolled while a complaint is pending with a dispute program.
• Georgia: the rights period is 2 years / 24,000 miles from delivery, and the state arbitration application is due no later than 1 year after it ends.
• North Carolina: the calculator shows the 24-month / 24,000-mile window in which the defect must first occur; the lemon law states no suit deadline of its own.
• Michigan: the calculator shows the report window — the earlier of the express warranty term or 1 year from delivery — because Michigan's lemon law states no suit-filing deadline of its own; the defect must be first reported inside that window.
• New Jersey: the calculator shows the term of protection — the first 24,000 miles or 2 years from original delivery, whichever is earlier — because the Act states no separate filing deadline.
• Washington: your Request for Arbitration must be received by the Attorney General's Lemon Law Administration within 30 months of original delivery (RCW 19.118.090(3)).
• Massachusetts: state-certified arbitration must be requested within 18 months of original delivery for a new or leased vehicle; for a used vehicle bought from a dealer, the arbitration window is 6 months from delivery.
• Virginia: an action must be commenced within the 18-month rights period from delivery; if you resorted to the manufacturer's informal dispute procedure inside the period, the deadline is the later of the period's end or 12 months after the manufacturer's final action.
• Arizona: the defect must be reported within the shorter of the warranty term or 2 years / 24,000 miles from delivery, and an action must be begun within 6 months after that window ends — the shortest filing tail we cover, with no tolling stated.
• Maryland: the warranty period is the earlier of 18,000 miles of operation or 24 months from delivery, and an action must be commenced within 3 years of delivery; the Act states no tolling.

Reading your result

The result shows your estimated date, the inputs behind it, and a days-left count where there's a deadline to count to. If a deadline looks close or already passed — or your state's law sets none — talk to a licensed attorney promptly. To compare your repair history to your state's tests, take the free quiz — or record each visit as it happens in the free repair log; to turn your facts into five draft documents, use the $29 packet builder. Wondering what a buyback might look like after the usage offset? See how lemon law buybacks are calculated, or run the numbers directly in the buyback calculator.