How lemon law buybacks are calculated (2026)

A free, private illustration of purchase price and usage deductions, with a sixteen-state guide to the limits of buyback math.

Last reviewed: October 2026

An illustrative buyback estimator

Prefer the calculator on its own page, or coming from a state guide? Use the standalone Lemon Law Buyback Calculator — the same tool, with the formulas collected underneath it.

Buyback arithmetic begins with the relevant price and adjustments, not just the amount you have paid in installments. The free tool below illustrates one part of that arithmetic using rules already described in our state guides. It does not tell you that a buyback is available or predict a refund. Keep your contract and repair orders beside you so you can identify which figures are documented. Keep the dates, repair-order numbers and reported problems together in the free repair log.

What this comparison means

Where the existing guide provides enough numeric information, the first figure is the entered vehicle price minus the illustrated usage deduction or allowance cap. The second figure is the entered vehicle price before that deduction. This is a before-and-after comparison, not a confidence interval, settlement valuation, or minimum and maximum you could recover. The second figure does not mean usage is optional. In Ohio, the two figures are equal because the existing guide describes no usage deduction.

For Texas and Illinois, our existing guides do not give a usable numeric formula. For North Carolina, the relevant mileage milestone is not the first repair or today’s odometer. The tool therefore leaves the adjusted price uncalculated and says “varies — confirm with your state agency or an attorney.” An unexplained dollar figure would hide those limits. Your entered price and cash-paid total are still shown as bookkeeping figures.

Every illustration excludes costs and adjustments not collected here. Depending on the state and the facts, those may include collateral charges, taxes, incidental expenses, finance charges, damage adjustments, or loan interests. The state guides describe the relevant categories; this tool does not assume they apply, invent their amounts, or calculate penalties, attorney fees, trade-in treatment, negative equity, or a lease refund.

Purchase price is different from cash paid so far

A down payment and monthly installments are payments toward a transaction. Adding them to the vehicle’s full purchase price would count overlapping amounts twice. The tool instead shows a separate cash-paid total: entered cash down payment plus monthly payment amount multiplied by the number of payments made. That total is only a recordkeeping subtotal. It is not your loan payoff, recoverable damages, equity, or an estimate of a check you would receive.

Monthly payments can include principal and interest, and the tool does not separate them. It does not collect a current lender payoff or calculate who would receive which portion of a refund. Georgia’s AG guidance, for example, explains that outstanding principal is paid to the lender and subtracted from the refund to the consumer. That distinction is why a purchase-price illustration should never be presented as cash in your pocket.

Primary sources: Georgia AG lemon law process

Why the mileage milestone matters

“Mileage” is not one interchangeable number. Your contract may record delivery mileage, the earliest repair order may record the first visit for the particular defect, and a current reading shows where the odometer stands now. A report to the manufacturer may happen before a repair. Preserve each reading with its date and source. Do not use the nearest convenient number if the state rule refers to a different event.

The California illustration uses first-repair mileage less delivery mileage as a simplified measure of use before that repair. The Georgia illustration uses the odometer reading at the first repair visit, as the Georgia guide states. Current mileage is checked for consistency but does not change that deduction. Confirm that the repair concerned the nonconformity at issue. Pennsylvania’s allowance cap uses mileage before the first report; the estimator asks for that separate reading. The New York illustration uses your current reading as a stated assumption and does not decide which mileage is legally controlling.

Michigan counts miles driven before the first report of the defect, plus all miles driven beyond 25,000. New Jersey uses the odometer reading at the first presentation for the nonconformity — not miles since delivery. Washington uses miles driven up to the start of the first repair attempt for the defect that leads to the repurchase or replacement. Massachusetts (new vehicles) uses the miles the vehicle traveled before the manufacturer accepted its return, which this tool approximates with the current reading less the delivery reading.

North Carolina’s guide refers to the third repair attempt or the 20th business day out of service, whichever came first. A first-repair reading and current reading cannot establish that event. The estimator does not pretend they can. Find the relevant records and seek confirmation before using a North Carolina formula. Likewise, the tool does not apply another state’s 120,000-mile denominator to Texas or Illinois.

The sixteen-state usage-rule reference

These summaries stay within the rules already stated on the site. Each row links to the relevant state guide and a primary source. The formulas are simplified here; the legally relevant price base, vehicle category, mileage, additional charges, and procedural route still need to be confirmed. A numerical formula is not a determination that a remedy is owed.

Records to gather before discussing a buyback

• The purchase or lease agreement, showing vehicle price and separately listed charges.
• Proof of delivery date and odometer reading.
• Repair orders for the same defect, including the first relevant visit and any later milestone your state uses.
• Manufacturer notice and report records, with dates and delivery proof.
• Payment records and a current lender statement, kept separate from the contract price.
• Receipts for expenses you want an agency or attorney to consider; do not assume every receipt is recoverable.

Keep the original numbers even when they differ. An inconsistent odometer or missing repair date is a reason to obtain the source record, not to adjust an entry until the estimate looks appealing. You can use the demand-letter guide to organize the narrative and the state guide to identify the process. Review deadlines independently of refund arithmetic.

When to talk to a lawyer instead

Talk to a licensed attorney if the manufacturer denies the claim, a safety defect is involved, a deadline is close or unclear, or you need to interpret a settlement, payoff, release, unusual financing, or disputed usage deduction. A lawyer can provide individualized advice; this tool cannot. It does not recommend accepting an offer or choosing a particular remedy.