Michigan Lemon Law: How to File a Claim

Michigan's lemon law is the New Motor Vehicle Warranties Act, 1986 PA 87 (MCL 257.1401–257.1410). It covers passenger vehicles and SUVs, including pickups and vans, purchased or leased in Michigan under a manufacturer's express warranty. Tests: the same defect repaired 4+ times and still existing, or 30+ days out of service. First the manufacturer's dispute procedure, then court.

The complete, plain-English walkthrough — built from the Michigan Lemon Law itself (1986 PA 87, MCL 257.1401 et seq.) as published by the Michigan Legislature, not law-firm marketing. Last reviewed: October 2026.

What vehicles are covered

Michigan's lemon law is the New Motor Vehicle Warranties Act, 1986 PA 87 (MCL 257.1401 through 257.1410). It covers a vehicle "designed as a passenger vehicle, or sport utility vehicle" — including pickup trucks and vans — that was purchased or leased in Michigan, or purchased or leased by a Michigan resident, and that was covered by a manufacturer's express warranty at the time of purchase or lease. Buyers and lessees are both "consumers" under the Act, as is anyone entitled to enforce the express warranty — and the definition also includes a person who purchases or leases fewer than 10 new motor vehicles a year.

Not covered: motor homes, buses, trucks other than pickup trucks or vans, and any vehicle designed to travel on less than four wheels — which means motorcycles are not covered. The Act states no weight limit.

What about a used purchase? The Act's definition turns on warranty coverage at the time of purchase or lease, not on being the first owner — it never says the buyer must be the original purchaser. Whether a particular used purchase fits the definition is fact-specific; the definition above is the test the Act states.

The Act also does not apply to a defect or condition that results from a modification not installed or made by or for the manufacturer, or from abuse, neglect, or damage due to an accident after the vehicle was purchased or leased (MCL 257.1406).

The two tests (no safety shortcut)

First, the clock. The manufacturer-or-dealer repair duty applies only if you initially reported the defect or condition to the manufacturer or a new motor vehicle dealer within the earlier of (a) the term of the manufacturer's express warranty, or (b) 1 year from the date of delivery to the original consumer (MCL 257.1402). The defect must impair the use or value of the vehicle to you, or keep it from conforming to the manufacturer's express warranty — and for the repair-count test below, it must substantially impair use or value. A "reasonable number of attempts" is then presumed if either of these holds:

1. Four-times test

The same defect or condition that substantially impairs the use or value of the vehicle has been subject to repair a total of 4 or more times by the manufacturer or a dealer within 2 years of the date of the first attempt to repair it, and the defect or condition continues to exist. Different defects don't combine — and repairs performed on the same defect under the Act's post-warranty continuation rule (below) are expressly included in calculating the number of repairs (MCL 257.1403(5)(a)).

2. 30-day test

The vehicle was out of service because of repairs for a total of 30 or more days or parts of days during the earlier of the manufacturer's express warranty term or 1 year from delivery to the original consumer. The statute counts time out of service "because of repairs" — the days do not have to be for a single defect, and they need not be consecutive.

No safety shortcut: Michigan has no reduced-attempt test for safety defects — the same 4-times / 30-day thresholds apply, and the Act's wording for the defect standard is "use or value."

Repairs the Act requires must still be made even if they are performed after the express warranty expires, as long as the defect is a continuation of the original repair attempt.

No filing deadline in the Act — read this

Michigan's lemon law states reporting and presumption windows, but no deadline for filing a court action appears in the Act itself. We can't tell you which deadline applies to your case, so this guide cannot give you a filing date — and neither can our calculator. Do not guess it. Talk to a licensed attorney in Michigan promptly.

Check your Michigan lemon law report window →

The report and the written cure notice

Michigan's notice rules have two steps, and they are not the same thing: reporting the defect, and later sending a written cure notice.

1. Report the defect. Your initial report must reach the manufacturer or a new motor vehicle dealer inside the window above — MCL 257.1402 requires the report itself; it does not require that the report be in writing. The written statement Michigan law requires with a new vehicle's paperwork (MCL 257.1408) puts the order of operations plainly: "TO OBTAIN REPLACEMENT OR A REFUND, YOU MUST FIRST REPORT THE DEFECT IN WRITING TO THE MANUFACTURER AND YOU MAY BE REQUIRED TO FIRST ARBITRATE THE DISPUTE." Reporting in writing anyway is what creates your proof — but the writing the Act itself requires is the cure notice in step 2.
2. The cure notice (MCL 257.1403(5)). Before you can use the refund-or-replacement remedy, you (or your representative) must give the manufacturer written notification, by return receipt service, of the need for repair — any time after the third attempt to repair the same defect or condition, or after the vehicle has been out of service for at least 25 days in a repair facility. The manufacturer must then notify you, as soon as reasonably possible, of a reasonably accessible repair facility — and after the vehicle is delivered to that facility, the manufacturer has 5 business days to repair the defect or condition.

The Act doesn't state a notice address for the manufacturer — keep your return-receipt proof together with your repair orders. The LemonLawPath $29 packet includes a draft of the cure-notice letter.

How to file: dispute procedure first, then court

Michigan has no state-run lemon law arbitration program and no state lemon law filing office. The Act works through the manufacturer's own process first:

• If the manufacturer has established or participates in an informal dispute settlement procedure, the Act does not apply to a consumer who has not first resorted to that procedure — but only if the procedure does all of the following (MCL 257.1405):
  • It complies with the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and federal rule 16 CFR 703 (a procedure the FTC rules noncompliant does not count);
  • It requires the manufacturer to be bound by any decision reached if you agree to it;
  • It provides that you are not obligated to accept the decision and may pursue the Act's remedies instead; and
  • It requires the manufacturer to initiate implementation of any final settlement not more than 30 days after the settlement is reached.
• The Act names no specific program, application form, or fee — check your warranty paperwork for the manufacturer's procedure and how to start it.
• If there is no qualifying procedure, or the procedure doesn't resolve the dispute, the remaining route under the Act is a court action. That's attorney territory — see below.

A separate option, not a lemon law filing: you can file a general consumer complaint with the Michigan Attorney General's Consumer Protection Team (P.O. Box 30213, Lansing, MI 48909 · 517-335-7599 · toll-free 877-765-8388). The Act gives the Attorney General no role in deciding lemon law claims — a complaint is a general consumer-complaint channel, not a lemon law filing.

For how these programs work — cost, timing, and what "binding" means — see manufacturer dispute programs.

What happens after you give notice

1. The cure opportunity — the manufacturer designates a reasonably accessible repair facility and gets 5 business days after the vehicle is delivered there to repair the defect.
2. The dispute procedure — if the defect continues and a qualifying informal dispute settlement procedure exists, you use it first. The manufacturer is bound by a decision you agree to and must start implementing a final settlement within 30 days; you are never obligated to accept a decision.
3. The 30-day remedy duty — if a defect reported in the window continues to exist and the vehicle has been subjected to a reasonable number of repairs, the manufacturer must act within 30 days: replace the vehicle or refund it, as the next section describes.

Remedies: refund, replacement, usage allowance

• Replacement: if the vehicle was purchased, the manufacturer may replace it with a comparable replacement motor vehicle currently in production and acceptable to you.
• Refund — and you can demand it: instead of replacement, the manufacturer may accept return of the vehicle and refund the purchase price — and the Act states that a consumer shall have the right to demand a refund. The purchase price is the actual vehicle sales price listed on the buyer's order, including any cash payment and any trade-in allowance (excluding debt from another transaction and manufacturer discounts or rebates). It also includes the cost of any options or other modifications installed or made by or for the manufacturer, all other charges made by or for the manufacturer, and — as part of the purchase price — any sales tax, license and registration fees, and similar government charges you paid. Two deductions apply: the reasonable allowance for use (below) and any appraised damage not attributable to normal use or to the defect. Refunds are made to you and any secured party (such as a lienholder) as your interests exist.
• Leased vehicles: if the vehicle was leased, you have the right to a refund of the lease price paid. You may instead agree to accept a comparable replacement vehicle — and if you do, the lease agreement is not altered except for the identification of the vehicle. A lessor may not assess an early-termination fee for a lease ended under the Act.
• Towing and rental: if the vehicle is replaced or refunded and towing services and rental vehicles were not made available to you at no cost, the manufacturer must also reimburse your towing costs and reasonable costs for a comparable rental vehicle incurred as a direct result of the defect.
• Usage allowance: Michigan's formula is stated in the Act itself (MCL 257.1403(2)):
  Allowance = purchase or lease price × (miles driven before the first report of the defect + all miles driven beyond 25,000) ÷ 100,000.
  One softening rule: a court or a dispute settlement procedure may reduce the portion of the deduction based on miles beyond the first 25,000 miles, for any period beyond 25,000 miles during which the vehicle did not provide reliable transportation for ordinary personal or household use — considering the number of repairs, the cost of repairs, the days out of service, and whether the need for repair significantly affected your ability to use the vehicle. See how lemon law buybacks are calculated for the shared math across states.

When to talk to a lawyer instead

Michigan has no state arbitration program — if the manufacturer's dispute procedure doesn't resolve your claim, the next step is a lawsuit. Use LemonLawPath to get organized, then talk to a licensed lemon law attorney — especially if:

• Your defect is a serious safety hazard;
• The manufacturer denied your claim or disputes the defect;
• You need to know which filing deadline applies (the lemon law states none);
• Anything about your case feels ambiguous.

Primary sources: MCL 257.1401 · MCL 257.1403 · MCL 257.1405 (Michigan Legislature, legislature.mi.gov) · Michigan Attorney General (michigan.gov/ag)