Texas lemon law statute of limitations (2026)

The plain-English guide to Texas lemon law time limits — the 6-month TxDMV filing deadline and the presumption window, built from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles' own publications and the statute text, not law-firm marketing. Last reviewed: October 2026. For the full filing walkthrough, see our Texas lemon law filing guide.

Two clocks, not one

Texas lemon law has two different time limits, and mixing them up is costly. The presumption window is the period in which your repair attempts must happen for the presumption to apply. The TxDMV filing deadline is the agency deadline for getting your Lemon Law complaint filed. They are measured differently and they do different things.

One more caution: our Texas lemon law filing guide states the TxDMV complaint deadline below — it does not state a separate general court statute of limitations, so this page does not give you one. If you need a court deadline, verify it with TxDMV and a licensed Texas attorney. Deadlines are the highest-stakes facts in a lemon law case — check yours against the primary sources before you rely on any date, including ours.

Work through them in this order. First, line your repair records up against the presumption window — that tells you whether the presumption is available on your facts. Then compute the filing date from the deadline section below, because a strong repair history does not help if the complaint itself is late. If either answer is uncertain, resolve the filing date first: it is the one that cannot be revisited later. Keep the dates, repair-order numbers and reported problems together in the free repair log.

The presumption window: 24 months / 24,000 miles

The window runs until whichever comes first: your warranty expiring, or 24 months / 24,000 miles after delivery. Repair attempts made inside it can raise the presumption in any one of these ways:

Inside that window, the presumption can be met three ways: the same defect is still there after 4 or more repair attempts; the same defect is still there after 2 or more attempts and it is a serious safety hazard; or the vehicle spent a cumulative 30+ days out of service for repair and the defect still exists (days with a comparable loaner do not count). Different defects do not combine. The full test-by-test wording is in the three presumption tests section of our Texas filing guide.

This window is about when the repairs happened. Passing a repair-count test inside the window does not extend the filing deadline below.

The 6-month TxDMV filing deadline

TxDMV gives you 6 months to file the complaint, counted from the earliest of these three milestones:

1. Expiration of your express warranty term;
2. 24 months after purchase; or
3. 24,000 miles after delivery (except towable RVs).

This is an agency filing deadline for the TxDMV complaint — the single most important date in your case. Use the Texas lemon law deadline calculator to estimate yours, then verify it with TxDMV.

How to compute your filing date

Work from your own records, and keep the filing clock separate from the repair tests. Note the purchase date and the delivery date separately — TxDMV's filing guidance uses purchase for the 24-month milestone, while our calculator takes delivery as its input, so if the two dates differ, confirm the filing date with TxDMV instead of relying on the estimate. Then note your express-warranty expiration and the date the vehicle reached 24,000 miles after delivery (that mileage milestone does not apply to towable RVs). Whichever of the three milestones came earliest controls: add six calendar months to it for your filing date. A manufacturer letter or a finished packet is not the complaint filing, so do not assume correspondence preserves your time.

If the date appears missed

If that estimated date has already passed, speak to a licensed Texas attorney promptly, before buying paperwork, and ask TxDMV about its process. A late complaint can put the requested remedy at risk, and neither the calculator nor passing a repair-count test can decide whether an exception or another legal route applies. Keep a copy of your inputs and the calculation, and revisit them if you obtain better records — an estimate helps organize questions, but the agency or an attorney must confirm uncertain timing, and missing information is not extra time.

Primary sources: TxDMV lemon law guidance

Estimate your date with the Texas lemon law deadline calculator, then confirm it with TxDMV before relying on it.

A worked example (fictional dates)

Inputs: purchase January 10, 2025; delivery January 12, 2025; express warranty expires January 12, 2028; the vehicle reached 24,000 miles after delivery on September 15, 2026.

The arithmetic: the three milestones are January 12, 2028 (warranty), January 10, 2027 (24 months after purchase), and September 15, 2026 (24,000 miles). The earliest controls — September 15, 2026 — and six calendar months after it is March 15, 2027, the estimated TxDMV filing date.

What the calculator doesn’t handle: TxDMV measures the 24-month milestone from purchase while the calculator takes your delivery date — here they differ by two days, and if yours differ by more, confirm the date with TxDMV. The mileage milestone does not apply to towable RVs, and no letter or packet stops this clock; only the filed complaint does.

Manufacturer notice — do this first

Before you're eligible for repurchase or replacement, Texas requires you to give the manufacturer written notice of the defect (preferably by certified mail, return receipt requested) and at least one opportunity to cure it. Sending the notice does not file your complaint and does not stop the 6-month clock above — plan both steps inside the available time. The LemonLawPath $29 packet includes a draft demand letter.

Filing, the hearing, and remedies — in the full guide

Filing itself is covered step by step in our Texas filing guide: the complaint goes to the TxDMV Enforcement Division, Lemon Law Section, online through eLICENSING or on the Lemon Law Complaint Form, and a repurchase or replacement request carries the $35 filing fee (verify the current amount on txdmv.gov). The same guide then walks through what happens after you file — the eligibility check, informal resolution, and any Office of Administrative Hearings hearing — and the remedies (repurchase, replacement, or repair). None of those steps changes the deadline on this page: file the complaint itself within the 6-month window above.

When to talk to a lawyer instead

Some cases are not straightforward DIY cases — in particular where the defect is a serious safety hazard, the manufacturer has denied or disputes the claim, the vehicle is used, or your filing deadline has passed or is under 30 days away. The lawyer section of our Texas filing guide lists the situations in full; before hiring anyone, ask how they charge, because fee arrangements vary.

Sources: TxDMV Lemon Law page · TxDMV Office of Administrative Hearings · Texas Occupations Code § 2301.605