Minnesota 30-Day Lemon Law: Coverage, Notice, and Refunds

Minnesota’s 30-day lemon law rule means that if your new vehicle has been in the shop for warranty repairs for a cumulative total of 30 or more business days, the manufacturer is presumed to have had a reasonable number of attempts to fix it, and you can demand a refund or a replacement vehicle. The rule lives in Minn. Stat. § 325F.665, and the 30 days do not have to be consecutive.¹

How the 30 Business Days Are Counted

Only business days count, and only days the vehicle is actually out of service for warranty repair work. A week waiting on a back-ordered part, five days for a diagnostic, another ten days when the problem comes back — those add up to the threshold even though no single visit felt dramatic. Weekends and holidays do not count, but you do not need the days to be consecutive, and you do not need them to be for the same defect.¹

No one at the dealership is tracking this number for you. Keep your own running tally. The dates on each repair order are what you’ll use to prove it.

Other Triggers That Work the Same Way

The 30-day count is one of three ways to trigger the presumption. Any one of them is enough:

Cumulative 30 or more business days out of service for warranty repairs.
Four or more repair attempts on the same defect, with the defect still unresolved.
One repair attempt for a defect that causes complete failure of the braking or steering system and is likely to cause death or serious injury if the vehicle is driven, with the problem continuing.

Which Vehicles and Defects Are Covered

The law applies to new passenger automobiles, pickup trucks, and vans bought or leased in Minnesota, plus the chassis portion of recreational vehicles. The vehicle must be used for personal, family, or household purposes at least 40 percent of the time. Leased vehicles are covered if the lease exceeds four months.¹

The defect itself must substantially impair the use or market value of the vehicle, and it must be covered by the manufacturer’s express warranty. Problems caused by abuse, neglect, or unauthorized modifications are excluded, and the manufacturer can raise either as a defense.¹

The Protection Period

Every repair attempt and every out-of-service day you want to count must fall within the manufacturer’s express warranty period or two years from the date the vehicle was first delivered to you, whichever ends first.²

This is why early reporting matters. If you let problems slide and bring the car in only as the warranty is about to run out, the days you need to reach 30 may not be there. The clock does not pause because the service department is slow to schedule you.

What You Can Demand: Refund or Replacement

Once the presumption is triggered, the manufacturer must give you a comparable replacement vehicle or a full refund. The choice is yours. Even if the manufacturer pushes a replacement, you can refuse it and insist on the refund.¹

A refund covers more than the sticker price. The statute requires the manufacturer to pay back:

The full purchase price, including options or modifications the manufacturer or dealer installed within 30 days of delivery.
Your trade-in value plus any additional cash you paid.
Sales or excise tax, license fees, and registration fees.
Towing and rental car costs you incurred because the vehicle was in the shop for warranty repairs.

You get an itemized statement showing each component. If there’s a lienholder on the title, that lender is paid its share directly.

Leases work slightly differently. Lessees are entitled to a refund of what they actually paid on the lease, with the same reimbursement for taxes, fees, towing, and rental, but no replacement vehicle option.¹

The Usage Deduction

The manufacturer can subtract a reasonable allowance for the miles you drove before the problems began. The deduction is capped at the lower of ten cents per mile or ten percent of the purchase price. Only miles driven when the vehicle was working properly count; use during periods when the vehicle’s value or utility was substantially impaired does not.¹

A quick example. On a $35,000 vehicle driven 5,000 trouble-free miles before the first defect appeared, the per-mile calculation is $500. Ten percent of the purchase price is $3,500. The deduction is $500, because the per-mile figure is lower. The sooner the first defect appears, the smaller your deduction.

Written Notice and the Paper Trail

Before you can rely on the presumption, you must send written notice to the manufacturer, its agent, or the authorized dealer at least once, and give them a chance to repair the defect. The notice should identify the vehicle, describe the problem, and state that you believe the vehicle qualifies as a lemon and that you want a refund or replacement. A dealer or agent who receives the notice is required to forward it to the manufacturer by certified mail.¹

The paperwork you collect now becomes your proof later. Hold on to:

Every repair order and invoice. Each visit should produce a written order showing the date in, the complaint reported, and the work performed.
An out-of-service calendar. A simple spreadsheet of dates in and dates out is enough.
All correspondence with the dealer or manufacturer, including emails and text messages.
Receipts for rental cars, towing, and rideshare costs tied to the vehicle being in the shop.

At the time of purchase or lease, the manufacturer must give you a separate written notice, in capital letters, explaining your lemon law rights and the requirement to notify them in writing before seeking a refund or replacement. If you never received that notice, say so. The manufacturer’s failure to provide it weakens any defense built around what you did or didn’t do.¹

Arbitration Before Court

Minnesota requires manufacturers to offer an arbitration program, and you generally must use it before filing a lawsuit. Programs like BBB AUTO LINE handle these disputes at no cost to the vehicle owner and do not require an attorney.³

The arbitration decision is nonbinding unless both parties agree otherwise. Either side can take the result to district court for a fresh trial. A loss in arbitration is not the end of the road.¹

If you end up in court and win, the statute entitles you to recover costs, disbursements, and reasonable attorney’s fees from the manufacturer. That fee-shifting rule is why many lemon law attorneys will take a case without charging the consumer upfront.¹

If Your Car Is Used, This Isn’t Your Statute

The lemon law covers new vehicles. If you bought a used car from a dealer, a separate statute, Minn. Stat. § 325F.662, provides its own warranty with coverage periods that scale by odometer reading, and vehicles with 200,000 or more miles at the time of sale, along with private-party sales, fall outside it entirely.⁴

1
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 325F.665 – New Motor Vehicle Warranties; Manufacturer’s Duty to Repair, Refund, or Replace
2
Minnesota Attorney General. Minnesota Car Laws – The Manufacturer’s Duty to Refund or Replace
3
BBB National Programs. BBB AUTO LINE
4
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 325F.662 – Sale of Used Motor Vehicles