What Is the Lemon Law in Maine and How Does It Work?

The Maine lemon law gives you the right to a replacement vehicle or a refund when a new car, truck, motorcycle, or motor home chassis has a defect the manufacturer can’t fix after a reasonable number of attempts. It applies to problems first reported within three years of delivery, 18,000 miles, or the length of the express warranty, whichever ends soonest. The state runs a free arbitration program through the Attorney General’s office, so you don’t have to sue to enforce it.¹

When Your Vehicle Qualifies as a Lemon

The defect has to substantially impair the vehicle’s use, safety, or value, and it has to first show up during the protection period: the shorter of the express warranty, three years from delivery, or 18,000 miles.¹

Once any one of three things happens within that window, the law presumes the manufacturer has had enough chances to fix the problem and the burden shifts to the manufacturer to prove otherwise:

The same defect has been subject to three or more repair attempts and still exists.
A braking or steering failure has been subject to at least one repair attempt and still exists.
The vehicle has been out of service for repairs for a cumulative 15 or more business days, which don’t have to be consecutive.

Keep every repair order, the drop-off and pick-up dates, your purchase or lease agreement, and any emails or letters with the dealer. That paperwork is the case.¹

Who the Law Covers

Anyone who buys or leases a new vehicle in Maine for personal use is covered, and if you sell the vehicle while the warranty is still in force, the next owner inherits the lemon law rights.²

Two situations fall outside the law. Vehicles used primarily for commercial purposes with a gross vehicle weight of 8,500 pounds or more aren’t covered, and the definition of “consumer” excludes government entities and any business that registers three or more motor vehicles.²

Send Written Notice First

Before you can demand a refund or replacement, you have to send written notice to the manufacturer saying which one you want. Sending it to the authorized dealer counts, because the dealer is legally required to act as the manufacturer’s agent and forward the claim. For a braking or steering problem, you can send the notice after a single repair attempt.¹

A manufacturer can only insist on written notice if it clearly spelled out that requirement, along with where to send it, in the warranty or owner’s manual. If it never told you, it can’t hold the missing notice against you.¹

After the manufacturer gets your notice, it has seven business days for one final repair attempt.³

Free Arbitration Through the Attorney General

If the manufacturer runs its own informal dispute settlement program that meets federal standards, you have to go through either that program or Maine’s state-certified arbitration before you can collect a remedy. The program requirement is treated as satisfied 40 days after you notify it, or when it finishes its process, whichever comes first.¹ Many consumers skip the manufacturer’s program and go directly to the state process, which is free and run by a neutral office.

To start Maine’s arbitration, email lemon.law@maine.gov or call the Attorney General’s consumer hotline.⁴ Once your application is accepted, a hearing has to be scheduled within 45 days.⁵ You bring your documentation, the manufacturer responds, and a state-appointed arbitrator issues a written decision on whether you qualify and what you’re owed.

What You Can Get

If you win, the manufacturer must either give you a comparable new vehicle or a full refund, and the choice between the two is yours. You can turn down a proposed replacement and take the refund instead.¹

A refund covers the full purchase price (or all lease payments plus finance charges you’ve already paid), sales tax, registration fees, and similar government charges. The manufacturer subtracts a reasonable allowance for the use you got out of the vehicle.¹

That use deduction is capped. It can’t exceed the lesser of two figures: one-third of the IRS standard mileage rate times the odometer reading when you filed your arbitration application (plus any miles over 20,000), or 10 percent of the purchase price. Whichever is smaller is what comes off the refund.²

If you still owe a lender, the refund is split between you and the lender based on each party’s interest at the time it’s paid. If you want a replacement instead, your lender has to agree to move the security interest to the new vehicle; if it won’t, you get the refund.¹

Appeals and the Double-Damages Penalty

Either side can appeal the arbitrator’s decision to the Superior Court in the county where you bought the vehicle, but the filing has to be in within 21 days. The appeal starts the case over as a new trial rather than a review of what the arbitrator did.⁶

If you win and the manufacturer neither delivers the refund or replacement within 21 days nor appeals in time, you’re entitled to at least double the original award when you go to court to enforce it. The only way out for the manufacturer is to prove the delay was beyond its control or that you signed off on a different arrangement.⁶

What the Manufacturer Can Argue

Manufacturers have an affirmative defense if the defect came from abuse, neglect, or unauthorized modifications made by someone other than the manufacturer or its dealers.⁷ While a claim is open, don’t make aftermarket changes to any system tied to your complaint. An aftermarket exhaust on a vehicle with a persistent engine misfire hands the other side an argument you don’t want them to have.

If You Don’t Fit Maine’s Law

If you’re past the mileage or time limit, or the defect doesn’t trip the state presumption, the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act may still let you sue the manufacturer for breaching a written or implied warranty. The statute of limitations under most state commercial codes is generally four years from the date of purchase.⁸

Federal claims don’t come with free arbitration, so legal costs matter more. The act does let courts award attorney fees to a consumer who wins, which is why some lawyers take these cases on contingency. Federal warranty claims won’t cover problems caused by misuse, ordinary wear, or failure to follow maintenance instructions.⁸

1
Maine Legislature. Maine Code Title 10 1163 – Rights and Duties
2
Maine Legislature. Maine Code Title 10 1161 – Definitions
3
Council of Better Business Bureaus. Maine Lemon Law Summary
4
Office of the Maine Attorney General. Consumer Complaints or Questions
5
Office of the Maine Attorney General. Consumer Law Guide – Chapter 7: The Maine Lemon Law and State Arbitration
6
Maine Legislature. Maine Code Title 10 1169 – State Motor Vehicle Dispute Arbitration and Mediation
7
Maine Legislature. Maine Code Title 10 1164 – Affirmative Defense
8
Federal Trade Commission. Businessperson’s Guide to Federal Warranty Law