Wisconsin Lemon Law

What is the Wisconsin Lemon Law?
The WI Lemon Law is put in place to protect consumers from purchasing defective cars or vehicles. The Lemon Law stipulates that if the vehicle purchased (the Lemon Law covers any new car, truck, SUV, motorcycle or motor home the consumer buys or leases) qualifies as a “lemon”, the manufacturer has to replace it free of any cost to the purchaser or refund the price of purchase, minus reasonable amount for mileage.

What is considered a “lemon” on the Wisconsin Lemon Law?
Any new vehicle less than a year old and still under warranty may be considered a “lemon” by WI state law if it has one or more defects that prevent you from using it for 30 days or more, or if it has a serious defect that the manufacturer/dealer can not fix after four tries. The defect on the vehicle must be serious enough to drastically affect the values, use or safety of the vehicle. The vehicle in question must still be covered by warranty.

What to do if you think you have a lemon?
If your vehicle meets all of the criteria listed above, you may be eligible for a refund as stipulated by the Wisconsin Lemon Law. You will need to gather your records and repair orders for the vehicle, this included purchase contract and warranty. You can then use the Wisconsin Department of Transportation's Motor Vehicle “Lemon Law Notice” form to ask the manufacturer for a refund or replacement of the vehicle.