The Delaware Lemon Law (Del. Code tit. 6 § 5001)

Delaware’s lemon law — the Automobile Warranties Act — is codified at Del. Code tit. 6 § 5001 to § 5009. It is consumer-favorable in several respects: the consumer can demand a buyback, coverage has no mileage limit, the use offset uses a 100,000-mile basis, and a lemon-law violation triggers the Deceptive Trade Practices Act’s mandatory treble (§ 2533) via the per se § 2513 hook.

The core promise

Section 5003 requires the manufacturer, when it cannot conform the vehicle to the warranty after a reasonable number of attempts, to replace the vehicle or refund the purchase price. Critically, the consumer has the “unqualified right to decline a replacement automobile and to demand instead a repurchase” (§ 5003(a)) — so the remedy is effectively consumer-controlled.

Who’s covered

Section 5001 covers a passenger motor vehicle purchased or registered in Delaware. Leases and warranty-entitled transferees are covered.

Since a 2016 amendment (SB173), the “automobile” definition no longer excludes motorcycles — they are now covered. The only carve-out remaining (§ 5001(1)):

• The living facilities of motor homes (the coach portion).

The warranty-or-one-year window — no mileage limit

Coverage runs the warranty period or one year from original delivery, whichever is earlier (§ 5002) — with no mileage limit at all. This is distinctive: the only clock is time, so a high-mileage Delaware driver isn’t cut off by a mileage cap the way a Montana driver is by the 18,000-mile cap. The trade-off is a short one-year window — act promptly.

The presumption: 4 attempts or 30 calendar days

Section 5004 presumes a reasonable number of attempts where, within the coverage window:

• The same nonconformity has been subject to repair 4 or more times and persists; OR
• The vehicle has been out of service for repair more than 30 cumulative calendar days.

The 30-day count runs from the first day the consumer presents the vehicle with a written nonconformity description, and is extended only for force majeure (war, invasion, strike, fire, flood, or other natural disaster). Prior written notice to the manufacturer and an opportunity to repair are required (§ 5004(b)). Delaware has no one-attempt rule. See repair-attempt presumption.

The refund and the 100,000-mile offset

The refund returns the full purchase price plus collateral charges — sales taxes, registration fees, and dealer-prep fees (§ 5003(b)(2), (c)). (Delaware has no general sales tax; the practical analog is the 4.25% vehicle document fee, plus registration and dealer-prep.)

The use offset (§ 5003(c)) is the purchase price multiplied by a fraction:

• Numerator — miles driven before the consumer first reported the nonconformity.
• Denominator — 100,000.

The 100,000-mile denominator and before-first-report numerator keep the deduction small — a Delaware refund stays close to the full price.

Certified-IDS exhaustion (§ 5007)

Delaware has no state arbitration board. If the manufacturer has established a certified informal dispute settlement (IDS) procedure (certified by the Division of Consumer Protection under 16 C.F.R. Part 703), the consumer must exhaust it before pursuing court remedies (§ 5007). The Division of Consumer Protection enforces the law (§ 5009). See manufacturer arbitration.

Attorney fees and the Consumer Fraud Act hook

Section 5005 lets a court may award the plaintiff’s costs and reasonable attorney fees in a breach-of-warranty action (discretionary; fees to a defendant only for a bad-faith or frivolous action). The stronger lever is § 5009: a lemon-law violation is a per se unlawful practice under § 2513, triggering the Deceptive Trade Practices Act’s mandatory treble (§ 2533). See attorney fees.

How Delaware compares

Feature	Delaware	Montana	Rhode Island	New Hampshire
Enforcement	Certified IDS then court	DOJ arb / IDS (in MT)	AG arbitration board	State board (MVAB)
Same-defect attempts	4	4	4	3
Safety-defect attempts	None	None	None	None
OOS threshold	30 calendar days	30 business days	30 calendar days	30 business days
Coverage window	Warranty / 1 yr (no mileage cap)	2 yr / 18,000 mi	1 yr / 15,000 mi	Warranty + 1 yr
Remedy election	Consumer (can demand buyback)	Manufacturer	Consumer	Consumer
Use offset	÷100,000-mi (pre-report)	÷100,000-mi	÷100,000-mi	÷100,000-mi
Motorcycles	Covered (since 2016)	Excluded	Covered	Covered
UDAP treble	Mandatory (§ 2533)	Discretionary	Discretionary	Mandatory 2x–3x

Delaware stands out for its no-mileage-cap coverage window, the consumer’s right to demand a buyback, and the mandatory treble under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act (§ 2533).

Bottom line

The Delaware Lemon Law gives consumers a consumer-elected refund or replacement (with a right to demand a buyback), a small 100,000-mile offset, and no mileage cap — within a short warranty-or-one-year window. Exhaust any certified IDS, then pair the claim with the Deceptive Trade Practices Act treble (§ 2533, via the per se § 2513 hook) and Magnuson-Moss.

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