Remedies: What You Can Recover Under Missouri Lemon Law

Missouri’s Lemon Law (§ 407.560) and the MMPA overlay (§ 407.010) produce a strong remedy package: refund or replacement, MMPA punitive damages under § 407.025(1) (post-SB 591 standards), and mandatory attorney fees under two statutes.

The five primary remedies

1. Refund (buyback) — Full purchase price, sales tax, registration, finance charges, incidental costs, minus reasonable use deduction under § 407.567.
2. Replacement vehicle — Comparable new vehicle (the manufacturer elects “at its option” between refund and replacement under § 407.567).
3. Cash and keep (settlement) — Diminished-value settlement common in pre-IDS negotiations.
4. MMPA damages — Actual damages + punitive damages under § 407.025(1) + mandatory attorney fees (post-2020 SB 591 standards).
5. Attorney fees — Mandatory § 407.577 Lemon Law fees + mandatory MMPA § 407.025(1) fees + Magnuson-Moss § 2310(d)(2) fees.

Refund / replacement math

Under § 407.567, the refund must include:

• Full purchase price (or lease payments + residual)
• Sales tax + registration / title fees
• Finance charges + interest paid
• Incidental damages (rental, towing, diagnostic fees)
• LESS: reasonable use offset

Missouri courts typically use a 120,000-mile life-expectancy denominator (consistent with peer states).

MMPA — the leverage layer (post-2020)

MMPA adds:

• Actual damages for deceptive practices.
• Punitive damages under § 407.025(1) — discretionary, requires meeting post-SB 591 standards.
• Mandatory attorney fees on prevailing.
• 5-year SOL under § 516.120(2).
• Heightened pleading requirements post-SB 591.

The 2020 SB 591 reforms narrowed MMPA but did not eliminate it. Vehicle defect cases with documented ascertainable loss (purchase price, repair costs, diminished value, lost-use damages) remain MMPA-actionable.

Attorney fees — dual mandatory basis

Statute	Standard	Trigger
§ 407.577	Mandatory	Prevailing on Lemon Law
MMPA § 407.025(1)	Mandatory	Prevailing on MMPA
Magnuson-Moss § 2310(d)(2)	Mandatory	Prevailing under MMWA

This makes Missouri a strong fee-shifting jurisdiction — three independent mandatory bases.

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