The Montana Lemon Law (Mont. Code Ann. § 61-4-501)

Montana’s lemon law — the New Motor Vehicle Warranty Act — is codified at Mont. Code Ann. § 61-4-501 to -533. It provides a refund or replacement through arbitration held in Montana, and it is distinctive in several respects: the manufacturer elects the remedy, the warranty period caps at a low 18,000 miles, and the fee/multiplier engine sits in the Consumer Protection Act rather than the lemon law itself.

The core promise

Section 61-4-503 requires the manufacturer, when it cannot conform the vehicle to the warranty after a reasonable number of attempts, to replace the vehicle — or, at the manufacturer’s option, accept return and refund the purchase price. The manufacturer chooses between the two (§ 61-4-503(1)–(2)); the consumer has no statutory election (contrast New Hampshire and Rhode Island, where the consumer elects).

Who’s covered

Section 61-4-501 covers a new motor vehicle purchased or leased in Montana for personal, family, or household use, designed primarily to carry passengers on public highways. Leases are covered.

Expressly excluded (§ 61-4-501):

• Trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating of 15,000 lbs or more.
• The residential components of a motor home.

Motorcycles are not named in the definition. They likely fall outside the Act’s passenger-vehicle scope, but coverage is best confirmed case by case.

The 2-year / 18,000-mile warranty period — and the mileage trap

The warranty period ends 2 years after original delivery or at 18,000 miles, whichever is earlier (§ 61-4-501(7)). The 18,000-mile cap is low — and because Montana drivers cover long rural distances, many hit 18,000 miles in well under two years. In a high-mileage state, the mileage cap, not the two-year clock, usually controls. See statute of limitations.

The presumption: 4 attempts or 30 business days

Section 61-4-504 presumes a reasonable number of attempts where, within the warranty period:

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

Montana has no one-attempt rule for serious safety defects. Written notice to the manufacturer is required before eligibility (§ 61-4-502(3)). See repair-attempt presumption.

The refund and the 100,000-mile offset

When the remedy is a refund, the manufacturer returns the full purchase price plus reasonable collateral charges — defined as sales tax, property tax, license and registration fees, and fees in lieu of tax (§ 61-4-501(1)). (Montana has no general sales tax, so the practical collateral charges are property tax, registration, and fees in lieu.)

The use offset (§ 61-4-501(6)) multiplies the total contract price by a fraction with a 100,000-mile denominator and the number of miles driven as the numerator — a consumer-favorable denominator that keeps the deduction modest.

Arbitration — and the in-Montana requirement

If a manufacturer has established a certified informal dispute settlement (IDS) procedure, the consumer must resort to it before the lemon-law remedy attaches (§ 61-4-507). The Department of Justice administers a state arbitration program (§ 61-4-515), and — distinctively — all arbitration must take place in Montana at a place reasonably convenient to the consumer. If an IDS decision was nonconforming, the consumer may request arbitration de novo (§ 61-4-520). See state arbitration board.

Attorney fees — by way of the CPA

The lemon law contains no fee-shifting provision. Instead, § 61-4-533 makes a violation an unfair or deceptive trade practice under the Consumer Protection Act — which provides discretionary treble damages and discretionary fees (capped at $250/hour). Magnuson-Moss § 2310(d)(2) is the other fee engine. See attorney fees.

How Montana compares

Feature	Montana	New Hampshire	Rhode Island	Idaho
Enforcement	DOJ arb / certified IDS (in MT)	State board (MVAB)	AG arbitration board	Court (after ID mechanism)
Same-defect attempts	4	3	4	4
Safety-defect attempts	None	None	None	1 (braking/steering)
OOS threshold	30 business days	30 business days	30 calendar days	30 business days
Warranty period	2 yr / 18,000 mi	Warranty + 1 yr	1 yr / 15,000 mi	2 yr / 24K
Remedy election	Manufacturer	Consumer	Consumer	Mfr, consumer veto
Use offset	÷100,000-mi	÷100,000-mi	÷100,000-mi	÷120,000-mi
Motorcycles	Likely outside	Covered	Covered	Excluded
Lemon-law fees	None (via CPA)	Discretionary	Mandatory	Mandatory (+ ICPA)

Montana stands out for its manufacturer-elected remedy, the 18,000-mile cap that bites in a high-mileage state, the in-Montana arbitration requirement, and a lemon law that routes fees through the CPA.

Bottom line

The Montana Lemon Law gives consumers a refund or replacement (the manufacturer’s choice) through in-state arbitration, with a modest 100,000-mile offset and no sales tax to recover. Act before the 18,000-mile cap, give written notice, and pair the claim with the CPA and Magnuson-Moss for fees and a multiplier.

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