Documenting Evidence for a New Mexico Lemon Law Claim

Documentation wins New Mexico lemon-law cases. Because the Motor Vehicle Quality Assurance Act turns on a 4-attempt or 30-business-day presumption inside a tight one-year window, contemporaneous records are the difference between a clean presumption and a contested one.

The core record: repair orders

For every dealer visit, keep the repair order showing:

• Date in and date out — critical for the business-day out-of-service count.
• Your description of the defect — in your own words, consistent across visits.
• The technician’s diagnosis and work performed (or “no problem found”).
• Mileage at each visit.
• Parts replaced.

Request a printed copy at every visit, even quick ones. “No problem found” visits still count if you reported the defect.

Track the same-nonconformity count

The presumption requires four attempts on the same uncorrected nonconformity. Keep a simple log:

Visit	Date in	Date out	Business days OOS	Defect reported	Outcome

Consistent defect descriptions keep the same-defect chain intact. If a dealer mislabels the complaint, correct it in writing.

Count business days carefully

New Mexico counts business days, not calendar days, for the 30-day out-of-service threshold. Exclude weekends and exclude downtime for routine maintenance. Thirty business days is roughly six calendar weeks — keep your in/out dates precise so the cumulative count is defensible.

Preserve written notice

Keep a copy of any written notice to the manufacturer and proof of delivery (certified-mail receipt). This supports the final-repair-opportunity step and the 18-month SOL timeline.

Evidence for a UPA willful finding

For the UPA treble-damages and mandatory-fee theory, preserve anything showing the manufacturer knew of the defect:

• Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs) matching your defect.
• Recall notices for the same component.
• Customer-relations call logs and email.
• Marketing or sales representations about reliability, range, or features.
• Patterns of denial or delay.

Photo and video evidence

• Video the defect when it occurs (dash warnings, stalling, infotainment crashes).
• Photograph dashboards, leaks, and damage.
• Date-stamp everything.

Build the financial record

• Purchase/lease contract — establishes price and collateral charges (tax, title, license, registration) for the refund.
• Rental and towing receipts — recoverable as incidental/UPA damages.
• Out-of-pocket repair receipts.

Bottom line

In New Mexico, the presumption lives or dies on repair orders and an accurate business-day out-of-service count, captured inside the one-year Rights Period. Layer in TSBs and manufacturer-knowledge evidence to unlock the UPA’s treble damages and mandatory fees.

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