The North Dakota Lemon Law Statute (§ 51-07-16)

North Dakota’s lemon law lives at N.D. Cent. Code § 51-07-16 to § 51-07-22. It requires the manufacturer to replace the vehicle or refund the purchase price when it can’t fix a substantial defect after a reasonable number of attempts.

What the statute requires

To qualify, all of the following must be true:

1. Covered vehicle — a passenger motor vehicle, or a truck with a registered gross weight of 10,000 pounds or less normally used for personal, family, or household purposes (§ 51-07-16). Leases are covered (§ 51-07-18.1); a house car (motor home) is excluded.
2. Substantial impairment — the defect must substantially impair the use and market value of the vehicle. Minor glitches don’t qualify; see qualifying defects.
3. Within the coverage window — the defect arises during the warranty term or one year from original delivery, whichever is earlier (§ 51-07-16). North Dakota uses “earlier,” not “later” — a meaningful narrowing.
4. Reasonable repair attempts — see the presumption: more than 3 attempts at the same nonconformity, or 30 business days out of service.
5. Prior notice + opportunity to cure — the manufacturer must have received direct notification and a chance to repair (§ 51-07-19(3)). See written notice.

The remedy — consumer’s choice

If the manufacturer can’t conform the vehicle after a reasonable number of attempts, § 51-07-18 directs it to replace the vehicle with a comparable one or accept return and refund the purchase price — at the consumer’s election. You control which remedy you get.

The refund — and the 10%-of-price offset cap

The refund is the full purchase price plus all collateral charges, less a use allowance. North Dakota’s offset is the most consumer-favorable in the country:

a reasonable allowance for the consumer’s use not exceeding ten cents per mile driven or ten percent of the purchase price, whichever is less (§ 51-07-18).

So on a $40,000 vehicle, the offset can never exceed $4,000 (10%), no matter the mileage — and only miles before the first report of the defect count. See the refund guide for the math.

The conditional IDS prerequisite

If the manufacturer maintains a qualifying informal dispute settlement program (16 C.F.R. Part 703), the statutory remedy is “not available to a consumer who has not first resorted to that procedure” (§ 51-07-18). North Dakota has no state arbitration board. See manufacturer arbitration.

The deadline — six months

The single most important deadline: a lemon-law action must begin within six months of the earlier of warranty expiration or eighteen months after delivery (§ 51-07-21). See statute of limitations.

Bottom line

North Dakota’s lemon law gives you a consumer-elected refund or replacement with a uniquely capped use offset — but the coverage window is short (“earlier” of warranty or one year) and the deadline to sue is only six months. Move fast. Get a free case review.

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