Remedies: What You Can Recover Under Tennessee Lemon Law

Tennessee’s Lemon Law (§ 55-24-101 et seq.) and the TCPA overlay (§ 47-18-101 et seq.) produce a meaningful remedy package: refund or replacement, TCPA discretionary treble damages for willful/knowing, and § 55-24-108 + § 47-18-109(e)(1) attorney fees on prevailing.

The five primary remedies

1. Refund (buyback) — Full purchase price, sales tax, registration, finance charges, incidental costs, minus reasonable use deduction under § 55-24-103.
2. Replacement vehicle — Comparable new vehicle (consumer chooses between refund and replacement under § 55-24-103).
3. Cash and keep (settlement) — Diminished-value settlement common in pre-IDS negotiations.
4. TCPA damages — Actual damages + discretionary treble under § 47-18-109(a)(3) + mandatory § 47-18-109(e)(1) attorney fees for willful/knowing violations.
5. Attorney fees — Permissive § 55-24-108 (Lemon Law) + mandatory TCPA § 47-18-109(e)(1) + Magnuson-Moss § 2310(d)(2) fees.

Refund / replacement math

Under § 55-24-103, 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

Tennessee’s reasonable-use calculation typically uses a 120,000-mile life-expectancy denominator (consistent with peer states).

TCPA — the leverage layer (with care)

TCPA (§ 47-18-101 et seq.) adds:

• Actual damages for deceptive practices.
• Discretionary TREBLE damages under § 47-18-109(a)(3) — for “willful or knowing” violations.
• Mandatory attorney fees under § 47-18-109(e)(1).
• 1-year SOL under § 47-18-110 — dangerously short, plead early.

Tennessee Supreme Court has at times narrowed TCPA’s application — careful pleading is required.

Attorney fees — triple recovery basis

Statute	Standard	Trigger
§ 55-24-108	Permissive (“may be allowed”)	Prevailing on Lemon Law
TCPA § 47-18-109(e)(1)	Mandatory	Prevailing on TCPA
Magnuson-Moss § 2310(d)(2)	Mandatory	Prevailing under MMWA

This makes Tennessee a strong fee-shifting jurisdiction — three independent mandatory bases — partially offsetting the short SOLs.

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