Texas Lemon Law

Texas’s lemon law looks fundamentally different from California’s. Where California enforces its Song-Beverly Act through lawsuits in state court, Texas runs almost the entire lemon-law process administratively through the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV). The statute is the Texas Lemon Law, codified at Tex. Occ. Code §§ 2301.601–2301.613, and enforcement is by an Office of Administrative Hearings judge under TxDMV oversight.

This page is the hub for our Texas coverage. Use the topic guides for deeper reading on specific questions:

• The Law — The Texas Lemon Law statute, the Deceptive Trade Practices Act overlay, Magnuson-Moss, the repair-attempt presumption, and the statute of limitations.
• The Process — How a TxDMV complaint moves from filing through mediation to a final hearing decision.
• Remedies — Repurchase, replacement, repair-only orders, DTPA treble damages, and attorney-fee recovery.
• Qualifying Defects — Transmission, engine, brake, electrical, EV, and other defect categories that meet Texas’s “substantially impair” test.
• Vehicle Types — Used vehicles, leases, EVs, motorcycles, RVs, and commercial vehicles.
• Manufacturers — Common case patterns by brand in the Texas market.
• FAQ — Common questions about Texas lemon-law claims.

Who’s protected

Texas’s Lemon Law covers:

• New vehicles (cars, trucks, motorcycles, motor homes, all-terrain vehicles, towable recreational vehicles, neighborhood electric vehicles) purchased or leased in Texas.
• Demonstrators, when sold under a new-vehicle warranty.
• Used vehicles in narrow circumstances — generally requires that the defect was reported during the original new-vehicle warranty period.

The defect must “substantially impair” the use or market value of the vehicle. Cosmetic flaws, owner-caused damage, and normal wear don’t qualify.

The filing deadline (§ 2301.606(d))

Texas’s lemon-law eligibility is gated by a 24-month or 24,000-mile window from the original delivery date — whichever comes first. The defect must:

• Manifest within the original express warranty period;
• Be reported to the manufacturer or its authorized dealer;
• Trigger the repair-attempt or out-of-service thresholds (see below);
• Result in a TxDMV complaint within the statutory window.

If the complaint isn’t filed within six months after the earliest of express-warranty expiration, 24 months, or 24,000 miles from delivery (Tex. Occ. Code § 2301.606(d)), TxDMV typically lacks jurisdiction. The federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA) can extend buyer remedies beyond TxDMV’s jurisdictional deadline.

The “reasonable number of attempts” test

Texas applies thresholds similar to California’s, codified in Tex. Occ. Code § 2301.605:

• Four or more repair attempts for the same nonconformity, with at least two attempts occurring within the warranty period or 12 months / 12,000 miles after delivery (whichever first), AND at least two more within 12 months / 12,000 miles after the second attempt; OR
• Two or more repair attempts for a defect that creates a “serious safety hazard” likely to cause death or serious injury; OR
• 30 or more cumulative days out of service for repair during the warranty period.

For the four-attempt and two-attempt (safety) tests, the buyer must give the manufacturer written notice of the defect and an opportunity to cure. The 30-day out-of-service test does not require pre-notice but does require that out-of-service days fall within the warranty period.

What you can recover

Successful TxDMV cases yield one of three remedies under Tex. Occ. Code § 2301.604:

• Repurchase (refund) — the manufacturer refunds the purchase price minus a reasonable allowance for use, plus collateral charges.
• Replacement — a comparable new vehicle, with adjustments for differences.
• Repair-only order — TxDMV orders the manufacturer to perform additional repairs (rare; reserved for marginal cases).

Texas’s Lemon Law does not include a civil-penalty multiplier comparable to California’s § 1794(c) “up to 2× damages.” Civil penalties for lemon-law violations are limited under the Texas statute. But the Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA) — Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 17.41 et seq. — can produce treble damages and attorney-fee recovery in separate civil court actions. Many Texas buyers pursue TxDMV plus DTPA in parallel.

What about attorney fees?

The TxDMV lemon-law process doesn’t shift attorney fees from the manufacturer to the buyer the way California’s § 1794(d) does. Some Texas buyers represent themselves before TxDMV without an attorney, particularly for clearer cases.

However:

• DTPA actions in civil court allow recovery of reasonable attorney fees by the prevailing consumer (Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 17.50(d)).
• Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act claims allow attorney fees by federal-court statute (15 U.S.C. § 2310(d)(2)).
• An experienced Texas lemon-law attorney typically combines TxDMV proceedings with DTPA and Magnuson-Moss claims, recovering fees through the federal/civil-court path while using TxDMV for the substantive repurchase/replacement remedy.

Talk to a Texas lemon-law attorney about which combination of avenues makes sense for your facts.

What to do next

If you think you might have a Texas lemon:

1. Document everything. Keep every repair order — even “no problem found” visits. Note dates, mileage, and what you reported. See our evidence guide.
2. Watch the § 2301.606(d) filing deadline. You must file within six months after the earliest of express-warranty expiration, 24 months, or 24,000 miles — don’t let it run out while you negotiate informally with the dealer.
3. Send written notice to the manufacturer per Tex. Occ. Code § 2301.606. See how to file a claim.
4. Read the topic guides to understand the Texas-specific process — it diverges materially from California’s lawsuit-driven model.
5. Get a free case review from a Texas lemon-law attorney before accepting any settlement offer from the manufacturer.

Explore Texas lemon law

Topic

The Law: Texas Lemon Law and DTPA

The statutes behind a Texas lemon-law claim — the Texas Lemon Law (Tex. Occ. Code § 2301.601 et seq.), the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, and the procedural timing rules.

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The Texas Lemon Law Process

Step-by-step: how a Texas lemon-law claim moves from documented repair attempts through the TxDMV complaint, mediation, administrative hearing, and final order.

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Texas Lemon Law Remedies

What you can actually recover under Texas's lemon-law framework — repurchase, replacement, repair-only orders from TxDMV, and the parallel DTPA path to treble damages and attorney fees.

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Qualifying Defects Under Texas Lemon Law

What kinds of vehicle defects qualify for a Texas Lemon Law repurchase — the substantial-impairment test under Tex. Occ. Code § 2301.601 and common qualifying defect categories.

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Vehicle Types Covered by Texas Lemon Law

How Texas's Lemon Law applies to used cars, leases, EVs, motorcycles, RVs, and commercial vehicles — coverage varies by category and is generally narrower than California's framework.

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Texas Lemon Law Cases by Manufacturer

How the Texas Lemon Law and DTPA apply to specific manufacturers — characteristic defect patterns, TSB histories, and settlement dynamics for the 13 brands most often litigated in Texas.

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Texas Lemon Law — Frequently Asked Questions

Quick answers to the most-asked questions about Texas's Lemon Law: when is a car a lemon, do you need a lawyer, how much does it cost, what about used cars, and more.

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