Recreational Vehicles (RVs) Under Wisconsin Lemon Law
How Wisconsin's Lemon Law applies to motor homes — full coverage of the motor home as a motor vehicle, including living-quarters components.
Wisconsin’s Lemon Law covers motor homes as motor vehicles under Wis. Stat. § 218.0171 — and Wisconsin is more consumer-favorable than the many states that limit coverage to the chassis. The “motor vehicle” definition reaches nearly any motor-driven vehicle required to be registered, with no living-quarters carve-out, and Wisconsin courts have held that a manufacturer cannot satisfy its replacement obligation by swapping only the chassis (Kiss v. General Motors Corp., 2001 WI App 122).
What’s covered
- Chassis defects — engine, transmission, brakes, steering, suspension, electrical, fuel system.
- Living-quarters / coach defects manufactured as part of the motor home — to the extent attributable to the vehicle manufacturer’s warranty.
- Chassis-mounted safety systems and drivetrain components.
Component-specific warranties
A motor home often carries multiple warranties — the chassis manufacturer’s and the coach builder’s. Wisconsin’s Lemon Law applies to the manufacturer that warranted the nonconforming component. Where the coach builder is a separate manufacturer, consumers may also use:
- Coach builder warranty.
- Magnuson-Moss — federal-court access E.D./W.D. Wis.; § 2310(d)(2) fees; 6-year Wisconsin UCC SOL (among the longest in the country).
- Implied warranty of merchantability (Wis. Stat. § 402.314).
Class A, B, and C motor homes
Coverage applies across all self-propelled classes:
- Class A (full motor home) — covered.
- Class B (van conversion) — covered.
- Class C (cab-chassis with coach) — covered.
Travel trailers and fifth-wheels
Towable RVs are NOT covered under § 218.0171 because they are trailers, not motor-driven “motor vehicles.” Towables fall under Magnuson-Moss only.
Wisconsin RV market
Wisconsin has substantial RV market share:
- Northwoods camping culture.
- Lake Country recreation — boating with RV combinations.
- Snowbird migration through Wisconsin north/south.
Common motor home defects
- Workhorse / Freightliner chassis electrical and brake issues.
- Ford F-53 motorhome chassis transmission and steering defects.
- GM chassis powertrain issues.
- Slide-out, leveling-jack, and generator failures within manufacturer warranty.
When a qualifying defect exists, the § 218.0171(7) automatic doubling mechanism applies.
Bottom line
Wisconsin covers motor homes as motor vehicles under § 218.0171 — without a chassis-only limitation — with the automatic doubling mechanism applicable. Magnuson-Moss remains a parallel tool for separately-warranted coach components, and Wisconsin’s unusually long 6-year UCC SOL provides strong runway.
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Read →Think you've got a lemon?
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