Consumer Protection · Lemon Law
Lemon Law in Washington
How many repair attempts and days out of service before Washington presumes your vehicle is a lemon — and whether used cars are covered.
presumption trigger (same defect)
Do I meet the Washington lemon presumption?
Enter your repairs and downtime. This checks the presumption — it is not a legal verdict.
This checklist is educational, not a legal verdict. Every state writes these numbers as a rebuttable presumption: hitting them shifts the burden to the manufacturer, and the manufacturer can still rebut it. Keep every repair order, send any required written notice, and consult a lawyer about your specific facts. This is legal information, not legal advice.
How the presumption works in Washington
The prongs that shift the burden to the manufacturer.
The 60-day out-of-service threshold applies to MOTOR HOMES, not diesels — Washington has no diesel-specific rule. The serious-safety track is 2 attempts.
Every state — Washington included — writes these thresholds as a rebuttable presumption. Reaching them shifts the burden onto the manufacturer to prove your vehicle is not a lemon; it does not mean you automatically win. You may also qualify with fewer attempts if a "reasonable number" of repairs is shown some other way, and the manufacturer can rebut the presumption. This is legal information, not legal advice.
Used cars & leased vehicles
Which of the three coverage categories Washington falls in.
The full picture, with the source
Every figure, and where it comes from.
| Same-defect attempts | 4 |
| Serious-safety attempts | 2 |
| Days out of service | 30 calendar days |
| Coverage window | 2 years or 24,000 miles from delivery (the "eligibility period"; whichever comes first) |
| Used cars | New vehicles only |
| Leased vehicles | Covered |
| Statute | RCW 19.118.041 (presumption); 19.118.021 (definitions) |
What Washington car buyers get wrong
Washington’s lemon law is administered by the Attorney General, and one widely repeated claim about it is simply wrong. Under RCW 19.118.041 the state presumes a lemon after 4 repair attempts on the same defect, 2 attempts on the same serious safety defect, or 30 days out of service — all within a 2-year / 24,000-mile eligibility period, with at least one attempt inside that window. The correction: the longer 60-day out-of-service threshold applies to motor homes, not to diesel vehicles. There is no diesel-specific provision anywhere in RCW 19.118.041, so ignore any "60 days for diesels" summary. As with every lemon law, these are presumption triggers that shift the burden to the manufacturer rather than deciding the case, and Washington covers new vehicles only — it has no used-car lemon law.
Common questions
How many repair attempts is a lemon in Washington?
Washington presumes a lemon after 4 attempts on the same defect, 2 attempts on the same serious safety defect, or 30 days out of service — within 2 years or 24,000 miles. These are presumption triggers that shift the burden to the manufacturer.
Is the Washington lemon law 60 days for diesel vehicles?
No. That is a common error. The 60-day out-of-service threshold applies to motor homes. There is no diesel-specific rule in RCW 19.118.041; regular vehicles use the 30-day threshold.
Does Washington’s lemon law cover used cars?
No. RCW 19.118 covers only new motor vehicles. Washington has no used-car lemon law.
Who decides a Washington lemon-law claim?
The Attorney General’s New Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board hears qualifying claims, rather than the claim being resolved solely by the manufacturer.
Not legal advicePlainStatute provides plain-language summaries of public law for general information only. This is not legal advice. Statutes change; always confirm current requirements with the official source linked above before acting.