Mississippi's lemon law and your rights as a buyer

What the lemon law protects, what it doesn't, and what rights you keep when you buy used. With the state's exact deadlines.

This guide summarizes the recorded scope for Mississippi (Miss. Code Ann. §§ 63-17-151 a 63-17-165 (Motor Vehicle Warranty Enforcement Act)). Eligibility, deadlines and notice requirements depend on the law and applicable coverage; read the state conditions below, including used-vehicle conditions where relevant.

What it covers

New vehicles sold in Mississippi for personal, family or household use, including demonstrators and lease-purchase vehicles with a manufacturer's warranty, with a defect that impairs use, market value or safety. It also protects anyone who gets the car while the written warranty is still in effect.

Rights period: Whichever ends first: the manufacturer's written warranty or 1 year from original delivery. If you reported the problem within that time and it was not fixed, the period is extended.

When it is presumed a lemon

Within that period: the same defect was repaired 3 or more times and remains, or the car was out of service for repair of the defect for 15 or more cumulative working days, not counting routine maintenance time set out in the owner's manual (that 15-day count is extended for any time the shop could not take the car for reasons beyond the manufacturer's control). You must also notify the manufacturer in writing, which then has 10 working days to fix it after you deliver the car to the shop it names.

The presumption does not replace the other requirements. Check the official conditions and procedure for your situation.

The process

Written notice to the manufacturer and a final repair attempt. If the manufacturer has an informal dispute program that meets federal rule 16 CFR 703, you must use it first; but if the manufacturer never told you that program exists, the requirement does not apply to you and you can go straight to court (§ 63-17-159(5)). If it is not resolved, sue in court: up to 1 year after the warranty ends or 18 months from delivery (whichever comes first), or 90 days after the program's decision. If you win, the court may order the maker to pay your attorney fees and costs.

Who handles it: Mississippi Attorney General — Consumer Protection Division (no hay junta estatal de arbitraje / no state arbitration board).

Hotline: 601-359-3680 (Attorney General) · Motor Vehicle Commission 601-987-3995.

What you get if you win

Your choice: a comparable replacement car or a refund of the full price, including reasonable collateral charges (prep, transport, towing, rental car, title), minus 20 cents for each mile you drove.

What it does not cover

Motorcycles, mopeds, off-road vehicles, and parts a motor home maker added to the living area; cars bought for resale; defects that do not affect use, value or safety; damage from abuse, neglect or unauthorized modifications. A bad-faith claim can make you liable for the manufacturer's court costs.

I bought used: what do I have left

More than it seems, even if it isn't the lemon law:

• The Buyers Guide (FTC). The guide states the dealer warranty. "As Is" describes that warranty; it does not by itself resolve other state-law rights or remaining manufacturer coverage. The federal rule applies in 48 states (Maine and Wisconsin have their own equivalent rules). If the sale is conducted in Spanish, the dealer must post a Spanish-language Buyers Guide.
• Remaining manufacturer warranty. Check the warranty contract and its duration and transfer conditions; vehicle age does not guarantee coverage.
• In Mississippi: Mississippi limits "As Is" sales: any oral or written language a seller of consumer goods or services uses to try to exclude the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness, or to cut back your remedies, is unenforceable (Miss. Code Ann. § 75-2-316(3); the older § 75-2-315.1 that used to be cited was repealed on July 1, 2014 and its substance moved into § 75-2-316). Language a manufacturer uses to limit your remedies for breach of its own written warranty is unenforceable too (§ 75-2-316(4)). That protection falls away only if all three conditions in § 75-2-316(5)(a) are met: the car must be one required to be titled, it must be over 6 model years old or driven more than 75,000 miles, and at the time of sale the seller must give you the notice on the form the Attorney General prescribes. Even then the exclusion must be in writing, mention merchantability, be conspicuous, and be separately signed by you (§ 75-2-316(5)(b)). Also: the Consumer Protection Act (Title 75, Ch. 24) through the Attorney General, the federal Buyers Guide on the window, and the lemon law if the car is still within the first-year warranty period.