Miami Lemon Law

All Florida lemon law arbitration cases are filed with the Florida New Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board, which is administered by the Office of the Attorney General in Tallahassee. Hearings for Miami-Dade consumers are typically held by a regional panel in South Florida, so you do not have to travel to Tallahassee. Before filing with the Board, you must send the manufacturer written notice by certified mail of a final repair attempt, and if the manufacturer participates in a state-certified informal dispute program like BBB AUTO LINE, you must use that program first. Lawsuits in Miami-Dade Circuit Court are generally limited to appeals from arbitration or claims outside the lemon law statute.

Manufacturers often try to deny coverage by labeling water-intrusion damage as environmental rather than a manufacturing defect, but Florida's lemon law focuses on whether the nonconformity substantially impairs use, value, or safety and arose within the 24-month rights period. If the vehicle was driven through ordinary street flooding within the manufacturer's wading-depth specifications and a control module subsequently fails, it can still qualify. The key is documenting the symptom history with the dealer and showing repeat repair attempts rather than a single catastrophic flood event. Comprehensive insurance, not the lemon law, usually handles full submersion.

Florida's lemon law applies to vehicles sold or leased in Florida to consumers using them primarily for personal, family, or household purposes. If you bought the car in Miami but moved to another state, you remain eligible to file with the Florida New Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board as long as your case is filed within the statutory window. Repair attempts at any authorized dealer in the manufacturer's national network count toward the three-attempt threshold. Conversely, if you bought outside Florida and brought the car to Miami, you generally must use the lemon law of the state of original purchase rather than Florida's program.

Yes. Florida's lemon law expressly covers leased vehicles when the lease term is at least one year, the lease is in writing, and the lessee bears repair responsibility, or when the arrangement is a lease-purchase agreement. Most luxury leases in Miami qualify. Remedies for lessees include unwinding the lease, recovering the cash down payment, monthly payments made, and the residual or payoff to the lessor, reduced by Florida's standard mileage offset. The lease assignee (typically the manufacturer's captive finance arm such as Mercedes-Benz Financial Services or Tesla Financing) is required to cooperate in the refund process.

Once the New Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board accepts your case, Florida law requires a hearing within 40 days and a written decision within 60 days. South Florida hearings are typically scheduled in Miami-Dade or Broward to avoid travel for consumers. If your manufacturer uses a state-certified informal program first, that adds roughly 40 days. Total realistic timeline from initial filing to a Board decision is three to five months, with an additional 30-day window for either side to appeal to Miami-Dade Circuit Court for a trial de novo. Pre-arbitration certified-mail notice and document gathering can add another month.

Many Miami consumers report intermittent infotainment, HVAC, and electronic stability issues that dealers cannot replicate during a single visit. Under Florida law, each visit where you report the same nonconformity is generally a repair attempt even if the dealer documents 'no trouble found,' as long as the complaint is on the written repair order. Always insist on a written repair order at every visit, keep your own log of when the symptom occurred, and consider recording video of the defect when it happens. After three documented attempts for the same nonconformity, you can send your certified-mail final repair notice.

Yes. Florida's refund formula includes the full purchase price, all collateral charges such as sales tax, title, registration, dealer documentary fees, and finance charges, plus any incidental damages reasonably incurred. The refund is reduced only by a mileage offset calculated as miles driven multiplied by the base sale price divided by 120,000. For a typical $50,000 vehicle with 12,000 miles driven, the offset is roughly $5,000. Attorney's fees and costs are recoverable from the manufacturer separately under the statute, so qualified Miami consumers usually do not pay out of pocket for legal representation.