Oregon Lemon Law

Oregon's lemon law (ORS 646A.400-646A.418) covers new passenger motor vehicles and certain new motor homes that are purchased in Oregon or registered in Oregon, used substantially for personal, family, or household purposes, and have a defect that substantially impairs use, market value, or safety. The defect must be reported during the two-year period following original delivery or before the odometer reaches 24,000 miles, whichever ends first. Motor homes get a longer 60-day out-of-service threshold. Commercial-use vehicles, off-road vehicles, and used cars are excluded. Lessees of qualifying new vehicles are covered as 'consumers' under the statute.

Under ORS 646A.406, Oregon presumes a reasonable number of repair attempts has been made if the manufacturer or its dealer has tried to repair the same nonconformity three or more times during the coverage period, OR the vehicle has been out of service for repair for a cumulative 30 calendar days (60 days for motor homes). For nonconformities likely to cause death or serious bodily injury, only one attempt plus a final opportunity is required. Critically, you must give the manufacturer prior written notice and a final opportunity to cure before the presumption applies.

Yes. ORS 646A.400 defines 'consumer' broadly to include the purchaser or lessee of a new motor vehicle, any person to whom the vehicle is transferred during the warranty period, and any other person entitled to enforce the warranty. As long as the leased vehicle is a new passenger motor vehicle (or qualifying motor home) registered in Oregon and used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, it falls under the lemon law. The refund formula in ORS 646A.404 expressly references both cash price and lease price, and lessees can recover collateral charges such as registration fees, sales tax, and finance charges.

Only if the manufacturer has set up an informal dispute settlement procedure that substantially complies with 16 C.F.R. Part 703 and has properly notified you of it. In that case, Oregon requires you to first submit your dispute through that program before pursuing the statutory refund or replacement remedy. The arbitration decision binds the manufacturer but not the consumer, so you can reject the result and file suit in circuit court. If the manufacturer has no qualifying program or never notified you, you can proceed directly to court without arbitration.

Under ORS 646A.416, you must file a lemon law action within one year after the expiration of the coverage period, which is the earlier of two years from original delivery or the date the odometer reaches 24,000 miles. Time spent in a qualifying informal dispute settlement procedure tolls the deadline. This one-year window is shorter than many states' UCC-based limitations periods, so do not delay. A separate Magnuson-Moss federal warranty claim typically borrows Oregon's four-year UCC limitations period from the date of delivery, which can give you more time on parallel federal claims.

If you prevail, the manufacturer must either replace your vehicle with a comparable new one or refund the full purchase or lease price plus collateral charges (sales tax, registration, finance charges, certain aftermarket items), minus a reasonable allowance for use calculated using the statutory mileage formula. Under ORS 646A.412, if the manufacturer failed to act in good faith, the court may award up to three times actual damages capped at $50,000. Prevailing consumers also recover reasonable attorney fees, expert witness fees, and court costs, which makes hiring a lemon law attorney financially feasible even on smaller claims.