South Dakota Lemon Law

South Dakota's lemon law (SDCL Chapter 32-6D) covers new or previously untitled motor vehicles purchased for personal, family, or household use. The defect must arise during the 'lemon law rights period' - one year after original delivery or the first 12,000 miles, whichever ends first - and must substantially impair the vehicle's use, market value, or safety. Vehicles used primarily for commercial or business purposes, motor home living facilities, and used vehicles are not covered. The vehicle must have been registered in South Dakota. Demonstrators that have not been previously titled to a retail consumer are typically considered 'new' for purposes of the statute.

South Dakota uses a four-attempt threshold, which is one more than the typical state. The statute presumes a reasonable number of repair attempts has been made if the same nonconformity has been subject to repair four or more times by the manufacturer or its authorized dealer during the lemon-law-rights period (one year or 12,000 miles, whichever ends first), OR the vehicle has been out of service for repair of one or more nonconformities for a cumulative 30 or more business days during that period. The manufacturer's repair obligation continues for the full warranty term but caps at 24 months/24,000 miles.

Only if the manufacturer has established an informal dispute settlement procedure that substantially complies with 16 C.F.R. Part 703 and has notified the consumer of it. In that case, the consumer must first submit the dispute to that procedure before pursuing the statutory refund or replacement remedy in court. Common qualifying programs include the BBB AUTO LINE. Arbitration decisions are not binding on the consumer, so if you reject the result you can still file suit. If the manufacturer does not have a qualifying program (or never told you about it), you can proceed directly to South Dakota Circuit Court.

South Dakota's lemon law does not contain its own statute of limitations, so courts apply South Dakota's general six-year limitations period for breach of warranty claims under the Uniform Commercial Code (SDCL 57A-2-725 allows actions within four years, but South Dakota's general civil statute of limitations is six years - consult counsel on which controls). The defect itself must be reported to the manufacturer within the lemon-law-rights period. Federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act claims typically borrow the state's UCC four-year period from delivery, providing parallel federal options on warranty defects.

If your vehicle qualifies, the manufacturer must either replace it with a comparable new motor vehicle or refund the full contract price - including charges for undercoating, dealer preparation, transportation, installed options, plus the nonrefundable portions of extended warranties and service contracts; collateral charges such as excise tax, license, and registration fees; and all finance charges - minus a reasonable allowance for use. South Dakota's statute does not specify a mileage offset formula, so the court determines a reasonable allowance based on miles driven before the defect was first reported. South Dakota does not provide a statutory civil penalty, but federal Magnuson-Moss attorney fees may be recoverable.