Wyoming Lemon Law

Wyoming's Motor Vehicle Warranty Act (Wyo. Stat. § 40-17-101) covers vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or less unladen that are sold or registered in Wyoming and accompanied by a manufacturer's written express warranty. The defect must substantially impair the use and fair market value of the vehicle, and you must have reported the problem to the manufacturer or its authorized dealer within the manufacturer's express warranty or the first year following original delivery, whichever is earlier. Vehicles used primarily for business purposes, motor homes (with some exceptions), and vehicles damaged by abuse or unauthorized modifications generally fall outside the Act.

Under Wyo. Stat. § 40-17-101, a reasonable number of repair attempts is presumed when, within one year following original delivery, the same nonconformity has been subject to repair more than three times and continues to exist, or the vehicle has been out of service for repair for a cumulative 30 or more business days. The presumption applies only if the manufacturer has received prior direct written notification from the consumer and has had a reasonable opportunity to cure. Once the threshold is met, the consumer may demand replacement with a comparable new vehicle or a refund.

Wyoming has no separate used-car lemon law, and § 40-17-101 covers vehicles only when they are still within the manufacturer's express warranty or the first year after original delivery. A used vehicle still inside that window (for example, a certified pre-owned car that has not yet hit the one-year/warranty mark) can qualify. Once the vehicle is past that window, consumers typically rely on the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act for any remaining written warranties or on Wyoming's Consumer Protection Act and UCC breach-of-warranty theories. 'As-is' sales sharply limit those alternatives.

Wyoming's statute defines 'consumer' to include the purchaser of a new motor vehicle (other than for purposes of resale) and any person to whom the vehicle is transferred during the warranty term. The statute is not as explicit about lease coverage as some other states. Lessees of new vehicles typically still rely on § 40-17-101 in combination with the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, which clearly covers lease transactions. If you have a leased vehicle in Wyoming, document repair attempts carefully and provide written notice to the manufacturer to preserve all available remedies.

Wyoming has a short statute of limitations: an action under § 40-17-101 must be commenced within one year following the expiration of the manufacturer's express warranty term. Because most factory warranties expire in three to five years, this can be a much tighter deadline than the four-year UCC warranty period that governs ordinary breach-of-warranty claims (Wyo. Stat. § 34.1-2-725) or the four-year period courts typically apply to federal Magnuson-Moss claims. Document repair attempts in writing and send manufacturer notice as soon as the third repair attempt or 30-day out-of-service threshold is met.

If the manufacturer has established an informal dispute resolution procedure that substantially complies with the federal Magnuson-Moss regulations (16 C.F.R. Part 703), § 40-17-101 requires the consumer to first resort to that procedure before bringing a court action. Many manufacturers use BBB AUTO LINE to satisfy this requirement. If your manufacturer has no qualifying program, you may proceed directly to court. Wyoming does not operate a state-administered Lemon Law arbitration board, so the only formal dispute-resolution alternative is the manufacturer-sponsored program.

If you prevail, the manufacturer must either replace the vehicle with a new or comparable motor vehicle of the same type and similarly equipped, or refund the full purchase price plus all collateral charges, less a reasonable allowance for the consumer's use of the vehicle prior to the first report of the nonconformity. Successful consumers may also recover reasonable attorneys' fees from the manufacturer who issued the express warranty. Wyoming's Lemon Law does not authorize multiplied or punitive damages on its own; consumers seeking broader monetary relief usually combine the claim with the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.