Rhode Island’s lemon law covers any new automobile, truck, van or motorcycle having a gross vehicle weight of less than ten thousand pounds. This law affects vehicles that are sold or leased. The state has a separate statute for used vehicles; most states have no such laws.

Rhode Island’s lemon law is designed to enforce the manufacturers’ warranties. This law requires replacement or refund if the manufacturer or authorized agents are unable to repair a nonconformity in a reasonable number of repair attempts. A “nonconformity” is defined as any defect or malfunction that substantially affects the use, safety, or market value of the vehicle.

A vehicle will qualify as a lemon under Rhode Island law if:

• Four or more attempts have been made to repair the problem during the warranty period but the problem still persists, or
• The vehicle is out of service for a cumulative period of thirty or more days due to unsuccessful attempts to repair the problem.

At this time, the manufacturer is to be given one more attempt to repair the vehicle in a time frame that is not to exceed seven days. Once this obligation has been met, the vehicle qualifies for lemon status.

If the manufacturer has established a formal arbitration procedure with the state, the owner of the vehicle must submit to the manufacturer’s nonbinding arbitration process before seeking additional relief through the lemon law statute. This is not required if the manufacturer failed to provide written details of this procedure at the time of sale. The results of a hearing through this process are binding upon the manufacturer, but not upon the vehicle owner, who retains the right to seek relief from the state.

The state has an additional arbitration panel which is separate from the one described above. Owners may take their complaint to this panel for a fee of $20. The panel will render a decision with ninety days.

Should the owner prevail in either arbitration procedure, he or she shall be entitled to a replacement vehicle of comparable value. Alternatively, the owner of the vehicle has the option of accepting a refund of the full purchase price, including taxes, registration and licensing fees and any other fees associated with the purchase of a new motor vehicle. This refund will be adjusted to compensate for prior use of the vehicle by dividing the number of miles driven by 100,000. This figure will represent the percentage of the value of the purchase price which will be deducted from the refund amount.

The vehicle owner will retain the use of the vehicle until the refund or replacement is delivered. Vehicles returned to the manufacturer may be resold in the state. Some states prohibit this and anyone buying a used car should take care to avoid buying a lemon vehicle. Any prospective buyer of the vehicle must be told, in writing, that the vehicle as a “buyback” vehicle. That written document must also provide details of the nature of the nonconformity.

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