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Florida Lemon Law

Lemon Law Lawyers in Florida

At RockPoint Law, lemon law is the whole practice. We act for Florida drivers whose new vehicle keeps spending more time at the dealership than in the driveway, whether that is a transmission that shudders every time it comes off the lift in Hialeah or a drive-unit warning that reappears on the first hot afternoon on I-4. Florida gives you a real remedy for that, and it is decided by a three-member panel of the Attorney General's arbitration board rather than by a judge. What catches most people out is not the standard. It is the order you have to do things in.

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The Short Answer

The Florida Lemon Law, in Brief

Yes, Florida has a lemon law. If you bought or leased a new vehicle in Florida and a warranty defect survives three repair attempts plus a final attempt after you write to the manufacturer, or keeps the vehicle off the road for thirty days, the manufacturer has to buy it back or replace it, and the choice between those two is yours rather than theirs. The claim is decided by a three-member panel of the Florida New Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board, which the Attorney General appoints and administers. There is no fee to bring it.

The statute is the Motor Vehicle Warranty Enforcement Act, Chapter 681 of the Florida Statutes, and it is administered by the Department of Legal Affairs, which is the Office of the Attorney General, rather than by a motor vehicles agency. That distinction matters more than it sounds. Your registration and title belong to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Your lemon law claim belongs to the Attorney General's Lemon Law Arbitration Division, and the people who decide it are a panel of three, at least one of whom in each region has to know vehicle mechanics.

Start with the clock, because Florida's is unlike its neighbours'. The Lemon Law Rights Period runs for twenty-four months from the date the vehicle was delivered to you, and section 681.102(9) attaches no mileage limit to it whatsoever. Texas closes its window at 24 months or 24,000 miles, whichever arrives first. Georgia does the same at 24,000. Florida does not. A Florida driver who covers 40,000 miles in the first year is still squarely inside the protection period, and anyone who tells you otherwise has read another state's page. What the statute asks is that the defect was first reported inside those twenty-four months. Section 681.103(1) then makes the manufacturer finish the repairs even if the work runs past the window, though it is careful to add that this grants you no extra filing time.

The qualifying standard has exactly two routes. Under section 681.104(3)(a) the same nonconformity has to have been subject to repair at least three times, plus a final attempt by the manufacturer after you notify it, with the defect still present. Under section 681.104(3)(b) the vehicle has to have been out of service for repair of one or more nonconformities for a cumulative thirty or more days, sixty for a recreational vehicle. That is the whole list. Florida has no serious-safety-hazard shortcut. Texas qualifies a safety defect after two failed repairs and Georgia after one, but section 681.104(3) contains only paragraphs (a) and (b), and the Attorney General's own guidance says so in terms: the law "provides two presumptions." If you have read about a one-repair or two-repair safety rule in Florida, you were reading about somewhere else.

Two separate letters sit inside that framework and they do different jobs. After the third repair of the same defect, section 681.104(1)(a) requires you to write to the manufacturer, not the selling dealer, by registered or express mail, at the zone, district or regional office its warranty or owner's manual is required to name. That letter opens the manufacturer's final attempt: ten days to respond and point you at a reasonably accessible repair facility, then ten days from delivery to fix it, or forty-five days if it is a recreational vehicle. Separately, once the vehicle has been off the road a cumulative fifteen days, section 681.104(1)(b) requires a second written notice so the manufacturer gets at least one chance to inspect. Fifteen days is a notice threshold. Thirty days is what actually qualifies the vehicle. Collapsing the two is the commonest error on a Florida page.

There is a reward buried in the first of those letters. If the manufacturer fails to respond, fails to offer an accessible facility, or fails to repair inside its ten days, section 681.104(1)(a) says the requirement that it be given a final attempt no longer applies at all. A manufacturer that sits on your registered letter forfeits its last chance.

Then comes the part that is genuinely Florida's own, and the part that costs people their claims. If your manufacturer runs a dispute programme the Attorney General has certified as complying with the federal rule at 16 C.F.R. part 703, section 681.108(1) makes going through that programme first a precondition to the statutory buyback. The Attorney General publishes the list, and it catches most of the market. BBB Auto Line handles Ford, General Motors, Hyundai and Genesis, Kia, Mazda, Nissan and Infiniti, Volkswagen and Audi, and Bentley. The National Center for Dispute Settlement handles Toyota and Lexus, and, for vehicles bought on or after 1 November 2022, Honda, Acura and Tesla. CAP Motors handles Porsche. File in the wrong order and you lose time you may not have.

Four Florida clocks, and none of them is the same clock

Florida's deadlines are counted from the end of the rights period rather than from the defect, which takes some getting used to. There are four of them and collapsing any two is how a good claim dies:

  • The Lemon Law Rights Period: 24 months from original delivery, with no mileage limit. Section 681.102(9).
  • Filing with a state-certified manufacturer programme: 60 days after that period expires. Section 681.109(1) and (2).
  • Filing with the state Board: 60 days after the rights period expires, or 30 days after the certified programme's final action, whichever of the two is LATER. Section 681.109(4). Note "later". That one runs in your favour and it is widely reported the wrong way round.
  • A court claim: one year from the end of the rights period, or from the final action of the programme, the department or the Board. Section 681.112(2).

If that programme does not decide within forty days, or you are unhappy with its decision or with the manufacturer actually honouring it, you move to the state Board. With no certified programme you go straight to the Attorney General, inside the same sixty days.

One warning the page owes you, because almost no one states it. Section 681.106 makes a consumer whose claim a court finds was brought in bad faith, purely to harass, or with no justiciable issue of law or fact liable for all of the manufacturer's costs and reasonable attorney's fees. Very few state lemon laws put a consumer on the hook that way. Florida does. It is a reason to build the claim properly, not a reason to leave a real defect unremedied, and section 681.112(1) points the other way just as firmly, because a court shall award a prevailing consumer their pecuniary loss, litigation costs and reasonable attorney's fees.

Where Chapter 681 does not reach, two things still do. The federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act has no mileage cap, no price floor and no vehicle-type exclusion, and it lets a consumer who finally prevails recover costs and fees. And a violation of Chapter 681 is itself an unfair or deceptive trade practice under part II of chapter 501: section 681.111 says so, which opens Florida's consumer protection statute on top of the warranty claim.

Which of those routes fits your vehicle is the first real decision in a Florida claim, and the answer turns on who built the car and what programme they run, not on how bad the defect is. Our guide to how to file a lemon law claim sets out the paperwork order, and the lemon law glossary explains the vocabulary.

If your vehicle keeps failing anywhere in Florida, our team can read your repair history and tell you which test it meets and which forum it belongs in.

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Eligibility

What Qualifies for the Lemon Law in Florida?

Florida spells out when the manufacturer has had a reasonable number of attempts to fix your vehicle, and section 681.104(3) sets two routes rather than three. Either one is enough on its own. Both have to happen inside the Lemon Law Rights Period, which is the fourth card, and both run through a forum question that decides the order you do everything in, which is the third. The fault has to be a real one: not a loose cup holder or a rattle you can ignore. And read the first two carefully before you count anything, because Florida has no one-repair or two-repair safety rule. If you have read that somewhere, you were reading about Texas or Georgia. Each route below carries a Florida example and a self-check you can run against your own invoices.

Three Repairs, Then One More

The same nonconformity goes back for repair at least three times and is still not corrected, and then section 681.104(1)(a) adds the step most summaries drop. After the third attempt you write to the manufacturer by registered or express mail, and it gets one final attempt: ten days to respond and direct you to a reasonably accessible repair facility, then ten days from delivery to conform the vehicle. Forty-five days if it is a recreational vehicle. The presumption under section 681.104(3)(a) needs both halves, three repairs and that final attempt, with the defect still alive.

A Florida example A new SUV back at a Fort Lauderdale dealer three times for the same transmission shudder, a registered letter to the manufacturer's regional office, and the shudder still there when you collect it after its final attempt

Thirty Days Out of Service

The vehicle is off the road for repairs for a cumulative thirty days inside the rights period, sixty for a recreational vehicle. This prong says one or more nonconformities, so unlike the three-repair route the days do not have to be for the same defect. Two details matter here. Section 681.102(5) defines "days" as calendar days, so there is no business-day arithmetic anywhere in Chapter 681. And Florida excludes only downtime for routine maintenance prescribed by the owner's manual: there is no loaner-vehicle carve-out, which is where Texas differs, so days you spent in a courtesy car still count for you. Separately, at fifteen cumulative days section 681.104(1)(b) requires you to write to the manufacturer, and after that notice it must have had at least one opportunity to inspect or repair.

A Florida example A pickup that sits at a Tampa service department across three visits for three unrelated faults and passes thirty calendar days in total, with a registered letter sent when it crossed fifteen

The Right Forum, In The Right Order

In Florida this decides more claims than the repair count does, and it has no Georgia equivalent and no Texas equivalent. If your manufacturer runs a dispute programme the Attorney General has certified, section 681.108(1) makes you go through that programme first. The Attorney General publishes who: BBB Auto Line for Ford, GM, Hyundai and Genesis, Kia, Mazda, Nissan and Infiniti, Volkswagen, Audi and Bentley; NCDS for Toyota and Lexus, and for Honda, Acura and Tesla vehicles bought on or after 1 November 2022; CAP Motors for Porsche. Two cautions come straight from the Attorney General. "State-certified" does not mean state-run: it means the programme meets state and federal requirements. And submitting to a manufacturer programme that is not on the certified list "may cost you valuable time and your Lemon Law rights."

A Florida example A Kia owner who files a Request for Arbitration with the Attorney General first, and is told to go to BBB Auto Line, with weeks of the sixty-day window already spent

Inside Twenty-Four Months, With No Mileage Ceiling

Two dates, and they do different jobs. The Lemon Law Rights Period is twenty-four months from delivery, and the defect has to be first reported inside it. Then section 681.109(4) gives you sixty days after that period ends, or thirty days after a certified programme's final action, whichever is later, to get to the Board. The first of those two dates has no mileage limit at all, which is the single most distinctive thing about Florida's statute and the thing most often mis-stated.

A Florida example A fault first written up at 31,000 miles, fourteen months in, on a car that runs I-95 to West Palm Beach every day: comfortably inside a Florida window and already outside a Texas one

Meeting a test starts the analysis rather than finishing it. One question sits behind all four cards and it is the one manufacturers fight on: whether the defect substantially impairs the vehicle's use, value or safety. Section 681.104(4) gives them three ways to argue it does not, that the impairment is not substantial, that the fault came from accident, abuse, neglect or unauthorised modification, or that the claim was not filed in good faith, plus any other defence the law allows. Because documentation drives these cases, keep every repair order, service invoice, and purchase or lease agreement. And you are entitled to those repair orders rather than dependent on goodwill: section 681.103(4) obliges the manufacturer, through its service agent, to hand you a fully itemised, legible repair order every single time, showing any test drive and roughly how long it was, the diagnosis, all work performed, the parts and labour, the odometer reading and date when you dropped the vehicle off, and the date the work was finished. That provision is the most useful sentence in Chapter 681, and it matters more in Florida than almost anywhere, for a reason the local-proof section comes back to: Florida does not inspect cars, so no annual state record runs alongside your repair history.

Not sure whether your repair history clears one of the tests, or which forum it belongs in? Send it over for a straight read.

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Where Your Case Is Heard

Filing From Florida: The Board, the Courts, and the Deadlines

The question we hear most from Florida drivers is whether a claim means a trip to Tallahassee. It does not. The Request for Arbitration is a paper filing, and within limits an email, and the Board itself hears cases in locations across the state. A Florida claim runs through four stages, and on three of them Florida does it differently from every neighbouring state.

A Law Office, Not a Motor Vehicles Agency

Florida splits these two jobs, and people lose weeks to it. The Lemon Law belongs to the Department of Legal Affairs, the Office of the Attorney General, which screens every claim, houses the Board, appoints its members and supplies its legal advisors. Your registration, title and licence belong to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, which has nothing to do with Chapter 681. Texas runs its lemon law through the TxDMV; Florida runs it through the Attorney General. And the Attorney General is careful about the limit of that role: its office "does NOT represent either party to an arbitration hearing," and cannot act for you on appeal.

Three People, One of Whom Knows Cars

Section 681.1095 is the heart of the Florida system. The Florida New Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board sits in panels of three members, assigned by the department, and a majority vote of the three decides it. Each region runs up to eight members, and at least one member in each region must have expertise in motor vehicle mechanics. None of them may be employed by a manufacturer or a franchised dealer, or be staff, a decisionmaker or a consultant for a manufacturer's own programme. Manufacturers must submit where the department finds the dispute eligible. Proceedings are open to the public. Texas, by contrast, puts the decision in the hands of a single department lawyer.

Forty Days to Hear, Sixty to Decide

Section 681.1095(6) gives the Board forty days to hear the dispute and sixty days to render a decision after the request is approved, and adds that missing either does not invalidate the decision, so the clock is a target rather than a guarantee. Asking for a continuance yourself waives those periods. The hearing is informal: the technical rules of evidence do not apply, but testimony is under oath, you may cross-examine, you may be represented by counsel, and the Board may inspect or test drive the vehicle at its discretion. It runs in two parts, first whether the vehicle is a lemon, then, if it is, refund or replacement and the arithmetic. The panel generally announces the result out loud at the close of the hearing, with written findings to follow.

Appeals Are a Fresh Trial, in Your Own County If You Want

Here Florida is about as far from Texas as two states get. A party has thirty days from receipt of the written decision to petition the circuit court, and section 681.1095(12) makes that appeal a trial de novo, a complete rehearing rather than a review of the Board's reasoning. Texas, by contrast, gives judicial review under the substantial evidence rule and only in a district court of Travis County. Florida also lets you pick the venue: section 681.1095(10) allows the petition in the county where you live, where the vehicle was acquired, or where the hearing was held. Within seven days of filing, the appealing party must copy the petition to the department.

The dealer cannot be pulled into it

Three provisions carry most of the weight in a Florida claim, and the first is the one that decides who you are actually fighting. Section 681.113 is unusually blunt: nothing in Chapter 681 imposes liability on a dealer or creates a cause of action against one, and "a dealer may not be made a party defendant in any action involving or relating to this chapter," except on written express warranties the dealer gave separately from the manufacturer's. The same section stops the manufacturer charging a buyback back to the dealer unless the dealer's repairs departed substantially from published instructions. So the dealership that has been failing to fix your car is your evidence source, not your opponent. Texas runs the other way and reaches three kinds of defendant, including a converter that fitted the body.

The second is that you cannot go straight to court. Section 681.1095(4) requires that before filing a civil action on a matter subject to section 681.104 you submit the dispute to the department, and to the Board if the department finds it eligible. If the department rejects it instead, section 681.109(7) expressly preserves your right to sue, and makes the rejection admissible in evidence when you do. A rejection for insufficient evidence can also be reconsidered on new information, and only after a second review may the department refuse on the basis that the evidence is clearly insufficient. In court, section 681.112(1) says the court shall award a prevailing consumer any pecuniary loss, litigation costs, reasonable attorney's fees and appropriate equitable relief. Federal court is the exception rather than the rule: 15 U.S.C. section 2310(d)(3) keeps a Magnuson-Moss claim out of federal court below $50,000 exclusive of interest and costs, and most single-vehicle claims do not get there. The fee-shifting in section 2310(d)(2) applies just the same in a Florida state court.

The third is what it costs a manufacturer to ignore an award, and Florida prices that more heavily than any neighbouring state.

What happens if the manufacturer ignores the decision: $1,000 a day, $25 a day, and a doubled award
  • If the department hears nothing within forty days of the manufacturer receiving a decision in your favour, with no compliance and no appeal, section 681.1095(10) lets it ask the circuit court to impose a fine of up to $1,000 a day, accruing until it reaches twice the purchase price of the vehicle, unless the manufacturer shows by clear and convincing evidence that the delay was beyond its control or that you agreed to it in writing. Proceeds go to the Motor Vehicle Warranty Trust Fund.
  • The same subsection then adds that where the manufacturer fails to comply, "the court shall affirm the award" on your application. And section 681.110 lets the department impose a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for each count or separate offense on top.
  • Where a decision in your favour is upheld on appeal, section 681.1095(13) gives you the pecuniary value of the award, the attorney's fees you spent getting it confirmed, all costs, and continuing damages of $25 a day for every day past the forty-day compliance window.
  • If the court finds the manufacturer appealed in bad faith, to harass, or with no justiciable issue, it shall double and may triple the total award. Section 681.1095(14) goes further still: once a judgment affirms a Board decision for a consumer, further appellate review can be conditioned on the manufacturer paying your attorney's fees and posting security for costs.
  • Compliance counts on the day you actually receive the replacement or the refund, not the day it was posted. Section 681.1095(9).
Recreational vehicles go somewhere else entirely, and notice goes to every manufacturer

A recreational vehicle changes the map, and more than in most states. For RVs acquired on or after 1 October 1997, section 681.1096 sends the dispute to an industry-sponsored mediation and arbitration programme qualified by the department rather than to the Board, and every manufacturer involved must participate, including chassis and component manufacturers that separately warrant their own part.

Two features of that programme matter to you. The manufacturer pays the programme's fees and none may be charged to you. And the whole thing, mediation and arbitration together, must be completed within seventy days of the administrator receiving the claim.

Because an RV often has several manufacturers, the Attorney General's advice on notice is to send it to all of them if you are not certain whose warranty covers the fault. If there is no qualified programme, or its qualification has been revoked, the dispute goes to the Board instead, and RV owners are not required to submit to any other manufacturer-sponsored programme. The RV numbers differ throughout: sixty days out of service rather than thirty, and forty-five days rather than ten for the final repair attempt.

Anyone who tells you a Florida claim is simply "three repairs and you are out" has left out the half of the chapter that decides most cases, which is the order you do things in. Our note on how to file a lemon law claim sets out the paperwork order, and how the lemon law works covers the basics.

Not sure which forum your vehicle belongs in? That is the first thing we sort out, at no cost.

  • Bring your repair orders and the dates. That is usually enough to see whether your record clears the three-repair or the thirty-day route.
  • Tell us the make. Whether your manufacturer runs a state-certified programme decides the order everything happens in, and getting it wrong costs weeks out of a sixty-day window.
  • Bring the delivery date. Florida's deadlines are counted from the end of the twenty-four months, not from the defect.
  • You speak with the people who would work the file, not an intake desk.

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    A Florida driver on the phone at home while a Request for Arbitration is prepared for the Florida New Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board
    You Stay Put

    Most of a Florida claim happens on paper

    People hear "arbitration board" and picture a day in Tallahassee. The paperwork says otherwise. A Request for Arbitration goes to the Attorney General's Lemon Law Arbitration Division, which screens it for eligibility before anything is scheduled, and the Attorney General now accepts initial filings by email: PDF only, nothing over eight megabytes, no photographs or video, with the case name or number in the subject line and in every file name. When a hearing is scheduled, the Board hears it in a location across the state rather than at the Capitol, and cases are assigned by region from Pensacola to Miami according to where you live.

    We assemble the repair history, count the calendar days the way section 681.102(5) defines them, check whether your manufacturer runs a certified programme and file in the right order, draft the registered-mail notice to the manufacturer's regional office, watch the ten-day and ten-day windows, prepare and file the Request for Arbitration, and deal with the manufacturer. Your part is the phone call that starts it.

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    How It Works

    The Lemon Law Process for a Florida Driver

    A Florida claim has a longer protection window than its neighbours and a tighter set of procedural traps. There is no mileage ceiling to worry about and nothing to pay to file. What there is instead is a two-letter notice structure, a compulsory detour through the manufacturer's own programme for most of the market, deadlines counted from the end of the window rather than from the defect, and a bad-faith provision that can make a careless claim expensive. Five steps, in the order a Florida claim actually runs. For the form-by-form walkthrough, our guide to how to file a lemon law claim goes through each document in turn.

    Sculpted marble figure reviewing an open warranty booklet, checking a vehicle against Florida's 24-month Lemon Law Rights Period

    Check the Vehicle Is Covered, and Check Who Built It

    Two questions, and the second one is the Florida-specific one. Coverage first: section 681.102(14) reaches a new vehicle sold in Florida, a demonstrator, a leased vehicle where the lease runs a year or more and you are responsible for repairs or it is a lease-purchase, and a recreational vehicle, but not its living quarters. It excludes trucks over 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, motorcycles, mopeds, electric bicycles, off-road vehicles, vehicles that run only on tracks, and anything bought for resale. A used car is not covered at all, though section 681.102(4) can carry the rights to someone the vehicle is transferred to inside the twenty-four months. Then: who made it, because that decides whether you must use a certified programme first.

    Sculpted marble figure stacking itemised repair orders on a service counter, the odometer readings and dates Section 681.103(4) entitles a Florida owner to

    Document Every Repair Attempt, and Insist on the Itemised Order

    Florida counts repairs of the same defect and calendar days out of service separately, so the paperwork has to support both. And you are not asking a favour here. Section 681.103(4) requires the service agent to give you a fully itemised, legible repair order every time the vehicle comes back, showing any test drive and roughly how long it was, the diagnosis, everything done, parts and labour, the date and odometer reading at drop-off, and the date the work was completed. Get one every visit and check it actually names the complaint. Because documentation drives these cases, keep the purchase or lease paperwork with them. This matters more in Florida than in most states, because Florida stopped inspecting private cars decades ago: no annual state record of your vehicle's condition sits alongside the repair history, so the repair orders are very nearly the whole file.

    Sculpted marble figure posting a registered-mail defect notification to a manufacturer's Florida regional office, opening its final attempt to cure

    Write to the Manufacturer, by Registered Mail, Twice If You Have To

    After the third repair of the same defect, section 681.104(1)(a) requires written notice to the manufacturer, not the dealer, by registered or express mail, at the zone, district or regional office section 681.103(2) makes it publish in the warranty or owner's manual. The Attorney General publishes a Motor Vehicle Defect Notification form you can use, and accepts certified mail too. That letter starts the manufacturer's clock: ten days to respond and name a reasonably accessible facility, then ten days from delivery to fix it, or forty-five for an RV. Miss either and it loses the final attempt altogether. There is a second letter: once the vehicle has been off the road fifteen cumulative days, section 681.104(1)(b) needs written notice of that too. One warning from the Attorney General, in its own emphasis: filing a copy of your Defect Notification Form with the Lemon Law Arbitration Division is NOT the same as filing a claim. It is a step towards being eligible to file one.

    Sculpted marble figure completing the Florida Attorney General's Request for Arbitration form for the Lemon Law Arbitration Division

    File in the Right Forum, Inside Sixty Days of the Window Closing

    Check the Attorney General's published list first. If your manufacturer runs a state-certified programme, BBB Auto Line, NCDS or CAP Motors, between them covering Ford, GM, Hyundai, Genesis, Kia, Mazda, Nissan, Infiniti, Volkswagen, Audi, Bentley, Toyota, Lexus, Porsche, and Honda, Acura and Tesla for vehicles bought on or after 1 November 2022, you file there first, within sixty days after the twenty-four-month period ends. If it does not decide within forty days, or you are dissatisfied with the decision or with the manufacturer honouring it, you move to the Board: sixty days after the rights period ended, or thirty days after the programme's final action, whichever is later. No certified programme means you go straight to the Attorney General on the Request for Arbitration form, inside the same sixty days. And do not hand the claim to a manufacturer programme that is not on the certified list: the Attorney General warns that it "may cost you valuable time and your Lemon Law rights."

    Three sculpted marble figures seated as a panel, the way the Florida New Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board hears a lemon law dispute

    The Hearing, Then the Forty Days

    The department screens the request, asks for anything missing, and assigns an eligible claim to a regional office for scheduling. The Board has forty days to hear it and sixty to decide. Three panel members, majority vote, testimony under oath, cross-examination, counsel if you want one, and a vehicle inspection or test drive if the panel thinks it useful. The hearing runs in two halves, is it a lemon, then what is it worth, and the panel usually tells you the answer before you leave. If you win, the manufacturer has forty days from receiving the decision to deliver the refund or the replacement, and compliance only counts on the day you actually receive it. If it does neither, the department can seek $1,000 a day up to twice the purchase price and the court shall affirm the award on your application. Either side may appeal to the circuit court within thirty days, and that appeal is a trial de novo, a fresh hearing, in your county if you choose it.

    Each of those five steps is a place a Florida claim comes apart: a repair order that never named the defect, a notice letter sent to the dealership instead of the manufacturer's regional office, a Defect Notification Form filed with the Attorney General in the belief that it was a claim, a Request for Arbitration sent to the Board when BBB Auto Line had to see it first. Florida gives you the longest protection window of the three states in this set, and the most ways to spend it in the wrong place.

    You can run this yourself, and some Florida drivers do. The catch is the order, not the difficulty, and section 681.106 means a claim put together carelessly carries a cost that most states' lemon laws do not impose. No one can promise a result, and anyone who does is telling you something they cannot know. What a firm that handles these claims can do is keep the record clean, the forum right and the dates intact.

    Outcomes

    What Compensation Can You Receive?

    When a Florida claim succeeds, section 681.104(2)(a) gives the manufacturer forty days to repurchase the vehicle and refund the full purchase price less a reasonable offset for use, or to replace it, and the refund or replacement must include all reasonably incurred collateral and incidental charges. The choice between money and a replacement is not the manufacturer's to make. The same subsection gives the consumer an "unconditional right to choose a refund rather than a replacement motor vehicle," which is a stronger position than Texas gives, where the order may direct either one.

    The offset, and the two details that are worth money

    The offset is arithmetic, and the denominator is 120,000. Section 681.102(19) multiplies the base selling or sale price on your purchase invoice, excluding taxes, government fees and dealer fees, by the mileage attributable to you up to the date of a settlement agreement or the arbitration hearing, whichever comes first, then divides by 120,000. For a recreational vehicle the denominator is 60,000. The Attorney General publishes its own worked example: a $24,000 base price and 20,000 miles produces a $4,000 offset.

    • "Mileage attributable to a consumer" is narrower than the odometer. You subtract the mileage at delivery, and you subtract other non-consumer mileage. The Attorney General's own list of that includes test drives by the dealer during repairs for the defect, test drives by the manufacturer during its pre-arbitration inspection, test drives by an independent inspector or a decisionmaker of a manufacturer's programme, and test drives by the Arbitration Board itself at your hearing. Every mile somebody else put on the car comes back out.
    • The offset runs the other way on a replacement. On a refund it reduces your cash. On a replacement you pay the offset to the manufacturer to get the new vehicle. Which of the two is worth more to you turns on that arithmetic, so do the sum before you choose.

    Watch the trade-in, because this is where a Florida award can quietly shrink. "Purchase price" includes any allowance for a trade-in, and section 681.102(18) takes the net allowance in your purchase contract if both sides accept it, otherwise 100% of the retail price in the NADA Official Used Car Guide (Southeastern Edition) in effect when you traded in, with the manufacturer obliged to produce the guide. If the dealer inflated your trade-in allowance to absorb negative equity, the Board works from the NADA retail value less the debt you owed, and the Attorney General is explicit that this can make the trade-in allowance a negative number and reduce what you recover. It can also run the other way, if your trade-in was worth more than the dealer allowed.

    A replacement has a ceiling of its own: section 681.102(21) defines a replacement motor vehicle as one identical or reasonably equivalent to the one it replaces, and "reasonably equivalent" means its MSRP must not exceed 105% of the original's (105% of the purchase price for an RV). Collateral charges are defined broadly by section 681.102(3), covering manufacturer- or agent-installed items, service charges, earned finance charges, sales taxes and title charges. Incidental charges under section 681.102(7) are the reasonable costs directly caused by the defect, and the Attorney General's examples are postage, long-distance calls, a rental car, towing, and warranty deductibles or repair charges. On a lease, the lessee receives the lessee cost and the lessor the lease price less that cost, and no early-termination penalty may be assessed against a lessee who gets a replacement or refund. Sales tax comes back to you through the manufacturer, which the Department of Revenue refunds on written request.

    Fees are not a discretionary extra. Section 681.112(1) says a court shall award a prevailing consumer their pecuniary loss, litigation costs and reasonable attorney's fees. Section 681.1095(13) adds the fees you spend confirming a Board award the manufacturer has ignored, plus $25 a day past the forty-day window, and doubles or trebles the award for a bad-faith appeal. Where a claim runs on federal warranty law instead, 15 U.S.C. section 2310(d)(2) lets a consumer who finally prevails recover costs and fees, and that applies in a Florida state court just as in federal court. Set against that, section 681.106 can make a consumer who files in bad faith pay the manufacturer's costs and fees, which is the other half of the same picture and the reason to build the claim properly.

    Outcomes depend on the specific facts of each case, so no attorney can promise a particular result.

    Possible Outcomes

    Repurchase

    the full purchase price including collateral and incidental charges, less the statutory offset of your own miles divided by 120,000

    Replacement

    a vehicle whose MSRP is within 105% of the original, which you may refuse outright in favour of the money

    A corrected vehicle

    where the manufacturer's final attempt under section 681.104(1)(a) actually fixes the defect

    Collateral and incidental charges, and delay damages

    sales tax, title charges, earned finance charges, dealer-installed items, towing, rental, and $25 a day past the forty-day compliance window

    Attorney's fees

    section 681.112(1) awards them to a prevailing consumer as a matter of course, and a baseless appeal doubles or trebles the award

    Vehicles We Handle

    Which Vehicles the Florida Statute Reaches, and Which It Does Not

    Florida is narrower than Texas here, and the surprise runs the opposite way from the rights period. Section 681.102(14) draws hard lines that Texas does not draw at all: Texas covers motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles and towable RVs, and treats a heavy truck's engine, transmission or rear axle as a motor vehicle in its own right above 16,000 pounds. Florida excludes motorcycles and mopeds by name and stops at 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight. Where Chapter 681 does not reach, the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C. section 2301 and following, has no vehicle-type exclusions at all. Pick a category to see where it stands.

    Cars, Vans and Light Trucks

    Covered, and the vehicles the statute was written around, provided the truck is at or under 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight. That ceiling is lower than Georgia's 12,000 and far lower than Texas, which sets no self-propelled weight limit at all. A three-quarter-ton or one-ton pickup can cross the Florida line while sitting comfortably inside the Texas one, so the weight rating on the door jamb is worth checking before anything else. See our practice areas.

    Diesel Trucks

    The weight rating decides it. At or under 10,000 pounds a diesel pickup is covered on ordinary terms. Above it, section 681.102(14) puts the vehicle outside Chapter 681 entirely, and there is no Florida equivalent of the Texas provision that treats a heavy truck's engine or transmission as a motor vehicle of its own. Derate and DEF faults are the defect pattern we see most, and on an excluded vehicle they support a federal warranty claim instead. See our diesel emissions lemon law guide.

    Motorcycles and Mopeds

    Excluded by name. Section 681.102(14) carves out motorcycles, mopeds and electric bicycles, so a defective new motorcycle in Florida is not a lemon law case at all. It is a Magnuson-Moss and express warranty case, and a chapter 501 case if the conduct supports one. Texas goes the other way: its definition reaches any self-propelled vehicle with two or more wheels, so a motorcycle is squarely inside the Texas statute. Same manufacturer, same fault, two different routes depending on which side of the state line you bought it. See our motorcycle lemon law guide.

    RVs and Motorhomes

    Covered, but split down the middle and sent somewhere else. Section 681.102(14) excludes the "living facilities": the flooring, the plumbing and fixtures, the roof air conditioner, the furnace, the generator, the electrical systems other than automotive circuits, the side entrance door, the exterior compartments, and every window except the windshield and front side windows. The chassis and the automotive systems are in. Then section 681.1096 routes the dispute to a department-qualified industry mediation and arbitration programme rather than the Board, with the manufacturer paying the fees, a seventy-day limit on the whole process, sixty days rather than thirty for the out-of-service presumption, and forty-five days rather than ten for the final repair attempt. Notice goes to every manufacturer that might warrant the fault. See our RV and motorhome lemon law guide.

    Electric Vehicles

    Covered on the same terms as any other new vehicle, and one procedural point decides your forum: Tesla is on the Attorney General's certified-programme list via NCDS, but only for vehicles purchased on or after 1 November 2022. Buy one before that date and you go to the Board directly; buy one after and NCDS comes first. Battery, charging, drive-unit and software faults are the patterns we see most, and a software fault that keeps returning is squarely a nonconformity that continues to exist under section 681.104(3)(a). See our electric vehicle lemon law guide.

    See All Practice Areas →
    Why RockPoint

    Why Florida Drivers Choose RockPoint Law

    Lemon law and consumer warranty work is the whole of our practice. We act for drivers across Florida, and because a Florida claim is built on a repair record, a registered letter and a filing in the right forum rather than on where you live, the work runs the same way whether you are in Pensacola or Key West.

    Lemon Law Is the Whole Practice

    This is not a side practice. Warranty and lemon law is what we do, day in and day out, for drivers with defective vehicles.

    A Miami Office, and the Whole State

    We sit on Brickell Avenue, and the Arbitration Board hears cases from Pensacola to Miami, administered out of three Attorney General offices. So where you bought the car does not decide whether the claim is worth bringing. We take cases from Jacksonville to Key West, not only from Miami-Dade.

    We Get the Order Right

    In Florida the forum question decides more claims than the repair count does. Whether your manufacturer runs a state-certified programme, whether the Defect Notification Form has gone to the right address, whether the sixty days runs from the rights period or from a programme's final action. We run the whole sequence in the order the statute asks for.

    Clear Communication

    Straight updates at every stage of your case. No silent stretches and no surprises.

    No Upfront Legal Fees

    Qualifying cases run on contingency. You will not pay a fee unless we recover for you. Florida also makes a court award a prevailing consumer's fees under section 681.112(1).

    Meet the Team →
    Side-by-Side

    Handling a Florida Claim Alone vs With an Attorney

    Flip the switch to see the same four moments from both sides.

    Vehicle repair invoices spread across a kitchen table with a hand hovering over them
    On your own1 / 4

    Filing with the Attorney General when BBB Auto Line had to see it first

    Section 681.108(1) makes prior resort to a state-certified manufacturer programme a precondition wherever the manufacturer runs one and told you how to file with it. Ford, GM, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Nissan, Volkswagen and Audi go to BBB Auto Line; Toyota, Lexus and post-November-2022 Honda, Acura and Tesla go to NCDS; Porsche goes to CAP Motors. File in the wrong place and the weeks come out of a sixty-day window.

    A person on the phone at a home desk with a notepad of call notes
    On your own2 / 4

    Treating fifteen days out of service as the qualifying threshold

    Section 681.104(1)(b) makes fifteen cumulative days a notice trigger. Section 681.104(3)(b) sets the qualifying bar at thirty, sixty for an RV. Both count "one or more nonconformities", so unrelated faults add their days together, and Florida excludes only routine-maintenance downtime rather than loaner days. Reading fifteen as the finish line stops a claim that had not started.

    A wall calendar with deadline dates circled in red beside a set of car keys
    On your own3 / 4

    Sending the defect letter to the dealership, or by ordinary post

    Section 681.104(1)(a) wants written notice to the manufacturer's zone, district or regional office, by registered or express mail, and section 681.103(2) makes the manufacturer print that address in the warranty or owner's manual. That letter opens the ten-day and ten-day windows, and if the manufacturer misses either, its final attempt requirement falls away in your favour. Ordinary post to the service manager opens nothing.

    One person alone at the end of a long empty hearing room table
    On your own4 / 4

    Accepting a replacement because the manufacturer offered one

    Section 681.104(2)(a) gives you an unconditional right to take the money instead. Which is worth more turns on the divide-by-120,000 offset and on how much of your odometer is non-consumer mileage, because on a replacement you pay that offset rather than having it deducted. That arithmetic decides the choice, and it is done before you answer, not after.

    Hands working through an organised stack of repair orders with a highlighter and index tabs
    With RockPoint Law1 / 4

    The certified-programme list checked before anything is filed

    We check the Attorney General's published list against your make and build date first, and put the claim in the forum that can actually hear it.

    A certified mail envelope and return receipt card being prepared on a desk
    With RockPoint Law2 / 4

    Calendar days counted the way section 681.102(5) defines them

    We send the fifteen-day notice when it is due and build the thirty-day case separately, adding the days across unrelated faults the way the statute allows.

    An open case planner with colour-coded deadline tabs being marked
    With RockPoint Law3 / 4

    Notice to the manufacturer's regional office, by registered mail

    We draft it, send it that way, keep the receipt, and then watch the ten-day and ten-day windows it opens, because a manufacturer that misses either loses its final attempt.

    A bound exhibit folder open on a conference table
    With RockPoint Law4 / 4

    Refund against replacement worked out on the actual offset

    We strip the non-consumer mileage out of the odometer, run the base-price arithmetic both ways, and check the trade-in allowance against the NADA figure the manufacturer has to produce.

    Serving Drivers From Pensacola to Key West

    On the Ground Across Florida

    Florida counted 21,538,187 residents in the 2020 census and the Census Bureau put it past 23.4 million by July 2025, third in the country behind California and Texas and ahead of New York, a position it first took in the Bureau's annual estimates for July 2014 and has not given up since. Sixty-seven counties, every one of them defined in its own section of Chapter 7 of the Florida Statutes. Nineteen and a half million registered motor vehicles and more than seventeen million licensed drivers, which is 735 drivers for every thousand residents against a national average of 707. And a seasonal population nobody counts: the Legislature's own economists expect 145.1 million visitors in the 2025-26 fiscal year and reckon the effect on Florida's roads is the same as adding 2.25 million residents.

    Florida's claim geography is not county-shaped, which is the thing that separates it from Texas and Georgia. You do not file in your county. The Request for Arbitration goes to Tallahassee, the department screens it, and the Board hears it out of one of three Attorney General offices covering regions from Pensacola to Miami. So a Miami claimant files initially to Tallahassee and then deals with Fort Lauderdale.

    It is a state built around four Interstates and a turnpike. I-75 runs 470 miles, the longest of them, down the Gulf side from the Georgia line through Tampa and Fort Myers and then east across the Everglades as Alligator Alley, which is tolled for 76 miles of its length and is signed SR 93. I-95 carries 381 miles of the Atlantic coast through Jacksonville, Daytona, West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale into Miami. I-10 crosses 362 miles of panhandle from Pensacola through Tallahassee. And I-4 runs 131 miles from Tampa to the Daytona Beach area, the only one of the four that never leaves Florida. Over the top of all of it sits Florida's Turnpike, which is not an Interstate at all but state road 91, 264 miles of it from the Golden Glades to Wildwood across eleven counties, run by an FDOT business unit. In Miami-Dade you add the Palmetto and the Dolphin. Altogether 125,157 miles of public road as of the last day of 2025, on FDOT's own certification.

    Florida does not build cars, and that shapes a Florida lemon law claim. Not one automaker runs a car or light-truck assembly plant in the state. Florida's entire automobile-manufacturing workforce is about 250 people across 37 mostly tiny establishments, against more than 47,000 in Michigan alone and 15,733 in Texas: a single ordinary assembly plant employs more people than the whole of Florida's sector. What Florida does with cars is move them, and what it builds instead is boats, aircraft and fire apparatus.

    What Florida builds instead, the port that moves the cars, and who the state employs

    Boats. 325 boat-building establishments and 10,157 workers, the largest such industry of any state and about a third of the national total. Then aerospace, which is genuinely big here: 546 establishments and 33,740 people, including Embraer's business-jet final assembly plant at Melbourne and Lockheed Martin at Orlando, Ocala and Cape Canaveral, plus fire apparatus at E-ONE's 488,000-square-foot plant in Ocala and a heavy-truck sector that ranks third nationally.

    And the cars arrive rather than being built. JAXPORT handled 506,237 vehicles in its 2025 financial year, more than 1.2 million tons of them, across three auto processors on Blount Island and with fourteen ocean carriers calling. The port calls itself one of the nation's busiest for vehicle moves. That is the right way round for a lemon law page: every new car sold in Florida was assembled somewhere else, which is exactly why the remedy runs through the manufacturer's warranty network rather than a home-state factory, and why section 681.113 makes the manufacturer the only proper defendant and puts the dealer out of reach.

    It is a huge market for something it does not make. Florida takes 9.4% of every new vehicle registered in the United States, third behind California and Texas, through 953 franchised dealerships, also third, employing 90,394 people directly at 95 per dealership, the highest per-dealership headcount of any state.

    The big employers, though, are groceries, theme parks, ships and hospitals. Walmart alone employs 120,498 people in Florida across 389 stores and units in the state. Publix runs out of Lakeland with more than 260,000 people company-wide and 889 of its 1,432 supermarkets in Florida at the end of its 2025 financial year, seven of its ten distribution centres here, and its dairy, bakery and prepared-foods plants at Lakeland and Deerfield Beach. Walt Disney World sits on about 25,000 acres southwest of Orlando. Darden is in Orlando; Royal Caribbean and Carnival are headquartered on the Miami waterfront; Jabil and Raymond James in St. Petersburg; MasTec and Lennar in greater Miami; Florida Power & Light at Juno Beach with about 9,400 employees. And then the hospital systems, which are the ones our clients tend to work for: AdventHealth out of Altamonte Springs with more than 110,000 staff across nine states, BayCare with 33,669 around Tampa Bay, and Baptist Health South Florida with more than 30,000 employees and 4,500 physicians.

    Florida does not inspect cars at all

    Mandatory periodic safety inspection went in 1981, and the emissions programme, an annual test in six counties at ten dollars a time, was repealed outright effective 1 July 2000 by chapter 2000-266, Laws of Florida. So unlike a state that inspects every vehicle every year, Florida generates no recurring, dated, state-mandated record of your vehicle's condition. Not annually, not ever. There is no neutral second trail to put beside the dealer's paperwork.

    That is precisely why section 681.103(4) matters so much here. It gives you a statutory right to a fully itemised repair order every single visit, naming the test drive, the diagnosis, the parts, the labour, the odometer reading and the dates. In Florida that document is not one source among several. It is very nearly the whole file, and it is the first thing we ask for.

    Florida's title law is wired into its lemon law, which is worth knowing whichever side of a purchase you are on. A Chapter 681 buyback must be titled "Manufacturer's Buy Back" under section 319.14, section 681.114(1) makes the manufacturer report the VIN within ten days, and section 681.114(2) requires clear and conspicuous disclosure plus a fresh one-year, 12,000-mile warranty before resale. The Attorney General also publishes a searchable list of vehicles manufacturers have reported buying back. So a Florida lemon is traceable three ways. And section 681.115 voids any waiver of your Chapter 681 rights, and it voids any agreement that requires you not to disclose its terms as a condition of settling.

    We take Florida lemon law claims from across the state, including:

    • Jacksonville
    • Miami
    • Tampa
    • Orlando
    • Port St. Lucie
    • St. Petersburg
    • Cape Coral
    • Hialeah
    • Tallahassee
    • Fort Lauderdale
    • Pembroke Pines
    • Hollywood

    Jacksonville is Florida's most populous city because its government consolidated with Duval County in 1968, so the figure covers nearly the whole county while the Miami metro area is far larger than the city of Miami. We take cases from the smaller places too, from Gainesville and Palm Bay to Naples, Ocala and the Keys.

    How to reach us: our Florida office is at 1221 Brickell Ave, Suite 900, Miami, FL 33131, and you can call (305) 697-6690. You do not have to come to Brickell to bring a claim: a Request for Arbitration goes to the Attorney General's Lemon Law Arbitration Division, which now accepts initial filings by email, and the Board hears cases in locations across the state, administered out of the Attorney General's offices in Tallahassee, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale. The quickest way to start is the online intake form, which we read the same day. If you would rather follow the paperwork yourself first, the Attorney General publishes the Request for Arbitration form, the Motor Vehicle Defect Notification form, a remedy calculation guideline and a searchable list of vehicles manufacturers have reported buying back; its Lemon Law Hotline is 1-800-321-5366, or 850-414-3500 from outside Florida. Our guide to how to file a lemon law claim covers the order, whether you can claim lemon law on a used car covers the question we are asked most, and our state guides for Texas and Georgia show how differently the same problem is handled a few states away.

    RockPoint Law, Miami 1221 Brickell Ave, Suite 900, Miami, FL 33131 · (305) 697-6690 Claims taken across all 67 Florida counties. Reviews below are firm-wide across every state we practise in, not Florida-specific.
    Case Results

    Recent RockPoint Law Recoveries

    These figures come from our firm's published lemon law settlement record across brands. They are firmwide results, not Florida outcomes, and they show what a well-documented defect claim can be worth when it is handled properly.

    $160,264: BMW X6

    Recovery on a vehicle plagued by engine, electrical, and suspension defects.

    $144,550: Porsche Macan

    Refund for a Macan with recurring suspension, drivetrain, electrical, and HVAC problems.

    $110,289: Rivian R1T

    Recovery after repeated electrical, drive-unit, and suspension failures on an electric pickup.

    Figures are drawn from our firm's published settlement record and are not specific to Florida matters. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case. See more RockPoint Law settlements →

    FAQ

    Florida Lemon Law Questions

    The questions Florida drivers ask us most, and what you should know before you send anything.

    Does Florida have a lemon law?
    Yes. It is the Motor Vehicle Warranty Enforcement Act, Chapter 681 of the Florida Statutes, and it is administered by the Attorney General rather than by a motor vehicles agency. If a warranty defect substantially impairs the use, value or safety of a new vehicle and survives a reasonable number of repair attempts, section 681.104(2) makes the manufacturer buy the vehicle back or replace it within forty days, and the choice between those two is yours. Disputes are decided by a three-member panel of the Florida New Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board, whose members the Attorney General appoints. There is no filing fee for the consumer. Florida funds the whole programme from a two-dollar fee the dealer collects on every sale under section 681.117.
    What qualifies for the lemon law in Florida?
    A vehicle qualifies when a nonconformity that substantially impairs its use, value or safety survives what section 681.104(3) presumes to be a reasonable number of attempts. Florida gives exactly two ways there and either is enough. The same nonconformity repaired at least three times, plus a final attempt by the manufacturer after your written notice, with the defect still present. Or the vehicle out of service for repair of one or more nonconformities for a cumulative thirty or more days, sixty for a recreational vehicle. Florida has no serious-safety shortcut, unlike Texas at two attempts and Georgia at one. Accident, abuse, neglect and unauthorised modification are affirmative defences under section 681.104(4), as is a claim the manufacturer says was not brought in good faith.
    How many repair attempts does Florida require?
    Three of the same defect, and then one more. Section 681.104(3)(a) asks that the same nonconformity has been subject to repair at least three times, plus a final attempt by the manufacturer if that attempt was undertaken the way section 681.104(1)(a) describes, with the defect continuing to exist. So after the third failed repair you write to the manufacturer by registered or express mail and it gets a last chance: ten days to respond and name a reasonably accessible facility, then ten days from delivery to fix it. Forty-five for a recreational vehicle. If it misses either deadline, or fails to offer a reasonably accessible facility, the statute says the final-attempt requirement no longer applies at all, and your three repairs stand on their own.
    What is the Florida lemon law time frame?
    The Lemon Law Rights Period is twenty-four months from the date the vehicle was delivered to you, and section 681.102(9) puts no mileage limit on it at all. Texas closes its window at 24,000 miles; Florida does not close it on miles. The defect has to be first reported inside those twenty-four months, and section 681.103(1) then makes the manufacturer finish the repairs even if the work runs past the window. Acting is a separate clock. Section 681.109(4) gives you sixty days after the rights period ends, or thirty days after a certified programme's final action, whichever is later. A court claim runs one year from the same events under section 681.112(2). And section 681.109(1) adds a separate sixty-day deadline for filing with a state-certified manufacturer programme, where one applies to your vehicle.
    Do I have to write to the manufacturer before I file in Florida?
    Yes, and there are two letters doing two jobs. After three repairs of the same defect, section 681.104(1)(a) requires written notification by registered or express mail to the manufacturer, not the dealer, at the regional office its warranty or owner's manual must name. That opens its final attempt to cure. Separately, once the vehicle has been out of service a cumulative fifteen days, section 681.104(1)(b) requires written notice of that too. The Attorney General publishes a Motor Vehicle Defect Notification form for both and accepts certified mail. One trap it flags in its own emphasis: sending a copy of that form to the Lemon Law Arbitration Division is not the same as filing a claim. It is one of the steps that makes you eligible to file one.
    Where is a Florida lemon law case actually heard?
    Before the Florida New Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board, which sits within the Department of Legal Affairs. Panels of three members decide by majority vote under section 681.1095(2), and at least one member in each region must have expertise in motor vehicle mechanics. Manufacturers must submit where the department finds the dispute eligible. Hearings are informal but testimony is under oath, you may cross-examine and be represented by counsel, and the Board may inspect or test drive the vehicle. The Board hears cases in locations across the state, administered from the Attorney General's offices in Tallahassee, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale, and section 681.1095(6) gives it forty days to hear the dispute and sixty to render a decision. Proceedings are open to the public.
    Does Florida charge anything to bring a lemon law claim?
    Nothing to file. Florida charges the consumer no fee at any stage of arbitration, and section 681.117 funds the programme instead from a two-dollar fee the dealer or lessor collects at the consummation of every sale or lease, remitted to the Motor Vehicle Warranty Trust Fund. That differs from Texas, which charges a thirty-five dollar filing fee and then makes the non-prevailing party reimburse it. Attorney's fees are separate and they run in your favour: section 681.112(1) says a court shall award a prevailing consumer reasonable attorney's fees, and section 681.1095(13) adds the fees spent confirming an award the manufacturer ignored. One caution sits on the other side, at section 681.106: a court that finds a claim was brought in bad faith can make the consumer pay the manufacturer's costs and fees.
    Do I have to use BBB Auto Line or NCDS before the Florida board?
    For most of the market, yes, and this decides more Florida claims than the repair count does. Section 681.108(1) makes prior resort to a manufacturer programme the Attorney General has certified a precondition, wherever the manufacturer runs one and told you how and where to file. BBB Auto Line covers Ford, GM, Hyundai and Genesis, Kia, Mazda, Nissan and Infiniti, Volkswagen, Audi and Bentley. NCDS covers Toyota and Lexus, and Honda, Acura and Tesla vehicles bought on or after 1 November 2022. CAP Motors covers Porsche. Two cautions from the Attorney General: "state-certified" does not mean state-run, and submitting to a programme that is not on the certified list may cost you time and your Lemon Law rights.
    Does the Florida lemon law cover a used car?
    Generally no, and Florida has no separate used-vehicle lemon law of the kind Massachusetts runs. Chapter 681 reaches new and demonstrator vehicles, and leased vehicles on a lease of a year or more where you are responsible for repairs. There is one real exception: section 681.102(4) extends "consumer" to someone the vehicle is transferred to during the Lemon Law Rights Period for the same personal or household use, so a car bought from its first owner inside twenty-four months of original delivery can still carry its rights, and section 681.115 confirms they pass to a subsequent transferee. Otherwise a used vehicle runs on the written warranty and the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, which has no mileage cap at all.
    Does it cover motorcycles, RVs or heavy pickups?
    Motorcycles no, RVs partly, heavy pickups only under 10,000 pounds. Section 681.102(14) excludes motorcycles, mopeds, electric bicycles, off-road vehicles, track-only vehicles and trucks over 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight. Texas covers motorcycles and sets no self-propelled weight ceiling, so the same bike can be inside one statute and outside the other. Recreational vehicles are covered except their living facilities, which the statute lists in detail, and section 681.1096 sends RV disputes to a department-qualified industry mediation and arbitration programme instead of the Board, with the manufacturer paying the fees and a seventy-day limit. Notice on an RV goes to every manufacturer that might warrant the fault, because chassis and components are often separately warranted. Excluded vehicles can still support a federal Magnuson-Moss claim, which carries no vehicle-type exclusion and no weight ceiling at all.
    How is a Florida buyback calculated?
    Section 681.104(2) refunds the full purchase price plus all reasonably incurred collateral and incidental charges, less a reasonable offset for use. That offset is arithmetic: section 681.102(19) takes the base selling price on your invoice, excluding taxes, government fees and dealer fees, multiplies it by the mileage attributable to you up to the settlement or the hearing, whichever comes first, and divides by 120,000. Sixty thousand for a recreational vehicle. Two things save you money. Mileage at delivery comes out, and so does non-consumer mileage, which the Attorney General says includes test drives by the dealer, the manufacturer, a programme inspector and the Board itself. On a replacement, you pay that offset rather than having it deducted.
    What happens if the manufacturer ignores the arbitration decision?
    Florida prices that explicitly. Section 681.1095(9) gives the manufacturer forty days from receiving a decision in your favour to deliver the refund or replacement, and compliance only counts on the day you actually receive it. Do neither that nor appeal, and section 681.1095(10) lets the department ask the circuit court to impose a fine of up to a thousand dollars a day until it reaches twice the purchase price, unless the manufacturer proves by clear and convincing evidence that the delay was beyond its control. The same subsection says the court shall affirm the award on your application. Section 681.1095(13) then adds twenty-five dollars a day, your confirmation fees, and a doubled or trebled award for a bad-faith appeal.

    Written and edited by the RockPoint Law content team. Prepared September 2026 to reflect the Motor Vehicle Warranty Enforcement Act, Chapter 681 of the Florida Statutes, Secs. 681.10 through 681.118, administered by the Office of the Attorney General. See our editorial policy.

    Anyone can check a Florida attorney's licence and public discipline record in The Florida Bar's own member directory. We think you should, for any firm you are considering, including this one.

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    Real results from real clients who trusted
    RockPoint Law with their lemon law claims.

    I contacted RockPoint Law in July 2025 and by mid Jan 2026, I had received my settlement proceeds. A mid 5-figure loan was paid off and the manufacturer took possession of the vehicle. Not having that car payment and the mandatory full coverage freed up about $900/month. If you're on the fence about calling RockPoint Law, let it go. The relief you will feel when it all works out will be soooo worth it.

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    Henry Jose
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    Was having nothing but issues with the DEF system in my Ram 3500. I didn't have high hopes because 3500 trucks are generally excluded from lemon law. The entire process from the time I contacted RockPoint Law to the time I received my settlement was under 6 months! Their response times were well above expectations.

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    Joe Russo
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    My Telluride's transmission would jerk so hard between gears that my coffee would spill. Dealer had it four times. When I called RockPoint Law, they asked the exact technical question I'd been researching for weeks. We got a buyback with reimbursement for my deductible and rental costs. They speak fluent mechanic before they speak lawyer.

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    Kirill
    Google Review

    Turbo failure on my EcoBoost F-150. Dealer replaced it once, then denied the second. Steven Nassi compared my case to known manufacturing defects for that engine. Other lawyers just saw 'engine trouble.' Steven built the argument around the known defect pattern. Secured a full refund.

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    JR
    Joshua Ragsdale
    Google Review

    Our minivan's sliding door would just stop working. Not a great feature with little kids. Tried to get it fixed under warranty three times. Final straw was when it almost closed on my son's arm. Leo was our attorney and got us a great outcome. They handled everything from start to finish.

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    JG
    Jorge Garcia
    Google Review

    My family's cross-country road trip turned into a nightmare when our brand-new SUV broke down in three different states. Each dealership kept giving us the run-around. RockPoint Law tracked every failed repair, hotel receipt, and even our unused theme park tickets. They got us a full buyback plus $8,200 for the vacation that fell apart.

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    AG
    Adam Gore
    Google Review

    The active suspension in my Ram 1500 started making a loud 'clunk' on every bump. Dealer replaced one part but the noise just moved to another corner. After the third repair, I was done. Natalie Nassi said, 'A repeated failure of a major chassis component is a clear impairment to value and use.' She didn't see a noise; she saw a failed system.

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    PM
    Piyawan Maprakhon
    Google Review

    My car is basically my mobile office. When the electrical system fried two laptops and killed my productivity, I reached out to RockPoint Law. Unlike the dealer who treated me as a nuisance, RockPoint Law saw how it impacted my ability to work. They secured a full refund on the vehicle plus $6,500 for lost income and equipment.

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    SK
    Sadie Kim
    Google Review

    The manufacturer told me I was out of luck. RockPoint Law told me otherwise — and proved it! Their lemon law experience turned my nightmare into a fair resolution. What impressed me most was their transparency — no false claims, just hard facts and harder work. Worth every penny and then some!

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    KE
    Kevin Eimuth
    Google Review

    From the moment I walked into their office shaking with frustration, the team at RockPoint Law put me at ease. They listened patiently to my whole story, then laid out a clear game plan. Six weeks later, I was holding a check that made all those repair shop trips worth it. True professionals who deliver!

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    JB
    Jatt James Bond
    Google Review

    We had two vans with the same transmission failure. RockPoint Law consolidated both claims, lined up build dates, and pushed for an extended coverage fix. Both vans were repaired, and we got downtime reimbursed.

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    KS
    Kishan Singh
    Google Review

    The hands-free liftgate on my SUV would randomly open in my garage, denting the door. I felt crazy complaining about a 'convenience feature.' Our attorney reframed it: 'An uncontrolled operation of a motorized component is a safety and property damage risk.' The team used my security camera footage as evidence. We got a solid settlement.

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    PS
    Peyman Soleimani
    Google Review
    Our Team

    Meet the Team
    Behind RockPoint Law

    A dedicated team that stands with you through every step of your Lemon Law claim.

    Steven Nassi
    Steven Nassi
    Managing Partner
    Founder · 25+ years of litigation experience
    ★ Founding Partner
    Natalie Nassi
    Natalie Nassi
    Partner
    Columbia University · 20+ years in consumer advocacy
    Ron Kaniuk
    Ron Kaniuk
    Florida Managing Partner
    St. John's University School of Law · Consumer protection & lemon law
    Aaron Waldo
    Aaron Waldo
    Attorney
    U.S. Marine Corps veteran · Automotive background
    Liam Jones
    Liam Jones
    Attorney
    Licensed in New York & New Jersey
    Christian Garcia
    Christian Garcia
    Senior Case Manager
    Case management from intake through resolution
    Rudy Gutierrez
    Rudy Gutierrez
    Intake Manager
    First point of contact for new clients & case evaluations
    Manufacturers We've Taken to Court

    We Take On the
    Biggest Names

    Don't take on the manufacturer alone.

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