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Georgia Lemon Law

Lemon Law Attorneys in Georgia

At RockPoint Law, lemon law is the whole practice. We act for Georgia drivers whose new vehicle keeps going back to the dealer for the same fault, whether that is a stall on the Downtown Connector at rush hour or a drivetrain warning that reappears every time the car comes off the lift in Savannah. Georgia gives you a real remedy for that, and it runs through state arbitration at the Attorney General's office rather than through a county courthouse.

All 159 Georgia counties Free state arbitration, no filing fee No fee unless we recover

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Three quick questions. No cost, no obligation.

  • The year and make of your vehicle
  • What the dealer has already tried
  • How to reach you, and we review it
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Sending this does not create an attorney-client relationship. A case evaluation is a first step, not legal representation.

The Short Answer

The Georgia Lemon Law, in Brief

Yes, Georgia has a lemon law. If you bought or leased a new vehicle in Georgia and a warranty defect survives a reasonable number of repair attempts, the manufacturer has to buy it back or replace it, and you choose which. The claim goes to state run arbitration through the Georgia Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division rather than to a court, and there is no filing fee to bring it.

The statute is the Georgia Lemon Law, O.C.G.A. section 10-1-780, and it runs through section 10-1-798 under the article heading "Defectively Manufactured New Motor Vehicles." The Georgia Department of Law's Consumer Protection Division administers it from Atlanta, and it publishes the full statutory text itself. A Georgia driver does not begin by suing the manufacturer. You give written notice, the manufacturer gets one last repair attempt, and if that fails you apply for arbitration and an arbitrator decides whether the vehicle qualifies for a repurchase or a replacement.

The law covers new cars, trucks and vans bought, leased or registered new in Georgia. It also reaches leases of at least one year, and demonstrators still titled as new. It does not reach used vehicles, motorcycles, golf carts, or trucks rated above 12,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, and it reaches a motor home only as to the chassis and the self-propelled vehicle. That list of carve-outs is in O.C.G.A. section 10-1-782(15), and it catches more Georgia drivers out than any other part of the statute. Where the state law does not reach, the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act often still does, and it stays in court and lets a prevailing consumer recover attorney fees from the manufacturer.

Which route fits your vehicle is the first real decision in a Georgia claim. Whether you qualify, what the statute demands of the manufacturer, and which forum decides it all follow from that one choice, and our step-by-step Georgia filing guide sets the paperwork out in the order it has to go.

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

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Eligibility

What Qualifies for the Lemon Law in Georgia?

Georgia spells out when the manufacturer has had a reasonable number of attempts to fix your vehicle. O.C.G.A. section 10-1-784(a)(1) sets three routes, and any one of them is enough on its own. All three have to happen inside the rights period, which Georgia sets at two years or 24,000 miles from delivery, whichever comes first. Georgia's thresholds are lower than most states', and the safety one is the lowest in the country. Each test comes with a Georgia example and a self-check you can run against your own repair record.

One Repair for a Serious Safety Defect

A serious safety defect that survives a single repair attempt is enough. Section 10-1-782(25) defines it as a life-threatening defect, or one that stops you controlling or operating the vehicle for ordinary use, or one that creates a risk of fire or explosion. Most states ask for two attempts. Georgia asks for one.

A Georgia example Steering that loses assist once at highway speed on I-285 and does it again after the dealer says it is fixed

Three Repairs of the Same Defect

The same nonconformity goes back for repair three or more times and is still not corrected. It has to be the same defect each time, and every attempt has to fall inside the rights period. Texas asks for four attempts on this route. Georgia asks for three.

A Georgia example A new SUV back at an Alpharetta dealer three times for the same transmission shudder, still shuddering

Thirty Days Out of Service

The vehicle is off the road for repairs for a cumulative 30 days inside the rights period. Read this one carefully: the statute says one or more nonconformities, so unlike the three-repair route the days do not have to be for the same defect. Section 10-1-782(6) counts calendar days.

A Georgia example A pickup that sits at a Macon service department across three separate visits for three unrelated faults, adding up past 30 days

Inside the Rights Period

The defect has to surface within the lemon law rights period: two years or 24,000 miles from delivery, whichever comes first. You then have one year after that window closes to apply for arbitration under section 10-1-786(a).

A Georgia example A fault first written up at 22,000 miles on a car that commutes GA-400 daily and will pass 24,000 within the month

Meeting a test is not the end of the analysis. Georgia then requires a written notice to the manufacturer and a final repair attempt before the duty to buy back or replace is triggered. There is one exception: under section 10-1-784(b)(1), a vehicle that has been out of service 30 days goes straight to the repurchase or replace duty without the final repair attempt. Because all of this turns on records, keep every repair order, service invoice, and purchase or lease agreement from your Georgia dealership, with the drop-off and pick-up dates on each one.

Not sure whether your repair history clears one of the tests? Send it over for a straight read.

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Where Your Case Is Heard

Filing From Georgia: The Panel, the Courts, and the Deadlines

The question we hear most from Georgia drivers is whether a claim means a trip to Atlanta. Usually not. Georgia's Lemon Law is an arbitration process before it is anything else, and the statute and the Attorney General's rules both push the hearing toward the consumer rather than the other way round. Georgia arranges that geography differently from Texas, and differently from most other states.

The Attorney General, Not a Motor Vehicle Agency

Georgia's Lemon Law is run by the Consumer Protection Division of the Georgia Department of Law, at 40 Capitol Square SW in Atlanta. That is a genuine difference: Texas routes lemon law through the same agency that titles cars, while Georgia has no DMV at all. Titles and registration sit with the Department of Revenue's Motor Vehicle Division and your county tag office. Your Lemon Law claim goes somewhere else entirely.

Your Hearing Comes Within 120 Miles

O.C.G.A. section 10-1-786(d) says the hearing "shall be held at a location that is reasonably convenient to the Georgia consumer." The Attorney General's own Rule 60-2-1-.02(9) puts a number on that phrase: a neutral location within 120 miles of your residence if you live in Georgia. Hearings are in person by default, and the same section asks the arbitrator to hear the case within 40 days.

Appeals Go to Superior Court, De Novo

Either side has 30 days to appeal to superior court under section 10-1-787(a), and the appeal is de novo. The statute names no county. Texas funnels every appeal to Travis County; Georgia leaves venue to its ordinary rules, so your county depends on where the manufacturer can be sued rather than on a single designated courthouse.

A Court Claim Has Three Doors

A warranty suit under the federal Magnuson-Moss Act is a different animal from the Lemon Law claim. In Georgia it can be filed in superior court, in a state court where the county has one, or in federal court. Which door fits depends on the amount at stake and on where the manufacturer can be sued.

Georgia has a trial court tier Texas does not

State Courts sit in 72 of Georgia's 159 counties, including Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Gwinnett, Chatham, Richmond, Bibb and Muscogee. Under O.C.G.A. section 15-7-4(a)(2) they try civil cases "without regard to the amount in controversy," concurrent with superior court. So in most of the counties where Georgians actually live, a warranty suit has a choice of trial court that the same suit in Texas does not.

Which courthouse that means, and the small-claim ceilings
  • The Georgia Courts Directory lists every county that has a state court.
  • In Fulton County the state court sits in the Justice Center Tower at 185 Central Avenue SW, now signposted Shirley C. Franklin Blvd. The superior court sits a few blocks away in the Lewis R. Slaton Courthouse at 136 Pryor Street SW.
  • Below $15,000 a claim can also go to magistrate court, and that ceiling rises to $25,000 for actions filed on or after 1 January 2027.

Federal court splits Georgia three ways

28 U.S.C. section 90 divides Georgia into three federal districts, not one, and which one you are in follows your county rather than your nearest city. Federal court stays the exception rather than the rule: 15 U.S.C. section 2310(d)(3) bars a Magnuson-Moss claim from federal court unless the amount in controversy reaches $50,000 exclusive of interests and costs, and most single-vehicle claims do not reach it. The fee-shifting provision in section 2310(d)(2) applies just the same in a Georgia state court.

Where the three federal districts sit, and why the answer is often not Atlanta

The Northern District sits at Atlanta, Gainesville, Rome and Newnan. The Middle sits at Macon, Columbus, Athens, Albany, Americus, Valdosta and Thomasville. The Southern sits at Savannah, Augusta, Brunswick, Dublin, Waycross and Statesboro.

Because the division follows the county, the answer is often not the obvious one. Kia's West Point plant sits in Troup County, which is the Newnan Division rather than Atlanta. Hyundai's Metaplant at Ellabell sits in Bryan County, which is the Savannah Division.

In Georgia you arbitrate before you sue

O.C.G.A. section 10-1-788 says the Lemon Law's provisions "are not available to a consumer in a civil action unless the consumer has first exhausted all remedies" in the article, and section 10-1-793(a) reserves enforcement of most violations to the Attorney General rather than to private suit. Georgia is not a state where you simply sue under the lemon law. You go through arbitration first.

What section 10-1-793(b) does preserve is everything else. The article "is cumulative with other laws and is not exclusive," which is why a Georgia warranty case so often runs on Magnuson-Moss and the UCC alongside the statutory claim. Combining those claims properly is most of the work, and our guide to how to file a lemon law claim sets out the order they go in.

The deadline that ends a Georgia claim

Two dates close a Georgia claim, and neither of them moves:

  • O.C.G.A. section 10-1-786(a) gives you one year after the rights period expires to apply for arbitration. The rights period is two years or 24,000 miles from delivery, whichever comes first, so your year starts from whichever of those two arrived first. There is no filing fee.
  • Section 10-1-787(a) gives either side 30 days to appeal the arbitrator's decision to superior court. Let that pass and the award stands.

If you are anywhere near either date, call before you file anything. We date the rights period from your delivery record rather than from memory, which is usually where the confusion starts.

Not sure which of those routes fits your vehicle? We sort that out in the first conversation, at no cost.

  • Bring your repair orders and the dates. That is usually enough to see which of Georgia's three tests your record meets.
  • You speak with the people who would work the file, not an intake desk.
  • Georgia gives you one year after the rights period closes to apply for arbitration, so timing matters.

Pick a time to the right and we can confirm it.

Pick a time that suits you

Video call or phone, wherever you are in Georgia. Tell us when and we can confirm it.








    A Georgia driver on the phone at home while a lemon law arbitration claim is prepared and filed for them
    You Stay Put

    Most of a Georgia claim happens on paper

    People hear "Attorney General" and "arbitration" and picture a day in Atlanta. The paperwork says otherwise. The notices go to the manufacturer by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, the arbitration application goes to the Consumer Protection Division, and when a hearing is set the Attorney General's own rule keeps it within 120 miles of where you live.

    We prepare the notices, count the days, assemble the repair history, file the application and deal with the manufacturer. Your part is the phone call that starts it.

    Start from home →
    How It Works

    The Lemon Law Process for a Georgia Driver

    A Georgia claim has more moving parts than most states', and the deadlines run in both directions. Miss one and a good claim stalls; the manufacturer misses one and it forfeits its last repair attempt. These are the five stages, in the order they happen. For the form-by-form walkthrough, our step-by-step guide to filing a Georgia lemon law claim goes through each document in order.

    Sculpted marble figure reviewing an open warranty booklet at a desk, checking whether a vehicle is covered by the Georgia Lemon Law

    Check the Vehicle Is Covered

    This step ends more Georgia claims than any other. Section 10-1-782(15) excludes used vehicles, motorcycles, golf carts and any truck rated over 12,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, and covers a motor home only as to the chassis and self-propelled vehicle. A lease counts if it runs at least a year and you are responsible for repairs. Small businesses buying ten or fewer vehicles a year count as consumers. If the vehicle falls outside all that, the claim moves to Magnuson-Moss or the UCC rather than stopping.

    Sculpted marble figure stacking repair orders on a service counter, the paper trail a Georgia lemon law claim runs on

    Document Every Repair Attempt

    Georgia counts repairs of the same defect and days out of service separately, so the paperwork has to support both counts. Every time the vehicle goes into a Georgia service department, get a repair order that names the complaint, the drop-off date, the date you collected it and what the shop did. The dates are what build the 30-day total, and because section 10-1-782(6) counts calendar days, weekends in the shop count too.

    Sculpted marble figure holding out a sealed certified letter, the Georgia final repair opportunity notice that goes to the manufacturer

    Send the Final Repair Opportunity Notice

    This is the step Georgia has and Texas does not. Once a test is met, section 10-1-784(a)(2) requires written notice to the manufacturer, not the dealer, by statutory overnight delivery or certified mail with return receipt, sent to the address in the owner's manual. Then three clocks start: seven days for the manufacturer to name a reasonably accessible repair facility, fourteen for you to deliver the vehicle, and twenty-eight from receipt of your notice for the repair to be completed. The Attorney General publishes the letter as Form A, the Final Repair Opportunity Notice.

    Sculpted marble figure typing at a laptop, preparing the Georgia repurchase or replacement election letter

    Choose Repurchase or Replacement, in Writing

    If the final attempt fails, section 10-1-784(b)(1) puts the choice in your hands, not the manufacturer's, and the election goes out by the same certified or overnight route. The manufacturer then has 20 days to comply. The Attorney General publishes this one as Form B. A vehicle that has been out of service 30 days reaches this step without a final repair attempt at all.

    Two sculpted marble figures at a hearing podium and arbitrator's desk, where a Georgia lemon law arbitrator hears the case

    Apply for Arbitration, Then Any Appeal

    If the manufacturer does not comply, you apply to the Attorney General for arbitration. There is no filing fee. The application is due within one year of the rights period expiring under section 10-1-786(a), participation is compulsory for the manufacturer, and the hearing is set within 120 miles of you. A manufacturer that loses and does not appeal has 40 days to comply or face a civil penalty of up to $1,000 a day under section 10-1-787(d).

    Each of those five stages is a place a Georgia claim comes apart: a repair order that never named the defect, a notice letter posted to the selling dealer instead of the manufacturer's owner's-manual address, an arbitration application sent a month after the one-year window closed. The forfeiture rule cuts the other way too. If the manufacturer misses the seven-day facility deadline or the twenty-eight-day repair deadline, section 10-1-784(a)(2)(C) says it loses the final repair attempt entirely.

    You can run this yourself, and some Georgia drivers do. The catch is that you would be learning the clock while the other side is already running it. 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 and the dates intact.

    Outcomes

    What Compensation Can You Receive?

    When a Georgia claim succeeds, O.C.G.A. section 10-1-784(b) gives the choice to the consumer: repurchase or replacement, your election, not the manufacturer's. Which one is worth more is a real question, and the answer turns on arithmetic Georgia writes into the statute rather than leaving to an agency.

    A repurchase returns the purchase price plus collateral charges and incidental costs, less a reasonable offset for use. That offset is the purchase price times the miles you had driven as of the first repair visit, divided by 120,000. Two things follow. Miles you put on the car while the dispute drags do not increase the deduction, because the clock stopped at that first visit. And a replacement under section 10-1-784(b)(2) carries no offset for use at all, which on a car with real mileage can make a replacement worth materially more than a refund.

    Collateral charges under section 10-1-782(4) take in factory and dealer installed options, sales tax, title charges and earned finance charges. Incidental costs under section 10-1-782(8) cover what you paid chasing the repair: charges to the dealer for attempted repairs, towing, and the cost of getting around without the car. A lessee's numbers work differently again, and the manufacturer also pays the lessor 110 percent of the adjusted capitalized cost.

    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 attorney fees from the manufacturer, and that applies in a Georgia state court just as it does in federal court.

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

    Possible Outcomes

    Repurchase

    purchase price and collateral charges, less the statutory offset of miles divided by 120,000

    Replacement

    a comparable new vehicle, and Georgia applies no offset for use to it

    A corrected vehicle

    where the manufacturer's final repair attempt actually fixes the defect

    Collateral and incidental costs

    sales tax, title, earned finance charges, towing and alternative transport

    Attorney fees

    an arbitrator may award them under section 10-1-786(e), and they are mandatory if the manufacturer appeals and loses

    Vehicles We Handle

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

    Georgia is narrower than most states here, and the carve-outs in O.C.G.A. section 10-1-782(15) catch people out constantly. Being outside the Lemon Law is not the end of a claim, though. The federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C. section 2301 and following, has no such exclusions, and it is often the better route for exactly the vehicles Georgia leaves out. Pick a category to see where it stands.

    Cars, Vans and Light Trucks

    Covered, and the vehicles the statute was written around. Georgia builds a lot of them too, at Kia in West Point and Hyundai's Metaplant near Savannah. See our practice areas.

    Diesel Trucks

    Covered only up to 12,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating. Heavier pickups fall outside the Georgia statute, though derate and DEF faults still support a federal claim. See our diesel emissions lemon law guide.

    Motorcycles

    Excluded from the Georgia Lemon Law by name, along with golf carts. A defective new motorcycle in Georgia is a Magnuson-Moss and warranty case rather than a lemon law case. See our motorcycle lemon law guide.

    RVs and Motorhomes

    A motor home is covered as to the chassis and self-propelled vehicle only, never the living quarters. Towable trailers and campers are not self-propelled and fall outside entirely. Notice has to go to every known manufacturer. See our RV and motorhome lemon law guide.

    Electric Vehicles

    Covered on the same terms as any other new vehicle. Georgia now assembles EVs at scale, and battery, charging, drive-unit and software faults are the defect patterns we see most. See our electric vehicle lemon law guide.

    See All Practice Areas →
    Why RockPoint

    Why Georgia Drivers Choose RockPoint Law

    Lemon law and consumer warranty work is the whole of our practice. We act for drivers across Georgia, and because a Georgia claim is built on notices, deadlines and a repair record rather than on courthouse appearances, the work happens the same way whether you are in Sandy Springs or Valdosta.

    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.

    Statewide, Not Just Metro Atlanta

    A Georgia claim is filed on paper and heard within 120 miles of your home, so we take cases from all 159 counties, not only the ones inside the Perimeter.

    We Know the Georgia Clock

    The three tests, the certified notice, the seven, fourteen and twenty-eight day repair windows, the twenty-day election, then arbitration. We run the whole sequence.

    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 do not pay a fee unless we recover for you.

    Meet the Team →
    Side-by-Side

    Handling a Georgia 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

    Guessing which of Georgia's three tests your record meets

    One failed repair of a serious safety defect, three repairs of the same nonconformity, or 30 cumulative days out of service. They are alternatives, and they count different things: the three-repair route needs the same defect each time, while the 30-day route adds up days across any number of defects. Which one your repair orders actually support decides how the claim is built.

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

    Sending the final repair notice to the dealer instead of the manufacturer

    Georgia is specific about this one. The notice goes to the manufacturer, at the address printed in the owner's manual, by statutory overnight delivery or certified mail with return receipt. Handing it to the service adviser you have been dealing with for a year feels natural and does not start the clock.

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

    Losing track of the 7, 14, 28 and 20 day clocks

    Seven days for the manufacturer to name a repair facility, fourteen for you to deliver the vehicle, twenty-eight for the final attempt, twenty for the manufacturer to honour your election, and one year after the rights period to apply for arbitration. Some of those run against you and some against the manufacturer, and the forfeiture rule only helps if somebody was counting.

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

    Facing the arbitration hearing and the offset arithmetic alone

    Georgia hearings are in person by default, and the arbitrator decides on the evidence put in front of them. A repurchase is then reduced by the purchase price times your mileage at the first repair visit, divided by 120,000. Getting that mileage date wrong moves real money.

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

    A clear read on the one-repair, three-repair or 30-day test

    We read the repair orders first and tell you which test your record supports before anything is sent. Where it supports more than one, we take the strongest.

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

    Notice drafted and sent the way section 10-1-784 requires

    To the manufacturer, at the owner's-manual address, by the delivery method the statute names, with proof of receipt kept. After that the manufacturer deals with us rather than with you.

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

    Every Georgia deadline tracked, in both directions

    We work the dates from the delivery date and the odometer rather than from memory, and we watch the manufacturer's clocks as closely as yours. A missed seven-day or twenty-eight-day deadline on their side ends the final repair attempt.

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

    The team prepares your case and presents the repair record

    We build the repair history into an exhibit, work out the offset from the right date, get you ready for what will be asked, and present the case at the hearing.

    Serving All 159 Counties

    On the Ground Across Georgia

    Georgia is the eighth most populous state, with about 11.2 million residents on the Census Bureau's 2024 estimates, and it is carved into 159 counties, more than any state except Texas. The Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell metro holds roughly 6.4 million of them and is the country's eighth largest. That is a lot of new vehicles and a lot of warranties.

    It is also a state that runs on cars. Commuters come down GA-400 from Alpharetta and Cumming, cross the Perimeter on I-285, and grind through the Downtown Connector where I-75 and I-85 share a roadbed under the city. I-20 carries Augusta traffic east and west, I-16 runs the 166 miles from Macon to the Port of Savannah, and I-95 takes the coast.

    What Georgia builds, and who it employs

    Georgia builds vehicles as well as driving them. Kia has been assembling at West Point in Troup County since 2006, Hyundai's Metaplant near Ellabell in Bryan County started building the IONIQ 5 in October 2024, and SK Battery has made cells at Commerce since 2022.

    Employers like Delta Air Lines, The Home Depot, UPS, The Coca-Cola Company and Southern Company anchor metro Atlanta, while Aflac and Synovus sit in Columbus and Gulfstream Aerospace builds aircraft in Savannah.

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

    • Atlanta
    • Augusta
    • Columbus
    • Macon
    • Savannah
    • Athens
    • South Fulton
    • Sandy Springs
    • Roswell
    • Warner Robins
    • Alpharetta
    • Albany

    How to reach us: RockPoint Law does not keep an office in Georgia, and a Georgia lemon law claim does not need one. The notices go out by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, the arbitration application goes to the Attorney General in Atlanta, and the hearing is set within 120 miles of your home rather than ours. 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, our step-by-step Georgia filing guide covers each form in order, and our state guides for Florida and Texas cover the neighbouring rules.

    RockPoint Law — area served in Georgia Claims taken from all 159 Georgia counties. Reviews below are firm-wide across every state we practise in, not Georgia-specific. Map shows the area we serve. RockPoint Law keeps no office, and no Business Profile, in Georgia.
    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 Georgia 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 Georgia matters. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case. See more RockPoint Law settlements →

    FAQ

    Georgia Lemon Law Questions

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

    Does Georgia have a lemon law?
    Yes. It is the Georgia Lemon Law, O.C.G.A. section 10-1-780 and following, sitting in the code under the heading "Defectively Manufactured New Motor Vehicles." It applies to a new vehicle bought, leased or registered new in Georgia, and it requires the manufacturer to repurchase or replace a vehicle whose warranty defect survives a reasonable number of repair attempts. The Georgia Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division runs it and publishes the statute, the forms and a consumer packet. The claim is decided in state run arbitration rather than in court, and there is no fee to apply. The current article dates from 2008 and moved to the Attorney General in 2015, so older material that sends you to the Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs is out of date.
    What qualifies for the lemon law in Georgia?
    A vehicle qualifies when a defect that substantially impairs its use, value or safety survives what section 10-1-784(a)(1) calls a reasonable number of repair attempts. Georgia gives three ways to get there, and any one is enough: a serious safety defect that survives one repair, the same defect repaired three times without success, or 30 cumulative days out of service for one or more defects. All three have to happen inside the rights period of two years or 24,000 miles from delivery. Defects caused by abuse, neglect or unauthorised modification do not count. Qualifying on one of the three tests starts the process rather than finishing it. In most cases you then have to give the manufacturer written notice and one final repair attempt before it owes you anything.
    How many repair attempts does Georgia require?
    It depends on the defect, and Georgia's numbers are lower than most states'. For a serious safety defect, section 10-1-784(a)(1)(A) asks for a single failed repair. Section 10-1-782(25) defines that as a life-threatening defect, or one that stops you controlling or operating the vehicle for ordinary use, or one creating a risk of fire or explosion. For any other defect the threshold is three repairs of the same problem. Texas asks for two and four respectively. Reaching the number is not the finish line, though: the manufacturer still gets one final repair attempt after you notify it. The counting rules differ between the two routes as well. The three-repair test needs the same defect each time, while the 30-day test adds up days out of service for one or more defects.
    What is the Georgia lemon law time frame?
    Two periods matter and people mix them up. The lemon law rights period, defined in section 10-1-782(10), is two years from delivery or the first 24,000 miles, whichever comes first, and the defect has to appear inside it. The deadline to act is separate: section 10-1-786(a) gives you one year after the rights period expires to apply for arbitration. The rights period stretches if the vehicle is still in the shop when it would otherwise run out, and day for day where a declared emergency put repairs out of reach. There is a third clock people miss entirely: once you send the final repair notice, the manufacturer's seven, fourteen and twenty-eight day windows start running, and a separate twenty-day window follows your election of a remedy.
    Do I have to travel to Atlanta for a Georgia lemon law hearing?
    Almost certainly not. Section 10-1-786(d) says the hearing "shall be held at a location that is reasonably convenient to the Georgia consumer," and the Attorney General's Rule 60-2-1-.02(9) defines that as a neutral location within 120 miles of your home if you live in Georgia. Everything before the hearing happens on paper: the notices go to the manufacturer by mail, and the arbitration application goes to the Consumer Protection Division at 40 Capitol Square SW in Atlanta. Hearings are in person by default, though a party can ask to appear by telephone for good cause. If you want the arbitration application form itself, it is not published online. The Attorney General sends it on request, and the Lemon Law line is 404-458-3827.
    Which court would hear a Georgia lemon law appeal or a warranty lawsuit?
    An appeal from the arbitration decision goes to superior court within 30 days under section 10-1-787(a), and it is heard de novo. Unlike Texas, which routes every appeal to one county, Georgia names no county at all, so venue follows the ordinary rules and usually turns on where the manufacturer can be sued. A separate warranty lawsuit is different again. It can go to superior court, or to a state court in one of the 72 Georgia counties that has one, or to federal court, where 28 U.S.C. section 90 divides Georgia into three districts. Federal court is the exception rather than the rule, because Magnuson-Moss requires $50,000 in controversy before a federal judge can hear it.
    Does the Georgia Lemon Law cover a used car?
    No. Section 10-1-782(15) defines a new motor vehicle as one whose original title was issued to you without having been issued to anyone other than a new vehicle dealer, and it excludes any vehicle whose title and transfer documents show it as used. A demonstrator can still count if it is titled as new and was never titled to anyone but the dealer. A used car with warranty problems is not out of options, though. The federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and Georgia's ordinary warranty law both reach vehicles the Lemon Law does not, and a claim can often be built on those instead. Georgia also does something unusual with buybacks: a reacquired vehicle resold here gets no branded title. Instead section 10-1-790 requires written disclosure and a fresh one-year, 12,000-mile warranty.
    Does it cover motorcycles, RVs or heavy pickups?
    This is where Georgia is narrower than people expect. Section 10-1-782(15) excludes motorcycles and golf carts outright, and excludes any truck rated above 12,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, which catches some heavy-duty pickups. A motor home is covered only as to the chassis and self-propelled vehicle, never the living quarters, and notice has to go to every known manufacturer. A towable trailer or camper is not self-propelled and falls outside altogether. Each of those vehicles can still support a federal Magnuson-Moss warranty claim, which carries no weight limit and no vehicle-type exclusions. Leases are covered, provided the lease runs at least a year and you are the one responsible for repairs. Small businesses buying or leasing ten or fewer vehicles a year count as consumers too, unless they are running a limousine rental service.
    Do I have to notify the manufacturer before arbitration?
    Yes, and this is the step that ends more Georgia claims than any other. Section 10-1-784(a)(2) requires written notice to the manufacturer, not the dealer, by statutory overnight delivery or certified mail with return receipt, sent to the address in the owner's manual. The manufacturer then has seven days to name a repair facility, you have fourteen to deliver the vehicle, and it has twenty-eight days from receiving your notice to complete the repair. Miss the step and a strong claim stalls. There is one exception: a vehicle already out of service 30 days skips the final repair attempt. The rule also cuts the manufacturer's way: if it misses the seven-day or twenty-eight-day deadline, section 10-1-784(a)(2)(C) says it forfeits the final repair attempt altogether.
    How much does Georgia lemon law arbitration cost?
    Nothing to file. Georgia's programme is prepaid: section 10-1-791 puts a $3.00 fee on every new vehicle sold or leased in the state, collected by the dealer at the point of sale, and that fee funds the arbitration account. So there is no filing fee for the consumer, which is a real difference from states that charge one. An arbitrator may also award attorney's fees and expert fees to a consumer who prevails under section 10-1-786(e), and those fees become mandatory under section 10-1-787(c) if the manufacturer appeals and you win again. Be careful with any manufacturer programme that says you must use it first. Under section 10-1-785 only a programme the Attorney General has certified can be made a prerequisite.
    How long does a Georgia lemon law case usually take?
    The statutory clocks give a floor rather than a promise. After you send notice, the manufacturer's final repair window runs up to 28 days, then it has 20 days to honour your election of a repurchase or replacement. Once a dispute is deemed eligible, section 10-1-786(d) asks the arbitrator to hear it within 40 days, though the same subsection says missing that does not void the decision. A manufacturer that loses and does not appeal has 40 days to comply. Add the time it takes to assemble a repair record, and a straightforward claim commonly runs a few months rather than a few weeks. An appeal changes the picture, because either side has 30 days to take the decision to superior court and the case is then heard over again from the start.
    What does a Georgia lemon law attorney cost, and what should I bring?
    We handle qualifying lemon law cases on contingency, so there is no upfront fee and no fee unless we recover for you. Georgia also lets an arbitrator award attorney's fees against the manufacturer, which changes the economics of bringing a claim at all. For the first conversation, bring every repair order with the drop-off and pick-up dates, the purchase or lease agreement, the odometer reading at the first repair visit, and anything in writing from the dealer or manufacturer. The mileage at that first visit matters more than people realise, because it sets the offset. You do not need it organised. We can work from what you have. If you would rather read the whole sequence first, our step-by-step Georgia filing guide goes through each form and deadline in order.

    Written and edited by the RockPoint Law content team. Prepared September 2026 to reflect the Georgia Lemon Law, O.C.G.A. sections 10-1-780 through 10-1-798, administered by the Consumer Protection Division of the Georgia Department of Law. See our editorial policy.

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

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    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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    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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    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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    Our Team

    Meet the Team
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    Steven Nassi
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    Natalie Nassi
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    Ron Kaniuk
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    Christian Garcia
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    Rudy Gutierrez
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