Skip to main content
San Antonio Lemon Law

Lemon Law Attorneys in San Antonio

At RockPoint Law, lemon law is our core practice. If you're in San Antonio and your new vehicle has been back to the same service drive for the same fault again and again, you're who we act for. Maybe it's a transmission that shudders on the Loop 1604 grade out of Stone Oak, or an engine that stalls in the I-10 and Loop 410 merge, or an air conditioner that quits in August and three weeks later is back doing the same thing.

Free Case Evaluation

Three quick questions. No cost, no obligation.

  1. The year and make of your vehicle
  2. What the dealer has already tried
  3. How to reach you, and we review it
Start My Free Case Review  Call (516) 550-3323

Sending this does not create an attorney-client relationship. A case evaluation is a first step, not legal representation.

Texas does have a real remedy, and you go through the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles for it rather than the Bexar County Courthouse. If it goes to a hearing, San Antonio is one of the seven cities where TxDMV holds them. And with two loops ringing the city, watch your odometer, since the 24,000 miles usually get there before the 24 months.

  • $35 to file, online with TxDMV
  • Two repairs on a serious safety hazard
  • No fee unless we recover

Our Texas attorney: Aaron K. Waldo, Texas Bar No. 24107954, licensed in Texas since 2018.

Key facts

San Antonio lemon law at a glance

The numbers a Bexar County claim meets, in the order it meets them, from the first repair order to a Travis County courtroom most San Antonio drivers never see.

Key facts for a San Antonio lemon law claim under Texas Occupations Code Chapter 2301, Subchapter M
Key figureWhat it meansWhere it comes from
24,000 milesor 24 monthsThe rights period runs from original delivery and ends at whichever comes first. A commute inside Loop 410 and Loop 1604 usually gets to the miles first.Sec. 2301.605(a)(1)(B)
Fouror two for safetyFour repairs of the same defect, or two where it is a serious safety hazard. Georgia asks for one on safety, and Florida has no safety route.Sec. 2301.605(a)(1)-(2)
30 dayscumulativeOut of service for repair for a cumulative total of 30 or more days. Days in a comparable loaner from the manufacturer or distributor are excluded.Sec. 2301.605(a)(3), (c)
Active dutystationed in TexasA service member stationed in Texas who bought or leased at retail can be an owner when the complaint is filed, wherever the car was bought.Sec. 2301.601(2)(D)
6 monthsfrom the earliestSix months to file, from the earliest of the warranty expiring, 24 months, or 24,000 miles. Passing 24,000 starts the count.Sec. 2301.606(d)
$35online filing feeTaken when you file online. The non-prevailing party reimburses it, so it goes back into a successful repurchase total.Sec. 2301.712
San Antoniohearing siteOne of TxDMV's seven main hearing locations. A hearing can also be held by phone or video.43 TAC Sec. 224.252(b)
Travis Countynot BexarJudicial review of a final order goes to a district court of Travis County, on the substantial evidence rule, about eighty miles up I-35.Sec. 2301.609(a)
$50,000federal thresholdA Magnuson-Moss claim reaches the Western District's San Antonio Division only at or above this amount in controversy.15 U.S.C. Sec. 2310(d)(3)
The Short Answer

What is the lemon law in San Antonio?

Yes. San Antonio drivers are covered by the Texas Lemon Law, and there's no separate San Antonio ordinance to learn. If your new vehicle carries a defect that survives a reasonable number of repair attempts, the manufacturer can be ordered to buy it back or replace it. The complaint is filed online with the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, it costs $35, and it is decided by a TxDMV hearings examiner rather than a judge at the Bexar County Courthouse. If it goes to a hearing, TxDMV sets it in or near your city, and San Antonio is one of its seven main hearing locations.

The statute is Subchapter M of Chapter 2301 of the Texas Occupations Code, sections 2301.601 through 2301.613, and TxDMV publishes the eligibility tests, a sample notice letter and the repurchase worksheets its own examiners use. What changes when the driver is in San Antonio isn't the law. It's the geography, and three things about a Bexar County claim surprise people:

  • The claim is not filed at the courthouse downtown. It goes online to TxDMV, and the fee is $35 under section 2301.712(a).
  • The person who decides it is a hearings examiner, a department lawyer, not a Bexar County judge or a jury. Section 2301.704(a-1) hands Subchapter M to that examiner, and section 2301.704(c) says the examiner issues a final order.
  • If a court ever reviews the order, it's not in San Antonio. Section 2301.609(a) sends judicial review to a district court of Travis County, on the substantial evidence rule.

The hearing itself, if there is one, is held in San Antonio when possible, and it can also be held by phone or video under 43 TAC section 224.252(b). At an in-person hearing you may bring the vehicle so the manufacturer can inspect and test drive it.

The law reaches new cars, trucks and vans bought or leased in Texas, and it reaches leases. It doesn't create a used-car remedy: TxDMV is direct that only a new vehicle can be ordered repurchased or replaced. Where Subchapter M stops, the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act often keeps going, and under 15 U.S.C. section 2310(d)(2) a consumer who finally prevails can recover costs and attorney fees.

The standard itself is in section 2301.604(a): a nonconformity that creates a serious safety hazard, or substantially impairs the use or market value of the vehicle. Our Texas lemon law guide sets out the statute in full. For a Bexar County driver, the two questions that decide things are where each stage sits, and which deadline closes first.

Eligibility

What qualifies for the lemon law in San Antonio?

Texas outlines when a manufacturer has had a reasonable number of attempts to fix your vehicle, and section 2301.605(a) provides three routes. Any one of them is enough, and all three have to happen inside the rights period. The fault has to be a real one: TxDMV excludes "minor rattles, radio static, etc." in its own words.

Think of these as rebuttable presumptions, not hard gates. A driver can still succeed on fewer attempts, and a manufacturer can argue one away under section 2301.606(b). Each card below has a San Antonio example on it, along with a self-check.

The Four-Times Test

The same defect goes back for repair four or more times and still exists. All four attempts have to fall before the earlier of your express warranty expiring or 24 months or 24,000 miles from original delivery, under section 2301.605(a)(1). It's a flat four. Attempts at different franchised dealers around Bexar County still count, as long as it's the same nonconformity each time.

A San Antonio example A new pickup back at a Northwest Side dealer four times for the same stalling fault, still stalling at 19,000 miles

The Serious Safety Test

A serious safety hazard gets a lower bar: two failed attempts, under section 2301.605(a)(2). Section 2301.601(4) defines it as a life-threatening malfunction that substantially impedes your ability to control or operate the vehicle, or creates a substantial risk of fire or explosion. A failing air conditioner in August, miserable as that is, is rarely that. It's usually a substantial impairment of use, and that puts it on the four-repair route.

A San Antonio example Brakes that have twice failed to hold after repair on the descent into the I-35 and I-10 interchange downtown

The 30-Day Test

The vehicle is out of service for repair for a cumulative total of 30 or more days inside the rights period. Separate stays add up. And section 2301.605(c) excludes any period when the manufacturer or distributor lent you a comparable vehicle while a franchised dealer had yours, so days in that kind of loaner don't count toward the 30.

A San Antonio example A vehicle that sits at a Bexar County service department across three visits for the same fault and passes 30 days in total, with no loaner offered

Inside the Rights Period, and Why the Miles Run Out First

The rights period is 24 months or 24,000 miles from original delivery, whichever comes first. San Antonio's built around two rings, Loop 410 and Loop 1604, and if you're commuting from Stone Oak or Alamo Ranch to downtown, or coming in from Boerne or New Braunfels, you'll put 24,000 miles on a vehicle well inside two years. Then section 2301.606(d) gives you six months after the earliest of the warranty expiring, 24 months, or 24,000 miles.

A San Antonio example A fault first written up at 23,400 miles on a truck that runs I-10 to Boerne daily and will pass 24,000 within two weeks: the rights period closes on the miles, and the six months starts that day

Stage one happens in a Bexar County service drive

Everything that decides your claim gets created right here at the service drive: the repair orders, the dates, the odometer readings, the loaner paperwork. Claims are won or lost on those documents long before anybody in Austin looks at them. So before you leave, ask for a printed copy of every repair order and check that the odometer reading is on it.

And there isn't a state record running alongside them anymore. Since January 1, 2025, a non-commercial Texas vehicle no longer gets an annual safety inspection, so the only dated third-party record of your car's condition is the one your dealer writes. The reading on the day you first reported the fault also splits your buyback miles into full-rate and half-rate.

Can't tell which of the three tests your repair history clears? Send it over and we'll give you a straight read.

Start My Free Case Review  Call (516) 550-3323
Where your case is heard

Where is a San Antonio lemon law claim heard?

The question San Antonio drivers ask first is whether a lemon law claim means a day at the courthouse on Dolorosa. It doesn't. A Texas claim is an administrative complaint before it is anything else, filed online, and almost all of it happens on paper. For a Bexar County driver the location changes from stage to stage, and two of the stages are right here in the city.

Filing Is in Austin, and It's Online

The complaint goes to TxDMV, not to a Bexar County clerk. The $35 fee is taken at submission, against $200 for other Chapter 2301 complaints, and section 2301.712(b) makes the non-prevailing party reimburse it. There's no downloadable form any more, and the online application can't be saved and resumed, so have every document and the payment ready in one sitting.

Mediation, and Plenty of Claims End There

Before any hearing, a TxDMV case advisor is assigned and mediation is mandatory and nonbinding. Section 2301.160 tolls the chapter's time limits while required mediation is pending, so the clock isn't running against you while it happens. Nobody travels for this.

The Hearing Comes Back to San Antonio

TxDMV's Office of Administrative Hearings says it "attempts to set the hearing in a location near the Complainant's home," and that hearings are "scheduled for four hours" and held "in or near the complainant's city of residence." San Antonio is one of the seven main locations, with Austin, Carrollton, Corpus Christi, Fort Worth, Houston and Pharr. You "may bring" the vehicle so the manufacturer can inspect and test drive it (43 TAC section 224.252(m)).

Review Is in Travis County, Not Bexar

If the order goes against you, section 2301.609(a) gives judicial review "under the substantial evidence rule in a district court of Travis County." Government Code section 2001.176(b)(1) says the same for contested cases generally, and section 2001.176(a) gives you until the 30th day after the order is final and appealable to file. Florida gives a fresh trial in your own county. Texas doesn't.

And the appeal after that skips San Antonio's own appellate court

Bexar County sits inside the Fourth Court of Appeals District, which Government Code section 22.201(e) makes up of thirty-two counties, and the Fourth Court sits in San Antonio. A lemon law order won't go there. section 22.220(d)(1) gives the Fifteenth Court of Appeals exclusive intermediate appellate jurisdiction over civil matters brought by or against a state agency, and section 22.201(p) puts every county in that district. TxDMV is a state agency, so the road out of a Travis County district court runs to the Fifteenth Court in Austin.

There's a second judicial review provision in the chapter, and it's easy to read the wrong one. Section 2301.751(a) lets a party go either to a Travis County district court or directly to the Fifteenth Court of Appeals. That's the route for a warranty performance complaint and for dealer licensing matters, not for a lemon law claim, which has its own section 2301.609(a). TxDMV's hearings page still calls that alternative the "Third Court of Appeals," which the Legislature changed to the Fifteenth in 2023. Read the section, not the webpage.

Rehearing and judicial review: the day counts, and where they come from

Section 2301.609 sets the venue and the standard but states no number of days. The counts are derived from Government Code Chapter 2001, which section 2301.609(b) incorporates.

  • A motion for rehearing is due by the 25th day after the order is signed, under Government Code section 2001.146(a). Section 2301.713(a) sends you to Chapter 2001 for the procedure, and section 2301.713(c) has the motion filed with the chief hearings examiner.
  • A reply is due by the 40th day, under section 2001.146(b).
  • The agency must act by the 55th day, under section 2001.146(c), or the motion is overruled by operation of law. Extensions never run past the 100th day.
  • A petition for judicial review is due by the 30th day after the order becomes final and appealable, under section 2001.176(a).
  • Government Code section 2001.145(a) makes a timely rehearing motion a prerequisite to an appeal in a contested case, subject to the exceptions it names. Whether that applies to a Subchapter M order is a question to put to a Texas-admitted attorney on your facts.
The Bexar County courts a warranty case can reach, and the federal one

Justice courts. Government Code section 27.031(a)(1) gives a Texas justice court original jurisdiction where the amount in controversy is not more than $20,000, exclusive of interest. For a small out-of-pocket warranty dispute that ceiling is often enough.

District and county courts at law. A larger warranty suit or a Deceptive Trade Practices Act claim against the manufacturer is filed in Bexar County's civil district courts or its county courts at law, located downtown. Bexar County runs 27 district courts, 14 of them civil, and 15 county courts at law.

Federal court. 28 U.S.C. section 124(d)(4) makes up the San Antonio Division of the Western District of Texas from fourteen counties, with court held at San Antonio. The district clerk's office is at 262 West Nueva Street. Federal court stays the exception: 15 U.S.C. section 2310(d)(3) bars a Magnuson-Moss claim from federal court below $50,000, and most single-vehicle claims don't reach it. The fee provision in section 2310(d)(2) applies the same way in a Texas state court.

Exhaustion, and the door the DTPA opens afterward

Section 2301.607(a) makes exhaustion mandatory. Section 2301.607(b) then makes the remedy available against a manufacturer, converter or distributor in a Chapter 17 DTPA action after exhaustion, but not against a seller. If that door opens, the DTPA brings its own rules: section 17.505(a) requires 60 days' written notice before suit, section 17.50(b)(1) allows up to three times economic damages where the conduct was knowing, and section 17.565 sets a two-year limitation. A straight breach-of-warranty claim runs on a different clock again: Business & Commerce Code section 2.725(a) gives four years from tender of delivery.

Three possible defendants, too. Section 2301.603(a) names the manufacturer, converter or distributor, and "converter" is defined in section 2301.002 as a business that, before the retail sale, fits a body, cab or special equipment to someone else's chassis.

Not sure which of your three clocks started the six months, or which test your record clears? We work that out first, at no cost.

  • Bring your repair invoices and the dates. That's usually enough to see whether your record clears the four-times, the two-attempt safety or the 30-day route.
  • We date the rights period from the delivery record rather than from memory, which is usually where the confusion starts.
  • The six months under section 2301.606(d) is already running while the paperwork gets sorted out. Waiting isn't free here.
  • You speak with the people who would work the file, not an intake desk.
Start My Free Case Review 
A San Antonio driver on the phone at home while a TxDMV Lemon Law complaint is prepared and filed online for them
You Stay Put

Most of a San Antonio claim happens on paper

People hear "hearing" and picture a day off work and a drive to Austin. Neither half is usually right. The complaint is filed online, reviewed by Lemon Law Section staff and a case advisor, and put through mediation before anything is scheduled. Plenty of claims end there. If one doesn't, San Antonio is one of the seven cities where TxDMV holds its hearings, so the hearing comes to you.

We prepare the notice letter, count the days, work out which of the three clocks in section 2301.606(d) started your six months, assemble the repair history, file the complaint and deal with the manufacturer. Your part is the first conversation and the box of repair orders.

How It Works

How long does a San Antonio lemon law case take?

The statute gives a ceiling, not a timetable. If TxDMV hasn't issued a final order before the 151st day after you filed, it has to tell you that you may file a civil action instead. Mediation resolves plenty of claims well before that. Once an order is signed, Government Code Chapter 2001 sets the outside dates below, which matter because the review court is in Travis County.

  1. Day 0The hearings examiner signs the final order
  2. Day 25Latest day to file a motion for rehearing with the chief hearings examiner
  3. Day 55Latest day for the agency to act. If it doesn't, the motion is overruled by operation of law and the order is final
  4. Day 85Latest day to petition a Travis County district court, when the motion was overruled on Day 55

Check the Vehicle Is Still Inside the Window

Before anything else, find your original delivery date and today's odometer reading. Section 2301.605(a)(1)(B) sets the rights period at 24 months or 24,000 miles, whichever comes first, and in a city built around Loop 410 and Loop 1604 the miles usually close it. If a defect was first written up inside that window, you're in the conversation even if the window has since shut, because section 2301.606(d) then gives you six months from whichever clock ran out first.

Get Every Repair Order, With the Odometer On It

The dealer's paperwork is the case. Collect every repair order and invoice from every Bexar County service department that has touched the vehicle, with the drop-off date, the pick-up date and the odometer reading on each. Ask for the ones you were never handed. TxDMV's own advice is to keep every order and "maintain a log that describes the issue with date/time and location recorded."

Send Written Notice to the Manufacturer, Not the Dealer

Section 2301.606(c) says no order can require a refund or a replacement unless written notice reached the manufacturer, converter or distributor and it had a chance to cure. The address is printed in your owner's manual. Use certified mail and keep the receipt. Handing a letter to the service adviser you've dealt with for a year feels like the same thing. It isn't, and a copy of the real letter is a required upload when you file.

File Online With TxDMV, Inside the Six Months

Filing is through TxDMV's online application and the $35 fee is taken at submission. The deadline is six months after the earliest of your express warranty expiring, 24 months, or 24,000 miles from original delivery. Staff review the complaint for completeness and eligibility and put the parties through mediation, and the chapter's time limits are tolled while it's pending.

The Hearing in San Antonio, the Final Order, and the 151st Day

If mediation doesn't resolve it, a TxDMV hearings examiner holds the hearing, in or near your city, and issues a final order. Section 2301.604(a) then makes the manufacturer, converter or distributor reimburse your incidental costs from loss of use and either replace the vehicle or take it back and refund the price less the allowance for use. And if no final order has issued by the 151st day after you filed, section 2301.607(c) has TxDMV write to say you may go to court instead.

Each of those stages is a place a San Antonio claim comes apart: a repair order printed with no odometer reading, a notice letter posted to the dealership instead of the manufacturer, a fourth repair attempt logged at 24,300 miles, a complaint filed seven months after a warranty quietly expired.

You can run this yourself, and some drivers do. Nobody can tell you in advance how an examiner will rule. What a firm that handles these claims can do is read the repair record against all three tests, send the notice to the right party, and work out which of the three clocks started your six months, because it's already running while you work that out.

Outcomes

What compensation can you receive?

When a claim succeeds, section 2301.604(a) makes the manufacturer, converter or distributor reimburse your reasonable incidental costs resulting from loss of use, and then either replace the vehicle with a comparable motor vehicle or accept its return and refund the full purchase price, less a reasonable allowance for use. The order decides which. The refund includes tax, title, license and registration, but not the interest you paid on the loan. On a leased vehicle, section 2301.608(c) lets the order terminate the lease and split the allowances between lessee and lessor.

The allowance for use, in two tiers

TxDMV's worksheet and 43 TAC section 224.260(b)(2) run the deduction against a useful life the rule presumes at 120,000 miles, split at the reading on the day you first reported the defect:

  1. Miles from delivery to that first report are charged at the full rate.
  2. Miles from the first report to the hearing date are charged at half rate.
  3. The two are deducted from the price, and the $35 filing fee is added back in.

The statutory root is section 2301.601(3), which defines the allowance as the amount attributable to use "when the vehicle is not out of service for repair." For a San Antonio driver this isn't abstract. On an Alamo Ranch to downtown commute, reporting a fault at 9,000 miles instead of 15,000 changes the same buyback by thousands of dollars. Report it early, in writing, on a repair order. A towable RV is worked out in days, against 5,475 days, under 43 TAC section 224.260(b)(3).

Who pays the attorney fees, and where they come from

You aren't billed for this. We take qualifying cases on contingency, so there's no fee unless we recover for you. Subchapter M carries no fee-shifting provision of its own. TxDMV's rule, 43 TAC section 224.262(a)(6), counts attorney fees as an incidental cost only if you hire a lawyer after being told the manufacturer is represented by counsel. Section 2301.607(b) opens a DTPA action against the manufacturer after exhaustion, with up to three times economic damages where the conduct was knowing, and the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act lets a consumer who finally prevails recover costs and attorney fees under 15 U.S.C. section 2310(d)(2).

What a buyback carries with it

Section 2301.610 has the manufacturer issue a disclosure statement that travels with the vehicle through its next retail sale, restore the cause of the repurchase to factory specifications, and issue a fresh 12-month, 12,000-mile warranty. Your own file stays private while it runs, under section 2301.612.

Possible Outcomes

Five things a successful San Antonio claim can bring

  • Repurchase

    The full purchase price with tax, title, license and registration, less the two-tier allowance for use, with the $35 fee added back

  • Replacement

    A comparable motor vehicle, acceptable to you, with any upgrades at your own cost

  • Repair

    The route for a used vehicle still inside the original factory warranty, with out-of-pocket costs reimbursed

  • Incidental costs

    Reasonable incidental costs resulting from loss of use, under section 2301.604(a)

  • Attorney fees

    Through the DTPA route section 2301.607(b) opens, or 15 U.S.C. section 2310(d)(2), since Subchapter M carries none of its own. TxDMV's cost rule adds them only if you hire a lawyer after being told the manufacturer has counsel

Outcomes depend on the facts of each case, so no attorney can tell you in advance what yours will be.

Manufacturers We've Taken to Court

We Take On the
Biggest Names

Vehicles We Handle

Which vehicles does the lemon law cover in San Antonio?

Texas is broader than most states on vehicle type and narrower on vehicle age. The standard reaches a vehicle bought or leased new in Texas, and leases are in by name. In a city that buys and builds as many trucks as this one, the question that comes up most isn't what kind of vehicle it is. It's who built the part of it that keeps failing.

Cars, Trucks, Vans and SUVs

Covered, bought or leased new in Texas. The test is a defect that creates a serious safety hazard or substantially impairs use or market value, and section 2301.601(1) ties market value to a loss caused by a defect "specific to a motor vehicle," so how the model depreciates generally is a different argument. See our practice areas.

Pickups and Work Trucks

Covered, and this is the class that raises the converter question. Where a body, cab or special equipment went onto someone else's chassis before the retail sale, section 2301.002 makes that business a converter and section 2301.603(a) names it as a defendant. On a service body or flatbed, the notice has to reach the right one. Derate and emissions faults support a diesel emissions claim as well.

Motorcycles

Covered. Texas doesn't carve motorcycles out the way Georgia does, so a motorcycle claim runs on the same rights period, the same four-times and two-attempt tests, and the same six months. A bike spends less time in a service bay, so the 30-day route comes up less often. See our motorcycle lemon law page.

RVs and Motorhomes

Covered, and the converter point bites hardest here, because a motorhome is often a coach built onto a chassis somebody else made. On a coach, the party who owes the remedy is frequently not the company whose badge is on the engine. A towable RV is covered too, with its allowance worked out in days. See our RV and motorhome page.

Electric Vehicles

Covered on the same terms as any other new vehicle. Battery, charging, drive-unit and software faults are the patterns we see most, and a defect that substantially impairs use or market value doesn't have to be a safety hazard to qualify. A software fault that keeps coming back counts as the same nonconformity, provided each visit is written up in the same words. See our electric vehicle lemon law page.

See All Practice Areas →
Client Stories

What Our Clients Say

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.

Read more
HJ
Henry Jose
Google Review

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.

Read more
JR
Joe Russo
Google Review

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.

Read more
K
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.

Read more
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.

Read more
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.

Read more
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.

Read more
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.

Read more
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!

Read more
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!

Read more
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.

Read more
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.

Read more
PS
Peyman Soleimani
Google Review
Why RockPoint

Why San Antonio drivers choose RockPoint Law

Lemon law and consumer warranty work is the core of our practice, the work we do every day. We act for drivers all over Bexar County and the counties around it, and since a Texas complaint gets filed online with one statewide agency, where you live isn't what decides whether a claim's worth bringing.

Lemon Law Is Our Core Practice

We're not dabbling in it in between other kinds of cases. It's warranty and lemon law, every day, for drivers who ended up with defective vehicles, and that's the job.

Bexar County and the Counties Around It

Claims come to us from across Bexar County, and from Comal, Guadalupe, Kendall, Medina, Wilson and Atascosa too, which are the counties that share the San Antonio Division of the federal court. You file a TxDMV complaint online anyway, so your address isn't what decides whether you can bring one.

We Work Out Which Clock Started Your Six Months

Section 2301.606(d) runs from the earliest of three events: your warranty expiring, 24 months, or 24,000 miles. Figuring out which one came first is the first thing we do, and around San Antonio the answer's usually the odometer.

Clear Communication

You get straight updates from us at every stage of your case, no long silences, and no surprises either.

No Upfront Legal Fees

If your lemon law case qualifies, it runs on contingency, so you don't pay a fee unless we recover for you. Subchapter M has no fee-shifting clause of its own, which is why we sit down at the start and explain where fees would come from in your case.

Meet the Team →
Our Story

Meet the Firm Behind Your Claim

The same attorneys who handle claims nationwide handle them here. Two minutes on who we are and how we work.

Side-by-Side

Do I need a lemon law attorney in San Antonio?

This bit puts a San Antonio claim you handle alone up against the same claim handled with an attorney. Flip the switch and you get 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 the three tests your record meets

Four repairs of the same nonconformity, two of a serious safety hazard, or 30 cumulative days out of service. They're alternatives, and they don't count the same things. For the four-times route you need the same defect every single time. The 30-day route counts days, and section 2301.605(c) then subtracts the days in a comparable loaner.

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

Sending the notice to the dealership

Section 2301.606(c) requires that written notice reached the manufacturer, converter or distributor and that it had a chance to cure. You'll find the address in the owner's manual. It's not the service adviser at the dealership, and TxDMV requires a copy of the real letter as an upload.

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

Missing which of three clocks started the six months

Section 2301.606(d) runs six months from the earliest of your warranty expiring, 24 months, or 24,000 miles. Most people count from the day they bought the car, which is understandable. Around San Antonio, though, the mileage clock usually closes first, and nobody sends you a notice when it does.

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

Facing the hearing and the two-tier arithmetic alone

The examiner decides on the evidence in front of them, under oath, with documents. The buyback is then reduced by full-rate miles up to your first report of the fault and half-rate miles after it. Get that first-report odometer reading wrong and real money moves.

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

A clear read on the four-times, safety or 30-day route

Before anything gets sent, we sit down with your repair orders and tell you which route the record supports, and if it supports more than one, we go with the strongest.

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

Notice to the right party, by certified mail, receipt kept

To the manufacturer, or to the converter or distributor where section 2301.002 makes that the right defendant, with proof of what was sent and when. From then on it's us the manufacturer deals with, not you.

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

Every qualifying day counted, every deadline tracked

We go through and add up every repair stay that counts toward the cumulative total, take out only the loaner periods the statute excludes, and date the rights period off the delivery record.

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

The arithmetic checked against TxDMV's own worksheet

We pull the first-report odometer reading off the repair order and split your mileage right there, put the $35 back in, and then check the manufacturer's figure against the rule instead of against its own spreadsheet.

Serving Bexar County and the Counties Around It

On the ground in San Antonio

The seventh largest city in the country

San Antonio had 1,548,422 residents on the Census Bureau's July 1, 2025 estimates, which makes it the seventh largest city in the United States and the second largest in Texas, ahead of Dallas. Bexar County holds 2,160,088. TxDMV's own registration report for the year to August 31, 2024 counted 1,675,717 vehicles registered in Bexar County, out of 25,965,558 statewide: roughly one Texas vehicle in fifteen.

Two rings and one national artery

Loop 410 draws the inner ring and Loop 1604 the outer one, and almost every commute in Bexar County uses at least one. I-35 runs through the middle of the city as the road north out of Laredo, where more than three million trucks crossed the border in 2024 on the Texas Comptroller's figures. I-10 crosses from Boerne through downtown toward Seguin, I-37 drops south toward Corpus Christi, and US 281 carries the Stone Oak and Bulverde traffic in from the north.

The weather shapes the claims too. The National Weather Service's 1991–2020 normals for San Antonio put the city at 122.4 days a year at 90°F or above. An air conditioner that keeps failing is rarely a serious safety hazard under section 2301.601(4), but it's often a substantial impairment of use, which is a provable argument here in a way it wouldn't be in a cooler city.

Joint Base San Antonio, and the paragraph of the statute written for people posted here

Section 2301.601(2) defines who counts as an owner. Paragraph (C) covers a Texas resident who has registered the vehicle in Texas. Paragraph (D) reaches a person who "purchased or leased the vehicle at retail and is an active duty member of the United States armed forces stationed in this state at the time a proceeding is commenced under this subchapter."

Joint Base San Antonio describes itself as the largest joint base in the Department of Defense, made up of Fort Sam Houston, Lackland and Randolph plus other operating locations, and supporting more than 250,000 personnel. For someone posted here who bought the car at their last duty station, paragraph (D) can be the difference between having a claim and not. It turns on your status and posting when the complaint is filed. Bring your orders, the purchase papers and the Texas registration.

What San Antonio builds, and why it doesn't change who owes you a buyback

Toyota has built on the South Side since 2006, where the Tundra and the Sequoia hybrid are made, with 197,506 vehicles built there in 2025 on Toyota's own figures. International Motors opened its San Antonio plant in March 2022, building Class 6 to 8 trucks including electric models. The city's other big employers include USAA and H-E-B, both headquartered here.

None of that changes who owes you a remedy. Section 2301.603(a) puts the duty on the manufacturer, converter or distributor, and the notice goes to the address in your owner's manual. A truck built ten miles from your house is still a claim against the company whose badge is on it. The one place local industry matters is upfitting, where a converter can be a defendant in its own right.

Where the federal court sits

A federal warranty claim has its own map. 28 U.S.C. section 124(d)(4) makes up the San Antonio Division of the Western District of Texas from fourteen counties: Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Dimmit, Frio, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Karnes, Kendall, Kerr, Medina, Real and Wilson.

The towns we hear from most:

  • San Antonio
  • New Braunfels
  • Schertz
  • Converse
  • Universal City
  • Cibolo
  • Boerne
  • Seguin
  • Helotes
  • Live Oak
  • Leon Valley
  • Floresville

How to reach us

RockPoint Law doesn't keep an office in San Antonio, and a Texas lemon law claim doesn't need one. The complaint is filed online with TxDMV and the hearing is set in or near your own city. Our Texas office is in Dallas. The quickest way to start is the online intake form. We review every request and respond as soon as we can. Or call (516) 550-3323.

If you'd rather follow the paperwork yourself first, our Texas lemon law guide sets out the statute in full, our Dallas lemon law page covers the Metroplex, and TxDMV publishes the eligibility tests, a sample notice letter and its repurchase worksheets.

Case Results

Recent RockPoint Law recoveries

Now, these figures. They're real, but they're ours across the whole firm, pulled from the lemon law settlement record we publish across brands, and they're not San Antonio outcomes. We show them because they give you a feel for what a well-documented defect claim can be worth when it's handled properly. What your own claim is worth depends on your own facts.

$160,264 BMW X6

Recovery on a vehicle with engine, electrical and suspension defects.

$144,550 Porsche Macan

Recovery on a Macan with suspension, drivetrain, electrical and HVAC problems.

$110,289 Rivian R1T

Recovery after electrical, engine and suspension failures on an electric pickup.

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

RockPoint Law, by the numbers

$50M+**
Recovered for clients
3,000+‡
Cases handled
25+
Years of combined experience
97%*
Resolution rate
  • Free Consultation
  • No attorney's fees unless we recover for you.†
Recent Google reviewsAcross all RockPoint offices: 4.8 from 19 Google reviews
  • ★★★★★a month ago
    I had a really good experience with RockPoint Law. The whole process was a lot easier than I expected and everyone I dealt with was helpful and responsive. Whenever I had a question, I was able to get an answer without feeling like I was chasing anyone down. They handled everything and kept me updated along the way. Definitely glad I reached out to them.
    Ronen S. Malekmehr
  • ★★★★★6 months ago
    Saw RockPoint Law and wasn't sure. Called anyway because I was at my wit's end. Natalie Nassi answered and she remembered me from somewhere else. Same calm voice, same no-nonsense approach. She took my case and handled everything. Manufacturer bought the car back. Name on the door changed but Natalie didn't. That's what matters to me.
    Tanja Moldenhauer
  • ★★★★★6 months ago
    Saw RockPoint Law online and wasn't sure because I hadn't heard of them. But I was desperate. My car had been in and out of the shop for months. Called them up and the person I spoke with was so easy to talk to. No legal mumbo jumbo, just straight talk. They took my case and got me a buyback. New name but they know what they're doing. Would recommend.
    Rodolfo Paulino
2 more Google reviews
  • ★★★★★6 months ago
    Honestly wasn't sure about RockPoint Law since I hadn't heard of them before. But I was desperate. My car had been in the shop five times for the same problem and nobody could figure it out. Service advisor started avoiding my calls. I found RockPoint online, called, and the person I talked to was really down to earth. They took my repair orders and handled the whole thing. A few months later, the manufacturer bought the car back. New name but they got it done. Would use them again in a heartbeat.
    Om Shiv
  • ★★★★★6 months ago
    Saw RockPoint Law pop up when I was googling lemon law help. Wasn't sure about the name but figured I'd give it a shot. My Jeep Gladiator had a death wobble at highway speeds—front end would shake violently. Dealer replaced the steering stabilizer twice, still shook. The person I talked to at RockPoint was super calm and explained everything clearly. They handled the claim and Jeep bought the truck back. Glad I didn't let the new name scare me off. They got the job done.
    Víctor Torres

About this page

Written by the RockPoint Law Editorial Team · Reviewed by Aaron K. Waldo, Texas Bar No. 24107954 (State Bar record). Prepared September 2026 to reflect the Texas Lemon Law, Subchapter M of Chapter 2301 of the Texas Occupations Code, Sections 2301.601 through 2301.613, administered by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. See our editorial policy.

Anyone can check a Texas attorney's license and public discipline record in the State Bar of Texas Find-A-Lawyer directory. We think you should, for any firm you're considering, including this one.

Start here

Tell us what the car is doing in San Antonio

Three details about the vehicle, and how to reach you.

  • The year and make of your vehicle
  • What the dealer has already tried, and whether you paid for it
  • Your name, phone and email. We review every request and respond as soon as we can

No cost, no obligation. Contacting RockPoint Law does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Check my case Start My Free Case Review Or call (516) 550-3323
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
★ Founder & Managing Partner
Natalie Nassi
Natalie Nassi
Managing 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
FAQ

San Antonio lemon law questions

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

Is there a San Antonio lemon law, or is it the Texas one?

It's the Texas one: Subchapter M of Chapter 2301, run by TxDMV. There's no San Antonio or Bexar County version. What is local is where each stage of the claim happens.

It is the Texas one. There is no separate San Antonio ordinance and no Bexar County version, so be careful with anything that offers you one. The statute is Subchapter M of Chapter 2301 of the Texas Occupations Code, sections 2301.601 to 2301.613, administered by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. What is genuinely local is the geography of the claim rather than the rules: your repair record is built in Bexar County, your complaint is filed online to Austin, your hearing is run by a TxDMV hearings examiner, and if a court ever reviews the order, section 2301.609(a) sends it to a district court of Travis County rather than to the courthouse downtown. Same law statewide, a different journey depending on where you start.

Do I have to travel to Austin for a lemon law hearing?

Very unlikely. San Antonio is one of TxDMV's seven main hearing locations, with Austin, Carrollton, Corpus Christi, Fort Worth, Houston and Pharr, and hearings are set in or near your city.

Very unlikely. TxDMV's Office of Administrative Hearings holds hearings around the state and names seven main locations, and San Antonio is one of them, alongside Austin, Carrollton, Corpus Christi, Fort Worth, Houston and Pharr. The department says hearings are conducted in or near the complainant's city of residence, and that it attempts to set them near the complainant's home. The examiners are based in Austin and travel the state to hold them. Most drivers never reach a hearing anyway: a TxDMV case advisor is assigned first, mediation is mandatory and nonbinding, and section 2301.160 tolls the chapter's time limits while it is pending. If an in-person hearing is set, the rules let you bring the vehicle so the manufacturer can inspect and test drive it.

If I lose, which court hears the appeal, the one in San Antonio?

No. Judicial review goes to a district court of Travis County under section 2301.609(a). An appeal from there goes to the Fifteenth Court of Appeals, not the Fourth Court in San Antonio.

No, and this catches people out. Section 2301.609(a) gives a party affected by a final order judicial review under the substantial evidence rule in a district court of Travis County, and Government Code section 2001.176(b)(1) says the same for contested cases generally. From Bexar County that is roughly eighty miles up I-35. The petition is due by the 30th day after the order is final and appealable under section 2001.176(a). Bexar County does sit inside the Fourth Court of Appeals District, which Government Code section 22.201(e) composes of thirty-two counties, but a lemon law order will not reach it: section 22.220(d)(1) gives the Fifteenth Court of Appeals exclusive intermediate appellate jurisdiction over civil matters brought by or against a state agency.

I am active duty at Joint Base San Antonio and I bought the car in another state. Am I covered?

Possibly. Section 2301.601(2)(D) covers an active duty service member stationed in Texas who purchased or leased at retail, as of the time the complaint is filed.

Possibly, and the answer turns on one paragraph. Section 2301.601(2) defines who counts as an owner, and paragraph (D) reaches a person who purchased or leased the vehicle at retail and is an active duty member of the United States armed forces stationed in this state at the time a proceeding is commenced under this subchapter. Paragraph (C) separately reaches a resident of Texas who has registered the vehicle here. So the question is not only where you bought it. It is your status and your posting when the complaint is filed. Bring your orders, your purchase paperwork and your Texas registration, and we read the definition against your facts before you file anything, because the paragraph turns on things you can document.

My air conditioning keeps failing. Is that a lemon law defect in San Antonio?

It can be. A failing AC is rarely a serious safety hazard, but it is often a substantial impairment of use. That puts it on the four-repair route rather than the two-repair one.

It can be, and the route matters. The Texas standard in section 2301.604(a) covers a defect that creates a serious safety hazard or substantially impairs the use or market value of the vehicle. An air conditioning system that quits in a San Antonio August is rarely a serious safety hazard as section 2301.601(4) defines it, because that definition needs a life-threatening malfunction affecting control of the vehicle or a risk of fire. It is far more often a substantial impairment of use, and the National Weather Service puts San Antonio's normal at 122.4 days a year at 90 degrees or above, which makes that a provable argument here in a way it would not be elsewhere. The practical consequence is the repair count: the safety route needs two attempts, the ordinary route needs four.

How many miles can I put on the car before I lose the claim?

24,000, and it usually comes before the 24 months here. Passing it doesn't end the claim. It starts the six months to file, if that's the earliest of the three dates.

The number is 24,000, and in San Antonio it usually arrives before the calendar does. Section 2301.605(a)(1)(B) sets the rights period at 24 months or 24,000 miles from original delivery, whichever comes first, and your repair attempts have to fall inside it. A commute from Stone Oak, Alamo Ranch, Converse or out past Loop 1604 to a job inside Loop 410 covers that distance comfortably inside two years, and so does a daily run in from Boerne, New Braunfels or Seguin. Then a separate clock: section 2301.606(d) gives six months after the earliest of your warranty expiring, 24 months passing, or 24,000 miles passing. Passing 24,000 does not end your claim. It starts your six months.

Can I just sue the dealership that sold me the car?

Not under the lemon law. The remedy runs against the manufacturer, converter or distributor. A dealer can only be made to pay for an item it added that contributed to the defect.

Not under the lemon law, and the statute is specific about it. Section 2301.607(b) says the subchapter's remedy is not available against a seller under Business and Commerce Code chapter 2 or 17, but it is available against a manufacturer, converter or distributor in a Chapter 17 DTPA action, after you have exhausted at TxDMV. Section 2301.608(b) narrows the dealer's exposure further: a final order can require a franchised dealer to reimburse only for an item or option the dealer itself added, and only so far as it contributed to the defect. A separate claim against a dealership for something it said or did is a different case on different law, and a Bexar County court would hear that one.

What does a San Antonio lemon law attorney cost, and what should I bring?

Qualifying cases run on contingency, and filing costs $35, repaid by the losing side. Bring every repair order, the purchase or lease papers, and the first-report odometer reading.

We handle qualifying lemon law cases on contingency, so there is no upfront fee and no fee unless we recover for you. Filing itself costs $35 under section 2301.712(a), and section 2301.712(b) makes the non-prevailing party reimburse it, which in practice puts the thirty-five dollars back into a successful repurchase total. Bring every repair order with the drop-off and pick-up dates, the purchase or lease agreement, and above all the odometer reading on the day you first reported the fault, because that reading splits your mileage into full-rate and half-rate under the TxDMV worksheet and moves the buyback figure more than anything else in the file. You do not need it organized. We can work from what you have.

My truck was built at the Toyota plant here in San Antonio. Does that change anything?

No. Where it was assembled doesn't decide who owes the remedy. The notice goes to the manufacturer's address in your owner's manual. Upfitting is the exception.

No, and it is a fair question to ask. Where a vehicle was assembled has nothing to do with who owes you the remedy. Section 2301.603(a) puts the duty on the manufacturer, converter or distributor, and section 2301.606(c) requires written notice to that party and an opportunity to cure before any order can require a refund or a replacement. The address you send that notice to is the one printed in your owner's manual, not the plant on the South Side. The one place the assembly question does matter is upfitting: if a body, a cab or special equipment was fitted to the chassis before the retail sale, section 2301.002 makes that business a converter and a separate possible defendant.

How long does a San Antonio lemon law claim take?

Mediation resolves many claims quickly. If no final order has issued by the 151st day after filing, TxDMV must tell you by certified mail that you may file a civil action.

The statute gives a ceiling, not a timetable. Section 2301.607(c) is the one to watch: if TxDMV has not issued a final order before the 151st day after your complaint was filed, it must send you and the manufacturer written notice by certified mail saying the 150-day period has expired and that you may file a civil action instead. Section 2301.607(d) then lets you sue any person named in the complaint despite the exhaustion requirement, and section 2301.607(e) says a failure to send the notice does not affect that right. The department must extend the 150 days where the delay was your doing. Before all that sits mediation, which resolves plenty of claims in a fraction of the time.

Do I have to keep taking the car back to the same San Antonio dealer?

No. Repairs at any franchised dealer for the same nonconformity count. Repairs at an independent shop generally don't, and switching dealers can scatter the paperwork.

Not to the same one, no. Section 2301.605(a) counts repairs made by the manufacturer, converter or distributor or an authorized agent or franchised dealer of one of them, so attempts at different franchised dealers around Bexar County still count toward the four-times or two-attempt threshold, provided it is the same nonconformity each time. Two practical warnings. Repairs at an independent shop are not attempts by a franchised dealer and generally will not count. And every time you switch dealers you risk the paperwork trail fragmenting, which is exactly what the manufacturer will argue about later. Whoever does the work, get a printed repair order with the complaint described, the date and the odometer reading on it.

I live in San Antonio but bought the car in Austin. Where does that leave me?

In the same place. Ownership turns on how you got the vehicle and your link to Texas, not the city of sale. One agency handles every county, and every review goes to Travis County.

In the same place, in almost every case. Section 2301.601(2) defines owner by how you acquired the vehicle and your connection to Texas, not by which city's dealership sold it: paragraph (A) covers a retail purchase from a license holder, paragraph (B) a lessor or lessee, and paragraph (C) a Texas resident who has registered the vehicle here. Nothing in Subchapter M links the claim to the county of sale. Nor does it change where the claim goes, because one agency in Austin handles all 254 Texas counties and section 2301.609(a) sends every judicial review to Travis County regardless. What can matter practically is which dealer network you have been using for the repairs, and whether those orders were written up consistently.

Don't take on the manufacturer alone.

Tell us the vehicle and what the dealer has already tried. No fee unless we recover for you.†

Start My Free Case Review  Call (516) 550-3323
Call Now Free Case Review →
Free & Confidential — No attorney’s fees unless we recover for you.