Illinois Lemon Law for New Cars: Who Qualifies, What to Send

Yes. Illinois's lemon law covers your new car, SUV, pickup or van when the same defect has gone through four repairs, or the vehicle has spent 30 business days in the shop, within the first year or 12,000 miles after delivery. The usual path: you send the manufacturer, not the dealer, a written notice; it gets one more chance to fix the car; you file with its dispute program if your warranty names one; and if the defect survives, the manufacturer owes you a replacement or a refund minus a use allowance. Start today by finding the manufacturer's address in your warranty booklet and mailing that notice.

The two tests and the window

The law presumes the manufacturer has had a reasonable number of tries when either of these happened within one year or 12,000 miles of delivery, whichever came first:

Four repairs. The manufacturer or its dealers worked on the same defect four or more times, and it is still there.
30 business days. Repairs for one defect or several kept the vehicle out of service for a total of 30 or more business days.

The defect has to be a failure to meet the car's express warranty, such as the factory warranty, that substantially impairs its use, market value or safety. Abuse, neglect, or an unauthorized modification or alteration gives the manufacturer a defense.

Who the law covers

Buyers. A person who bought the vehicle new in Illinois, or leased it new for at least one year, mainly for personal, family or household use. Fire departments, fire protection districts and township fire departments that buy or lease new are covered too.
Vehicles. Passenger vehicles built to carry up to 10 people, SUVs and minivans included; light trucks and vans under 8,000 pounds; and recreational vehicles other than camping and travel trailers. Motorcycles are excluded.

Your first letter goes to the manufacturer

Your written notice switches the two tests on: it has to reach the manufacturer itself, from you or someone acting for you, and the manufacturer then gets its chance to fix the defect. A dealer cannot open a lemon law claim for you: the Attorney General reports that many buyers lost the remedy by letting 12 months pass from purchase while they believed the dealer was handling it.

Address the notice to the manufacturer's designated representative, who sends you the claim information and forms.

The dispute program, then court

If the manufacturer runs an informal dispute program that meets the federal standards in 16 CFR Part 703, and you got written notice of it, for example in the warranty itself, Illinois requires you to file there before you sue for a refund or replacement.

Where to find it. Federal rules require a manufacturer that uses a program to name it, with an address or a toll-free number, on the page where the warranty text begins.
Cost and speed. The program charges you nothing and has 40 days from notice of your dispute to decide. If your warranty names BBB AUTO LINE (1-800-955-5100), a decision you accept there binds the manufacturer.
After the decision. If you reject it, or the manufacturer fails to carry it out, you can sue, and the court can see the program's decision as evidence.
Deadline. File your lawsuit within 18 months of the vehicle's original delivery to you. The days your case spent in the program are added to that deadline.

What to do today

Pin down your window. Find the delivery date and odometer reading on your purchase or lease contract, and write down today's mileage.
Gather every repair order. Check that each one shows the dates in and out, the mileage, what you reported and what was done. Ask the service desk for any you are missing, including visits where the dealer found nothing.
Count against the two tests. Write one line per visit and add up the business days the car sat in the shop.
Find the representative. Look in the owner's manual and warranty booklet for the manufacturer's mailing address. If you find only a phone number, call it and ask where written lemon law notices go.
Mail the letter below as soon as the defect comes back after a repair, with copies of the repair orders, by certified mail with a return receipt, and keep a copy.
Bring the car in for the final repair where the manufacturer directs, and get a dated repair order for the drop-off and the pickup.
File with the dispute program if the defect is still there afterward.

What the manufacturer owes

When the final repair fails, the manufacturer either replaces the vehicle with a new one of the same model line, or a comparable vehicle if that model is unavailable, or takes it back and refunds you:

Refund. The full purchase price plus all collateral charges, minus a reasonable allowance for your use. With a loan, the money is split between you and your lender according to each one's interest.
Use allowance. The value of the miles you drove before your first report of the defect, plus the miles driven after it while the car was out of the shop. Get the manufacturer's math in writing and check each mileage figure against your repair orders.
Sales tax. Taxes from the original sale stay out of the manufacturer's refund. Request them from the dealer that sold you the car; the dealer recovers that tax from the state after paying you back.
Lease. The refund is your lease cost: deposits, fees, taxes, down payment, monthly payments and anything else you paid in connection with the lease, minus the use allowance.

Where it splits

If the manufacturer offers a buyback or a cash settlement, line it up against the refund rules above before you sign, using our manufacturer buyback guide. Settling under the lemon law ends any separate claim under the Uniform Commercial Code.

If you bought the car used, check whether the dealer's 15-day/500-mile powertrain warranty covers it, using our Illinois used car guide.

If your car or purchase falls outside the coverage list above, or the tests came up short inside the window, the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act lets you sue the manufacturer when it fails to honor its written warranty.

Your leverage

Attorney fees. Win a Magnuson-Moss warranty claim and the court can add your costs and attorney fees, figured on the lawyer's actual time, to the judgment. Illinois's lemon law has no fee clause of its own, so this federal claim is where a fee award comes from.
Attorney General. File a consumer complaint on the Attorney General's complaint page or call 1-800-386-5438 (Chicago), 1-800-243-0618 (Springfield), 1-800-243-0607 (Carbondale) or 1-866-310-8398 (Spanish). Its Consumer Protection Division runs informal dispute resolution for complaints about purchases.

Call an Illinois lemon law attorney when the manufacturer ignores your notice, blames abuse or an aftermarket part, or the deadline to sue is less than three months away.

Notice letter to the manufacturer

[Your name, address, phone, email]

[Date]

Sent by certified mail, return receipt requested

To: [Manufacturer's designated representative, address from your owner's manual or warranty booklet]

Re: Direct written notice under the Illinois New Vehicle Buyer Protection Act, 815 ILCS 380/3, [year, make, model], VIN [number]

I [bought / leased for (number) months] this vehicle new from [dealer name, city] on [delivery date]. It now shows [current mileage] miles.

It has this defect, which substantially impairs its [use / market value / safety]: [what happens and how often]. I first reported it to [dealer] on [date] at [mileage] miles. Repair history:

[Date in] to [date out], [mileage], repair order [number]: [problem reported, work done]
[One line per visit]

The vehicle has been out of service for repairs [number] business days so far, and the defect continues. This letter is my direct written notice of the defect and your opportunity to correct it. Please tell me within 10 days where to bring the vehicle for your final repair attempt, and send me the forms for any dispute program you require me to use.

If the defect remains after that repair, I request [a refund / a replacement vehicle] under 815 ILCS 380/3(a).

[Signature]

Enclosures: repair orders, purchase or lease contract

Today

Count your repairs and shop days.
Find the representative's address and the dispute program.
Mail the notice.

Next comes the signed return receipt, then the manufacturer's representative with a repair appointment and the claim forms.