Illinois Lemon Law for Used Cars: 15 Days or 30 Days?

Illinois's used-car rule is 15 days or 500 miles, whichever comes first. A used car from a licensed Illinois dealer carries that powertrain warranty, set by 815 ILCS 505/2L, unless it is exempt. The 30 days belong to the new-car Lemon Law (815 ILCS 380), which counts 30 business days in the shop during a new car's first year or 12,000 miles. If the engine, transmission or rear axle fails inside your window, call or text the dealer today at the number it gave you.

The dealer then has to fix the problem or refund your money in exchange for the car, and you pay at most $100 for each of the first two repairs. It is a repair warranty, not a return period; a few-day return right exists only if the dealer grants one.

Who qualifies for the 15-day/500-mile warranty

The warranty covers retail sales made after July 1, 2017, by a licensed Illinois dealer or by an auction company at an auction open to the public. Private-party sales fall outside it. Exempt cars:

• more than 150,000 miles at the time of sale;
• a title branded rebuilt or flood;
• a gross vehicle weight rating of 8,000 pounds or more;
• antique and collector vehicles;
• forfeited vehicles auctioned by or for the Illinois State Police.

A dealer's written warranty replaces the state one only if it is at least as good: 15 days or 500 miles on the powertrain, with your cost capped at $100 for up to two repairs.

The 15-day/500-mile warranty survives an as-is label on a covered sale. A disclaimer or limit on the warranty, or a sale without the required bold 15-day/500-mile statement in the contract or a separate document, makes the purchase agreement voidable at your option: you can choose to undo the sale. The dealer drops coverage for a specific defect only by fully and accurately disclosing before the sale that, because of circumstances unusual to its business, the car has that defect, and having you sign and date a bold "Attention consumer: sign here only if the seller has told you..." statement that lists it.

What the warranty covers and how the days and miles count

The car has to work for ordinary transportation on public roads and be substantially free of defects in its powertrain: engine block, head, all internal engine parts, oil pan and gaskets, water pump, intake manifold, transmission and all internal transmission parts, torque converter, drive shaft, universal joints, rear axle and its internal parts, and rear wheel bearings. Brakes and air conditioning sit outside the list.

The window closes at midnight of the 15th calendar day after delivery or at 500 miles, whichever comes first, and it pauses while the car is broken. The day the defect appears and every day it stays unfixed drop out, as do miles driven to or by the seller for repair or testing. In the Attorney General's example, an engine fails on day 12 at 50 miles, the repair takes two weeks, and the buyer still has 3 days and 450 miles left.

Damage after the sale from off-road use, racing, towing, abuse, misuse, neglect, skipped maintenance or low fluids is excluded, and the dealer can defend against defects caused by unauthorized modifications.

What the dealer pays

The dealer covers the repair, and you pay half the cost of each of the first two repairs, capped at $100 per repair. When the second repair is for the same defect, your total for both stops at $100. On a $150 repair you pay $75; on a $2,400 repair you pay $100.

The dealer's liability tops out at the purchase price, refunded to you or to your lender, as applicable, when you return the car.

What to do today

1. Pin down your window. Find the delivery date and odometer reading on your bill of sale, and photograph today's odometer.
2. Notify the dealer now with the text below, and no later than 2 business days after the warranty period ends. Text the cell number the dealer gave you, call the business phone on the bill of sale, or write to or visit the address on it.
3. Let the dealer repair it. The seller gets a reasonable opportunity to repair before you use other remedies. Log odometer readings for every shop trip, since those miles drop out of the 500.
4. Get a repair order at every visit showing intake and return dates, odometer readings, the diagnosis and the charge.
5. Check your sale papers for the bold 15-day/500-mile statement and any defect disclosure you signed.

If the dealer refuses, fails to fix it, or the sale is exempt

If the dealer says the car was sold as is, reply in writing that the sale falls under 815 ILCS 505/2L and that a disclaimer makes the agreement voidable at your option, then file with the Attorney General.

If the dealer cannot fix the defect, ask in writing for the purchase price back in exchange for the car, and attach every repair order.

If you bought from a private seller or the car is exempt, look to a written dealer warranty, a service contract or factory warranty time left. See our used-car lemon law guide, or the warranty denial guide for a refused claim.

When the new-car Lemon Law applies, and the buyback formula

Illinois's Lemon Law, the New Vehicle Buyer Protection Act, protects the person who bought a new car, or leased one for at least a year, for personal, family or household use, for the first year or 12,000 miles after delivery, whichever comes first. Covered vehicles include passenger cars and Second Division vehicles under 8,000 pounds. If you bought it used, even nearly new, your claim against the manufacturer runs through the factory warranty under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, which covers anyone the car passes to while the warranty lasts.

The law presumes the manufacturer had enough chances when, inside that window, the same defect was repaired 4 or more times and remains, or the car spent a total of 30 or more business days out of service for repairs. The presumption applies only after you give the manufacturer direct written notice and a chance to fix the car. Send that notice to the manufacturer's designated representative, not the dealer, and start inside the first 12 months. If the manufacturer has a dispute program that meets federal rules and you got written notice of it, such as in the warranty, you use it before suing.

The manufacturer then replaces the car with a new one of like model line, or a comparable car, or takes it back and refunds:

• The full purchase price or lease cost, including collateral charges.
• Minus a use allowance. The Attorney General describes the buyback as the purchase price less the value for miles driven; the law counts only miles before your first defect report and any later time the car is out of the shop. Ask for the manufacturer's math in writing.

Sales tax stays out of the manufacturer's refund. Ask the dealer that sold you the car for it: Illinois credits that tax back to the dealer once the dealer has repaid it to you.

Statute of limitations: deadlines to sue, and your leverage

• 30-day demand letter: at least 30 days before suing a dealer under the Consumer Fraud Act, serve written notice of the violation and your demand, by certified mail. The dealer can answer within 30 days with a written settlement offer; if you reject it in writing and the judgment comes in lower, the court denies your attorney's fees and costs from the rejection on.
• Fees and damages: a Consumer Fraud Act court can award actual damages plus reasonable attorney's fees and costs to the winning side. Under Magnuson-Moss, a consumer who wins can recover attorney's fees.
• Small claims: contract or tort claims for money up to $10,000, excluding interest and costs.
• Attorney General: file on the Attorney General's complaint page or call the Consumer Fraud Helpline at 1-800-386-5438 (Chicago), 1-800-243-0618 (Springfield) or 1-800-243-0607 (Carbondale).

Call a consumer lawyer when the dealer refuses a refund after failed repairs, your papers lack the bold 15-day/500-mile statement, or a buyback deduction goes unexplained.

Text or letter to the dealer

[Dealer name]: I bought the [year, make, model], VIN [number], from you on [delivery date] at [odometer] miles. On [date], at [odometer] miles, it started [symptom, such as slipping out of gear or a knock from the engine].

This is notice under 815 ILCS 505/2L of a powertrain defect inside the 15-day/500-mile warranty. Please tell me today when and where you will inspect and repair it, and give me a repair order showing dates, odometer readings and any charge.

[Your name, phone]

A fuller notice and a mileage and repair log are in the Illinois notice kit below.

Today

1. Find the delivery date and mileage on your bill of sale.
2. Text or call the dealer, then send the written notice above.
3. Book the inspection and keep the repair order.

What comes back: a time to bring the car in, then a repair order and a bill of no more than $100. If the defect returns or the dealer refuses, send the 30-day demand and file with the Attorney General.

Full guide: Used Car Lemon Law: State-by-State Guide