You’re probably interested in the Missouri Lemon Law because you think your car might be a lemon and you’re not getting much satisfaction from your dealer or the car’s manufacturer. We’ll tell you everything we know about this law and give you some advice on how to get the most favorable outcome in your lemon law dispute. Good luck as your go through it.

A quick piece of advice: Don’t put anything off with this dispute. There are clear (short) time limits to every step and missing these deadlines could mean you don’t get any relief. You’re working on it now—please don’t give your dealer the satisfaction of beating you.

To start, let’s look at what the law itself says about lemon vehicles:

As used in title XXVI, chapter 407, sections 407.560 to 407.579, the following terms mean:

: "Collateral charges," those additional charges to a consumer not directly attributable to a manufacturer's suggested retail price label for the new motor vehicle. For the purposes of sections 407.560 to 407.579, "collateral charges" includes all sales tax, license fees, registration fees, title fees and motor vehicle inspections

: "Comparable motor vehicle," an identical or reasonably equivalent motor vehicle

: "Consumer," the purchaser, other than for the purposes of resale, of a new motor vehicle, primarily used for personal, family or household purposes and any person to whom such new motor vehicle is transferred for the same purposes during the duration of an express warranty applicable to such new motor vehicle and any other person entitled by the terms of such warranty to enforce the obligations of the warranty

:"Express warranty," any written affirmation of the fact or promise made by a manufacturer to a consumer in connection with the sale of new motor vehicles which relates to the nature of the material or workmanship or will meet a specified level of performance over a specified period of time

: "Manufacturer," any person engaged in the manufacturing or assembling of new motor vehicles as a regular business

: "New motor vehicle," any motor vehicle being transferred for the first time from a manufacturer, distributor or new vehicle dealer, which has not been registered or titled in this state or any other state and which is offered for sale, barter or exchange by a dealer who is franchised to sell, barter or exchange that particular make of new motor vehicle. The term "new motor vehicle" shall include only those vehicles propelled by power other than muscular power, but the term shall not include vehicles used as a commercial motor vehicle, off-road vehicles, mopeds, motorcycles or recreational motor vehicles as defined in section 301.010, RSMo, except for the chassis, engine, powertrain and component parts of recreational motor vehicles. The term "new motor vehicle" shall also include demonstrators or lease-purchase vehicles as long as a manufacturer's warranty was issued as a condition of sale

For the purposes of sections 407.560 through 407.579, if a new motor vehicle does not conform to all applicable express warranties and the consumer reports the nonconformity to the manufacturer or its agent, during the term of such express warranties or during the period of one year following the date of original delivery of the new motor vehicle to the consumer, whichever period expires earlier, the manufacturer or its agent, shall make such repairs as are necessary to conform the new vehicle to such express warranties, notwithstanding the fact that such repairs are made after the expiration of such term or such one-year period.

Missouri Lemon Law 407.567 Replacement of motor vehicle or refund of purchase price.

: If the manufacturer, through its authorized dealer or its agent, cannot conform the new motor vehicle to any applicable express warranty by repairing or correcting any default or condition which impairs the use, market value or safety of the new motor vehicle to the consumer after a reasonable number of attempts, the manufacturer shall, at its option, either replace the new motor vehicle with a comparable new vehicle acceptable to the consumer or take title of the vehicle from the consumer and refund to the consumer the full purchase price, including all reasonably incurred collateral charges, less a reasonable allowance for the consumer's use of the vehicle. The subtraction of a reasonable allowance for use shall apply when either a replacement or refund of the new motor vehicle occurs

: Refunds shall be made to the consumer and lien holder of record, if any, as their interests may appear

It shall be an affirmative defense to any claim under sections 407.560 to 407.579 that:

: An alleged nonconformity does not substantially impair the use, market value or safety of the motor vehicle

: A nonconformity is the result of abuse, neglect or unauthorized modifications or alterations of a motor vehicle

: A claim by a consumer was not filed in good faith or

: Any other affirmative defense allowed by law.

It shall be presumed that a reasonable number of attempts have been undertaken to conform a new motor vehicle to the applicable express warranties if within the terms, conditions or limitations of the express warranty or during the period of one year following the date of original delivery of the new motor vehicle to a consumer, whichever expires earlier, either:

: The same nonconformity has been subject to repair four or more times by the manufacturer or its agents and such nonconformity continues to exist; or

: The new vehicle is out of service by reason of repair of the nonconformity by the manufacturer, through its authorized dealer or its agents, for a cumulative total of thirty or more working days, exclusive of down time for routine maintenance as prescribed by the manufacturer, since delivery of the new vehicle to the consumer. The thirty-day period may be extended by a period of time during which repair services are not available to the consumer because of conditions beyond the control of the manufacturer or its agents.

: The terms, conditions or limitations of the express warranty or the period of one year following the date of original delivery of the new motor vehicle to a consumer, whichever expires earlier, may be extended if the new motor vehicle warranty problem has been reported but has not been repaired by the manufacturer or its agent, by the expiration of the applicable time period

: The manufacturer shall provide information for consumer complaint remedies with each new motor vehicle. It shall be the responsibility of the consumer or his representative, prior to availing himself of the provisions of sections 407.560 to 407.579, to give written notification to the manufacturer of the need for the repair of the nonconformity, in order to allow the manufacturer an opportunity to cure the alleged defect. The manufacturer shall immediately notify the consumer of a reasonably accessible repair facility of a franchised new vehicle dealer to conform the new vehicle to the express warranty. After delivery of the new vehicle to an authorized repair facility by the consumer, the manufacturer shall have ten calendar days to conform the new motor vehicle to the express warranty. Upon notification from the consumer that the new vehicle has not been conformed to the express warranty, the manufacturer shall inform the consumer if an informal dispute settlement procedure has been established by the manufacturer in accordance with section 407.575. However, if prior notice by the manufacturer of an informal dispute settlement procedure has been given, no further notice is required

: Any action brought under sections 407.560 to 407.579 shall be commenced within six months following expiration of the terms, conditions or limitations of the express warranty or within eighteen months following the date of original delivery of the new motor vehicle to a consumer, whichever is earlier, or, in the event that a consumer resorts to an informal dispute settlement procedure as provided in sections 407.560 to 407.579, within ninety days following the final action of any panel established pursuant to such procedure

If a manufacturer has established an informal dispute settlement procedure which complies in all respects with the provisions of the code of Federal Regulations, 16 C.F.R. 703, provisions of sections 407.560 to 407.579 concerning refunds or replacements shall not apply to any consumer who has not first resorted to such procedure

: If a consumer undertakes a court action after complying with the provisions of sections 407.560 to 407.579 and finally prevails in that action, he shall be allowed by the court to recover as part of the judgment a sum equal to the aggregate amount of costs and expenses, including attorney's fees based on actual time expended, determined by the court to have been reasonably incurred by the plaintiff for or in connection with the commencement and prosecution of such action

If any claim by a consumer under sections 407.560 to 407.579 is found by a court to have been filed in bad faith or solely for the purpose of harassment or in the absence of a substantial justifiable issue of either law or fact raised by the consumer or for which the final recovery is not at least ten percent greater than any settlement offer made by the manufacturer prior to the commencement of the court action, then the consumer shall be liable for all costs and reasonable attorney's fees incurred by the manufacturer or its agent, as a direct result of the bad faith claim

: Except as provided in subdivision (1) of section 407.560, nothing in sections 407.560 to 407.579 shall in any way limit the rights or remedies which are otherwise available to a consumer at law or in equity

: Sections 407.560 to 407.579 shall apply to any new motor vehicle sold after January 1, 1985.

When a dealer makes repairs to any motor vehicle or vessel pursuant to any warranty provision, the dealer shall receive from the manufacturer or distributor giving the warranty, reasonable compensation for labor at a rate no less than that posted by the dealer for labor not under warranty.

Got all that?

The key to getting what you consider suitable relief in your Missouri lemon law claim is to document everything (every problem you have, phone call you make and attempt the manufacturer makes to repair your problem). Act on everything promptly. And remember that this difficult time will be over soon. Good luck!