The statutory protection commonly known as the “lemon law” is designed to provide recourse to purchasers of new vehicles that suffer from persistent defects impairing their use, value, or safety. However, in Texas, this specific law primarily addresses defects arising in new vehicles under warranty. A frequently asked question concerns the applicability of such protection to vehicles that have been previously owned.
While Texas does not have a dedicated statute mirroring the new vehicle lemon law for pre-owned automobiles, buyers of used vehicles are not entirely without legal avenues. Protections may arise from implied warranties of merchantability, express warranties provided by the dealer, or the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. The availability and strength of these protections depend heavily on the specific circumstances of the sale and the terms of any warranties offered. These legal mechanisms serve to ensure a degree of consumer protection in the purchase of a pre-owned vehicle, although not as directly as the state’s lemon law does for new vehicles.
