Colorado lemon law and warranty dispute resources

Status: Official page read; key points summarized. Last checked 2026-10-20.

What the official page says

Source: C.R.S. 42-10-101 to 42-10-110, Colorado Revised Statutes 2024, Title 42 (Colorado General Assembly, uncertified printout) (read 2026-10-20). This is a summary of the statute text posted on the official site, not legal advice. The exact wording, exclusions and deadlines are in the statute itself, and may have changed.

• The statute text says "motor vehicle" means a self-propelled private passenger vehicle, including pickup trucks and vans, designed primarily for travel on public highways, carrying not more than ten persons and sold to a consumer in Colorado, and excludes motor homes, vehicles designed to travel on three or fewer wheels, and vehicles modified for commercial use.
• The statute text says that if a motor vehicle has a safety-based nonconformity or does not conform to the warranty, and the consumer reports it during the first 24,000 miles of operation or within two years after original delivery, whichever occurs earlier, the manufacturer, agent or authorized dealer must make the repairs necessary to conform the vehicle to the warranty, even if the period has since ended.
• The statute text defines a safety-based nonconformity as one that results in a condition likely to cause death or serious bodily injury if the vehicle is driven, or that creates a risk of fire or explosion.
• The statute text says a reasonable number of attempts is presumed if, within the first 24,000 miles or two years after original delivery, whichever occurs earlier, the same nonconformity has been subject to repair three or more times and still exists, the vehicle has been out of service for repair for a cumulative total of 24 or more business days, or a safety-based nonconformity has been subject to two or more repair attempts and still exists.
• The statute text says the presumption does not apply against a manufacturer unless it received prior written notification by certified mail from or on behalf of the consumer stating that one or more attempts to repair the same nonconformity have been made and the nonconformity remains, and has had ten business days after receipt to cure the alleged defect.
• The statute text says the manufacturer may, at its option, replace the vehicle with a comparable one or accept its return and refund the full purchase price including sales tax, license fees, registration fees and similar governmental charges, less a reasonable allowance for use, and describes the allowance as the total contract price or lessee cost multiplied by a fraction with 100,000 as the denominator and, as the numerator, the miles driven before the consumer's first presentation for repair plus the miles driven during any later period when the vehicle was not out of service for repair.
• The statute text (42-10-107) says an action must be commenced within thirty months following the date of original delivery, and that the time is tolled while the consumer has submitted to arbitration or while the vehicle is not available for use because of repair.
• The statute text (42-10-103) says the court shall award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing side in an action to enforce the lemon law article.
• The 2024 act (SB24-192) text says that when a vehicle is returned under the lemon law, the manufacturer, agent or dealer must, before resale in Colorado, notify the Department of Revenue, attach a "LEMON LAW BUYBACK" decal to the driver's door B pillar, and apply for a lemon law buyback branded title; it says the title brand is "Lemon Law Buyback" on and after January 1, 2027, and that a seller who knows or should have known a vehicle is a buyback vehicle must clearly disclose that before sale.
• The statute text (42-10-108) says a dealer selling a lemon law buyback vehicle to a buyer must either allow a third-party inspection before the sale or provide a seven-day free-look period with a refund of all money paid (less shipping costs), and must disclose that right in writing before purchase.
• The statute text (42-10-110) says the lemon law article does not apply to a used motor vehicle, except the buyback inspection, disclosure and decal sections, and the printout's editor's note says the 2024 changes apply to motor vehicles sold or leased on or after August 7, 2024.

Numbers the page states

Counting rules differ (calendar days vs. business days, what counts as a repair attempt). Use the repair log tool to organize dates, then confirm how your state counts.

Not covered or not confirmed in this summary

• Read from the Colorado Revised Statutes 2024 printout, which is marked "uncertified". Changes after the 2024 edition were not checked.
• Vehicles sold or leased before August 7, 2024 may fall under the earlier rules, which this page does not summarize.
• The Colorado Attorney General's advisory on the updated law could not be read for this summary and is not used.

Other official pages used

• SB24-192, Motor Vehicle Lemon Law, signed act (Colorado General Assembly, 2024)

Industry arbitration program summary (not a government source)

BBB National Programs, which runs the BBB AUTO LINE dispute program, publishes a state summary: BBB AUTO LINE: Colorado lemon law summary (link checked 2026-10-20). It is published by an industry-linked program, so treat it as a starting point and confirm against the state's own page or statute.

What to do first

• Keep every repair order and receipt. See the records checklist.
• Write down dates and mileage for each repair visit with the repair log tool (nothing is saved or sent).
• Read the federal warranty basics and arbitration pages.
• Consider speaking with a licensed attorney in your state about deadlines. Many have free consultations, but we do not recommend any specific one.

Corrected Oct 20, 2026: the time to sue is thirty months after original delivery (C.R.S. 42-10-107 as amended in 2024). An earlier version of this page also listed a six-months-after-the-warranty limit, which the 2024 act removed. The page now cites the 2024 Colorado Revised Statutes.

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