What to do if you think
you have a lemon car in Indiana

Buying a car ought to feel like a fresh start, a reliable way to get to work, shuttle your kids around, or finally take that road trip you’ve been planning. But for a surprising number of Indiana drivers, that fresh start turns into a nightmare of repeated repair shop visits, rising frustration, and a nagging suspicion that something is fundamentally wrong with the vehicle. If you’re reading this because your “new” car has spent more time on a lift than on the road, you may be dealing with a lemon, and Indiana law gives you real tools to fight back.

Indiana’s Lemon Law, officially known as the Motor Vehicle Protection Act, exists precisely for situations like this. It applies to new vehicles purchased or leased in Indiana that develop a substantial defect covered by the manufacturer’s warranty within the first 18,000 miles or 18 months of ownership, whichever comes first. A defect doesn’t have to be dramatic to qualify — persistent transmission trouble, electrical gremlins, brake issues, or an engine that keeps stalling can all be grounds for a claim, especially if the dealer has had multiple opportunities to fix the problem without success. The law generally presumes a vehicle is a lemon if the same issue has been through four or more repair attempts, or if the car has been out of service for repairs for a cumulative total of 30 days or more.

Call HC Bradley LLC today at 630.453.5159 or fill out the form on this page, and we will get back to you shortly.

If you suspect your car is a lemon, the first thing to do is slow down and start recording everything. This is the single most important step, and it’s the one people most often overlook because they’re focused on simply getting the car fixed. Every time you take the vehicle in for service, request a copy of the repair order, even if the dealer tells you it’s “not necessary” or “just a quick fix.” These documents are the basis of any lemon law claim, since they establish a timeline showing how many attempts were made, what the technician diagnosed, and how long the vehicle sat in the shop. Keep a simple log with dates, mileage at each visit, a description of the problem in your own words, and the name of the service advisor you spoke with. If you communicate with the dealership or manufacturer by email or text, save those messages too.

Understand Your Rights Before You Accept a “Fix”

One of the biggest mistakes lemon owners make is assuming that because a dealership eventually “solved” the problem, they’ve lost their opportunity to pursue a claim. That’s not necessarily true. If a defect keeps recurring after supposed repairs, or if a new yet related issue crops up, those repair visits often still count toward your case. Manufacturers and their dealership networks are not consistently eager to volunteer this information, and it’s not uncommon for consumers to be quietly discouraged from pursuing a formal complaint. Don’t let a service advisor’s reassurance that “this should do it” be the end of your record-keeping. Continue documenting until the vehicle is genuinely reliable, not just until someone tells you it should be.

It’s also worth understanding that Indiana’s lemon law process normally requires you to give the manufacturer a final opportunity to repair the vehicle through a structured notification, often before you can pursue arbitration or litigation. Missing this step, or handling it incorrectly, can jeopardize an otherwise strong claim. This is where many drivers get tripped up: they either skip the formal notice entirely, assuming repeated dealership visits are enough; send notice to the wrong party; or miss the specific windows the law allows the manufacturer to respond. An experienced lemon law attorney can make sure this step is done correctly the first time, which can save months of delay.

Call HC Bradley LLC today at 630.453.5159 or fill out the form on this page, and we will get back to you shortly.

Know What Remedies Are Available

If your claim succeeds, Indiana law provides for meaningful remedies. Depending on the specifics of your case, you may be entitled to a full refund of the purchase price, including taxes, registration fees, and finance charges, or a comparable replacement vehicle. In many cases, the manufacturer is also required to cover your reasonable attorney’s fees, which means pursuing a claim doesn’t have to come out of your own pocket. This last point surprises many people, who assume hiring an attorney will cost more than the car is worth. In reality, lemon law cases are frequently structured so that the manufacturer bears the legal costs when they’re found responsible for selling a defective vehicle.

Used vehicles, leased vehicles, and vehicles purchased out of state can complicate a claim, but they don’t automatically disqualify you. Indiana law and related federal protections, such as the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, may still apply depending on your specific situation, the type of warranty involved, and where the defect originated. Because these overlapping laws can be confusing to navigate alone, and because manufacturers have teams of lawyers whose job is to reduce payouts, it rarely makes sense to go through this process without knowledgeable representation on your side.

If your vehicle has been in and out of the shop more times than you can count, don’t wait for the problem to resolve itself or assume nothing can be done. Indiana law was written to protect consumers exactly like you, but claims can be time-sensitive, and evidence is easier to gather while it’s fresh. The sooner you speak with someone who understands how these cases work, the stronger your position will be.

Call HC Bradley LLC today at 630.453.5159 or fill out the form on this page, and we will get back to you shortly.