South Dakota Lemon Laws

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What vehicles are covered under South Dakota lemon law?
South Dakota lemon law covers new and used vehicles that are intended to be driven on public roads. Leased vehicles, motor homes, and vehicles whose gross vehicle weight is over 10,000 pounds are not covered by the lemon law.

What protections do I have under South Dakota lemon law?
South Dakota lemon law states that if a consumer notifies a manufacturer that the vehicle has a serious defect that falls under warranty within the "lemon rights period" of one year or 12,000 miles, the manufacturer must repair the nonconformity at no charge. To be considered a serious nonconformity, the defect must occur during normal use of the vehicle and must impair its value, use, or safety. The manufacturer is not liable for nonconformities that occur because of abuse, neglect, or modification by the consumer.

The manufacturer must repair the nonconformity even if the repairs last longer than the lemon rights period, but no longer than two years or 24,000 miles after delivery of the vehicle.

If the manufacturer is unable to repair the nonconformity after a reasonable number of attempts, South Dakota lemon law states that the vehicle must be repurchased or replaced.

What must occur before seeking settlement under the South Dakota lemon law?
South Dakota lemon law presumes that the manufacturer has had a reasonable chance to repair the nonconformity after four unsuccessful attempts to repair the same problem, or thirty calendar days during which the vehicle was out of commission for repairs. At least one repair attempt must occur during the lemon rights period.

Before action can be taken under South Dakota lemon law, the consumer must give the manufacturer notice in writing of the nature of the nonconformity and the previous repair attempts. If the presumption described above already applies, the manufacturer must be given a final chance to repair the defect. The manufacturer has seven days to direct the customer to a repair facility and 14 days to repair the nonconformity.

Filing a claim under South Dakota lemon law
If the manufacturer has an informal settlement board that handles lemon law claims, the consumer must attempt to resolve the issue through that board before bringing a South Dakota lemon law case to civil court. Claims must be made within three years of vehicle ownership.

What are the settlement details under South Dakota lemon law?
If a vehicle is repurchased under South Dakota lemon law, the manufacturer must pay a sum which includes the full purchase price and all dealer and preparation charges, any government fees like tax, tags, and registration, any finance charges paid, and any costs such as alternate transportation which were a direct result of the nonconformity. A reasonable offset for the consumer's use of the vehicle may be subtracted from this sum. The offset is calculated by dividing the number of miles on the vehicle before the first report of the nonconformity by 100,000 and multiplying the result by the purchase price.

If a vehicle is replaced under South Dakota lemon law, the new vehicle must be similar and no usage offset may be levied.