Lemon-law claims generally come down to the same things: repair attempts, days out of service, and whether you're still inside the eligibility window. Organize those facts and get a free letter outline; the full demand letter is in the $39 Case Pack.
| Eligibility window | TWO DIFFERENT WINDOWS APPEAR IN THE STATUTE'S OWN DIRECTLY-QUOTED TEXT (see gaps): the 'lemon law rights period' for the repair duty is defined as 1 year or 12,000 miles, whichever first occurs (32-6D-1(3)); the SEPARATE presumption-of-reasonable-attempts provision (32-6D-5) uses a 24-month or 24,000-mile window. Both are recorded rather than collapsed into one figure. |
|---|---|
| Repair-attempt presumption | 4 repair attempts |
| Days-out-of-service presumption | 30 days |
| Citation | S.D.C.L. Sections 32-6D-1 through 32-6D-11 |
Source: S.D.C.L. Sections 32-6D-1 through 32-6D-11
South Dakota's Motor Vehicle Warranties Act defines the 'lemon law rights period' as one year after original delivery or the first 12,000 miles of operation, whichever first occurs - the window during which a consumer must give notice of a nonconforming condition and the manufacturer must make necessary repairs. Separately, and directly quoted from the same statute (Section 32-6D-5), the PRESUMPTION that reasonable attempts to correct a nonconforming condition have been allowed uses a different, longer window: 24 months following delivery or 24,000 miles, whichever first occurs. This is not a source error - both figures were independently confirmed as direct statutory quotations from two different sources, and the statute appears to genuinely use two different time windows for two different purposes (repair-duty trigger vs. presumption trigger). The 'motor vehicle' definition excludes motor homes and any vehicle with a manufacturer's GVWR of 15,000 pounds or more.
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