Arizona Implied Warranty: Coverage, Duration, and Disclaimers

When you buy a used vehicle from a licensed dealer in Arizona, the Arizona implied warranty on a used car gives you 15 days or 500 miles of coverage, whichever comes first, that the vehicle is safe to drive and fit for ordinary road use. The dealer cannot take that warranty away with “as is” language, and if a covered defect appears in that window, the dealer gets a reasonable chance to repair it before you can pursue a refund or damages up to what you paid. The rule lives in Arizona Revised Statutes § 44-1267, and its details matter.

What the Warranty Actually Guarantees

The implied warranty of merchantability on a used motor vehicle is satisfied when two things are true: the vehicle runs in a safe condition under Arizona’s vehicle safety standards, and it is free of any defect that significantly limits its use for ordinary transportation on public roads.¹

That is the bar. Not perfection. A used car can have cosmetic flaws, worn upholstery, or aging trim and still meet the standard. What it cannot have is a mechanical or safety problem serious enough to make it unreliable or unsafe on the road.

The warranty also does not cover problems the buyer causes after the sale. Damage from abuse, neglect, failure to keep proper fluid levels, off-road use, racing, or towing falls outside coverage.¹ Expect any dealer facing a claim to look hard at whether you did something after delivery that caused or worsened the defect.

How Long the Warranty Lasts

The clock starts at delivery. Coverage runs until midnight of the fifteenth calendar day after delivery, or until you have driven 500 miles, whichever comes first.¹ Fifteen days is short. Drive the car under varied conditions right away.

The statute builds in a fairness rule so shop time doesn’t eat your coverage. Any day the warranty is breached, plus every day the vehicle stays out of compliance, does not count against your 15 days. Miles driven to a repair shop or during warranty-related testing don’t count against your 500 miles either.¹ Find a transmission problem on day three, lose the car to the shop for a week, and you still get the remaining 12 days when it comes back.

Dealers Cannot Disclaim the Warranty

This is the piece that separates used cars from other goods in Arizona. During the 15-day or 500-mile window, a used motor vehicle dealer cannot exclude, modify, or disclaim the implied warranty of merchantability, and cannot limit your remedies for a breach except through provisions the statute itself allows.¹

If a dealer tries anyway, the consequence is serious: the entire purchase agreement becomes voidable at the buyer’s option.¹ A buyer whose contract contains an illegal “as is” disclaimer can potentially unwind the whole sale.

The One Narrow Way a Buyer Can Waive Coverage

There is a single path to waiving the implied warranty, and it only reaches specific known defects the dealer discloses before the sale. All of the following must be true:

The dealer fully and accurately discloses that the vehicle has a particular defect due to circumstances unusual to the dealer’s normal business.
The buyer agrees to buy the vehicle after being told about that defect.
Before the sale closes, the buyer signs and dates a specific statement printed on the first page of the sales agreement in bold-faced ten-point or larger type, in the language used during the sales presentation, listing each defect being waived.

The required statement reads: “Attention purchaser: sign here only if the dealer told you that this vehicle has the following problem(s) and that you agree to buy the vehicle on those terms,” followed by numbered lines describing each defect. If the language is buried in the back of a contract or printed too small, the waiver is invalid. The dealer carries the burden of proving every step was followed, by a preponderance of the evidence.¹

What Happens If a Covered Defect Appears

Give the dealer written notice as soon as you spot the problem. Before you can pursue broader legal remedies under Arizona’s UCC, the dealer gets a reasonable opportunity to repair.¹ “Reasonable” isn’t defined by a specific number of days and will depend on the defect and parts availability.

For the first two repairs, the statute splits the cost. You pay half of each repair, capped at $25 per repair. After those first two, the dealer pays the full cost.¹ That structure pushes dealers to fix things properly the first time.

If the dealer fails to fix the problem after a reasonable opportunity, you can pursue the broader UCC remedies, which can include revoking acceptance of the vehicle or recovering damages. The maximum the dealer owes under § 44-1267 is capped at the purchase price you paid for the vehicle.¹ Don’t expect consequential damages like lost wages or rental car costs under this statute.

Private Sales Are Not Covered

Everything above applies to purchases from used motor vehicle dealers. Buy from a private individual and the picture changes. Arizona’s UCC only implies a warranty of merchantability when the seller is a merchant, meaning someone who regularly deals in that type of goods or holds themselves out as having specialized knowledge.² Your neighbor selling a car they’ve driven for five years is not a merchant, and Arizona’s general UCC provisions let implied warranties be excluded through “as is” or “with all faults” language.³ In a private sale, an independent pre-purchase inspection is the closest thing you’ll get to warranty protection.

How This Differs from Arizona’s Lemon Law

Arizona’s lemon law (ARS §§ 44-1261 through 44-1265) covers new vehicles, not used ones. It applies during the manufacturer’s express warranty period or the first two years or 24,000 miles after original delivery, whichever is shorter. A new vehicle is presumed to be a lemon if the same defect has been subject to repair four or more times without success, or if the vehicle has been out of service for 30 or more cumulative days due to repairs.⁴

The two protections answer different questions. The lemon law is about a manufacturer’s failure to fix a defect covered by an express warranty on a new car. The implied warranty under § 44-1267 is about a used vehicle’s baseline fitness for driving at the time of sale.

Federal Rules That Sit on Top

Two federal layers reinforce Arizona’s protections. The FTC’s Used Car Rule requires every dealer to post a Buyers Guide on each used vehicle, disclosing whether it is sold “as is” or with a warranty, and if with a warranty, what share of repair costs the dealer will cover.⁵ Because Arizona dealers cannot disclaim the implied warranty during the 15-day or 500-mile window, an “As Is” box checked on the federal Buyers Guide sits at odds with Arizona law and can work against a dealer in a dispute. The Buyers Guide also tells buyers to get promises in writing, arrange an independent inspection, and pull a vehicle history report, and the dealer must give you the Buyers Guide after the sale.⁶

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act adds a second layer. A supplier who gives any written warranty cannot disclaim implied warranties, and the same rule applies if the dealer sells you a service contract within 90 days of the sale. A dealer offering a limited written warranty can match the duration of the implied warranty to the written one, but cannot wipe it out.⁷

Practical Steps in the First 15 Days

Get an independent pre-purchase inspection before you sign, even knowing the warranty will follow. Fifteen days is tight, and preventing a bad purchase is easier than unwinding one.

Once the car is yours, drive it under varied conditions right away: highway speeds, stop-and-go traffic, cold starts, air conditioning running. Problems that surface under normal use are exactly what this warranty catches.

If something goes wrong, put the dealer on written notice immediately. A phone call alone is not enough. Photograph or video the defect before the dealer touches the vehicle. Track every mile you drive to and from the repair shop, since those miles are excluded from your 500-mile window. And keep the cost-sharing rule in mind: you’ll owe up to $25 for each of the first two repairs, and the dealer pays in full after that, up to the purchase price of the vehicle.

1
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 44-1267 – Used Motor Vehicles; Title; Implied Warranty of Merchantability Disclaimer; Waiver; Burden of Proof; Remedies
2
Legal Information Institute. UCC 2-104 – Definitions: “Merchant”; “Between Merchants”; “Financing Agency”
3
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 47-2316 – Exclusion or Modification of Warranties
4
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 44-1264 – Reasonable Number of Attempts to Conform Motor Vehicle to Express Warranty; Presumption
5
Federal Trade Commission. Dealer’s Guide to the Used Car Rule
6
Federal Trade Commission. Buying a Used Car From a Dealer
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 2308 – Implied Warranties