Arizona Lemon Law for Used Cars: 15 Days, 500 Miles, and Refunds

Arizona’s lemon law for used cars gives you a 15-day or 500-mile implied warranty whenever you buy from a licensed dealer, whichever comes first. During that window, the dealer cannot sell the car “as is,” and if a serious defect turns up that they can’t fix in two repair attempts, you can pursue a refund of the purchase price.¹ The law lives at A.R.S. § 44-1267.

Who the Law Protects

The protection applies to purchases from a licensed used motor vehicle dealer. Private-party sales between individuals are not covered.¹ The statute also excludes motorhomes, vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds, and purchases made by business entities for commercial fleet use.

If you bought from a private seller and the car turns out to be defective, this law will not help you. Your remaining option is Arizona’s Consumer Fraud Act, which prohibits concealing material facts or misrepresenting a product during a sale.² That path requires proof that the seller knowingly hid the defect, a much harder claim than a dealer warranty case.

What Counts as a Defect

The implied warranty of merchantability has a specific meaning here: the vehicle must operate safely and be substantially free of any defect that significantly limits its use for ordinary transportation on public roads.¹ Think engine failures, transmission problems, brake or steering defects—the kinds of issues that make the car unsafe or undrivable.

The controlling phrase is “significantly limits the use.” A broken radio or a squeaky belt won’t qualify because neither stops you from driving. A transmission that slips out of gear on the highway will. The warranty does not promise a perfect car. It promises a car that can do what a car is supposed to do.

Damage you cause after buying the vehicle isn’t covered. That includes abuse, neglect, failure to maintain fluid levels, off-road driving, racing, and towing.¹

How the 15 Days and 500 Miles Are Counted

The warranty runs 15 calendar days from delivery or 500 miles, whichever comes first. The counting is more generous than it sounds. Any day the warranty is breached, and every day afterward while the car remains out of compliance, is excluded from the 15-day count.¹ Miles driven to get the car repaired, serviced, or tested don’t count against the 500-mile cap either.

So if a defect surfaces on day three and the car spends the next ten days at the dealer’s service shop, those ten days don’t burn your clock.

“As Is” Doesn’t Get the Dealer Off the Hook

This is where many buyers get talked out of a valid claim. Arizona law flatly prohibits a used car dealer from disclaiming, modifying, or limiting the implied warranty of merchantability during the 15-day/500-mile window.¹ If the dealer tries anyway, the whole purchase agreement becomes voidable at your option, meaning you can undo the sale.

Federal law reinforces this. The FTC’s Used Car Rule requires dealers to post a Buyers Guide on the window before a sale, and that guide has an “As Is” box.³ The rule itself says that where a state law limits or prohibits “as is” sales, state law wins. Arizona is one of those states during the statutory warranty period. A checked “As Is” box on the window sticker does not strip away your rights under A.R.S. § 44-1267.

Repairs, Cost Sharing, and the Two-Attempt Rule

When a covered defect appears within the warranty window, give the dealer reasonable written notice and bring the car in. The dealer is entitled to a reasonable opportunity to fix the problem before you can pursue other remedies.¹ The statute doesn’t define “reasonable” in days, so what’s defensible depends on the complexity of the job.

You’re not entirely off the hook for costs. The law requires you to pay half the cost of the first two repairs, capped at $25 per repair.¹ Your maximum out-of-pocket for warranty repairs is $50. Everything above that falls on the dealer.

Getting a Refund

The dealer must be given two chances to repair the vehicle before you can seek a refund.⁴ If those attempts fail, you can pursue remedies under Arizona’s Uniform Commercial Code, including revoking your acceptance of the vehicle and recovering what you paid.¹

The maximum the dealer owes under this statute is the purchase price paid for the vehicle.¹ The statute doesn’t expressly include taxes, registration, or licensing fees, so recovering those may require a separate argument under the UCC’s broader remedy provisions in Title 47.⁵

Revocation of acceptance under the UCC is allowed when a defect substantially impairs the vehicle’s value and you accepted the car either expecting the problem to be fixed or without knowing about it. You have to act within a reasonable time after discovering the defect and notify the dealer. Once revocation is valid, you stand where you would have stood on day one, with the right to recover the price paid.⁵

The Narrow Exception: Waivers for a Specific Known Defect

A dealer can lawfully obtain a waiver, but only for a specific, disclosed defect and only under strict conditions.¹ All three of these must be true:

The dealer fully and accurately told you about the specific defect before the sale.
You agreed to buy the vehicle knowing about that defect.
You signed and dated a conspicuous statement on the first page of the sales agreement, in bold and at least 10-point type, identifying the exact problems you were accepting.

The waiver covers only the defects that are actually listed. It is not a blanket escape from the warranty. If there’s a dispute, the dealer carries the burden of proving all three conditions were met.¹ A vague line like “sold with known mechanical issues” wouldn’t hold up.

Documenting the Problem

Your rights are only as strong as your records. Build the paper trail from day one.

Keep the original purchase contract showing the exact delivery date and odometer reading. Those two numbers start your 15-day and 500-mile clocks.
Log every symptom as it happens: what the car did, when it happened, and the odometer reading. “Transmission slipping at 45 mph on I-10, odometer 87,420, October 3” is useful. “Car acting weird” is not.
Put your defect notice to the dealer in writing before the window closes. Certified mail creates a delivery record that’s hard to dispute.
Get a copy of every repair order, whether the repair worked or not. Failed repair attempts are the evidence that the dealer had its statutory chances.

People lose winnable claims because they assumed the dealer’s records would match their memory. They often don’t.

If the Dealer Refuses to Honor the Warranty

File a Complaint with the Arizona Attorney General

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office accepts consumer complaints against dealers for deceptive or unfair practices. You can file online, by mail, or by fax.⁶ Send copies of your purchase contract, repair orders, and correspondence, and keep the originals. The AG’s office may reach out to the dealer through informal dispute resolution, but it does not act as your personal attorney.

Small Claims Court

For disputes within the Arizona small claims jurisdictional limit of $3,500, you can file in Justice Court without a lawyer. Many used car warranty disputes fit within that range. Bring your documentation of the defect, the failed repair attempts, and the price paid.

Civil Lawsuit and Magnuson-Moss

If your claim exceeds $3,500, you file in a higher court. The statute directs you to remedies under Arizona’s UCC Article 2, which allows recovery of the purchase price and incidental damages such as towing and inspection costs.¹ A parallel Consumer Fraud Act claim must be filed within one year of when the claim arises.⁶

The federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act can extend your protection past the 15/500 cutoff if the dealer gave you any written warranty or you bought a service contract at the time of sale. A dealer who offers a written warranty on a used car cannot disclaim the implied warranties that go with it. If you were handed a 30-day powertrain warranty, the implied warranty rides along at least that long. The same rule applies if you bought a service contract within 90 days of the sale.⁷

Magnuson-Moss also carries a fee-shifting provision. If you win, the dealer may be ordered to pay your attorney fees and court costs.⁷ That changes the math on whether hiring a lawyer for a used car dispute is worth it.

Don’t Confuse This with the New Car Lemon Law

Arizona has a separate, much more protective lemon law for new vehicles at A.R.S. § 44-1261 through 44-1265. It runs for the full manufacturer’s warranty or two years/24,000 miles, allows four repair attempts or 30 cumulative days out of service, and can result in a replacement vehicle.⁴ If you bought a certified pre-owned vehicle that still carries the original manufacturer’s warranty, the new car lemon law may apply to claims against the manufacturer, while § 44-1267 governs your relationship with the dealer who sold you the car. The two can overlap, but they address different obligations from different parties.

1
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 44-1267 – Used Motor Vehicles; Title; Implied Warranty of Merchantability Disclaimer; Waiver; Burden of Proof; Remedies
2
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 44-1522 – Unlawful Practices; Intended Purpose
3
eCFR. 16 CFR Part 455 – Used Motor Vehicle Trade Regulation Rule
4
Arizona Attorney General’s Office. Auto Purchases
5
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code Title 47 – Uniform Commercial Code
6
Arizona Attorney General’s Office. File a Consumer Complaint
7
Federal Trade Commission. Businessperson’s Guide to Federal Warranty Law