As a lemon law practice in Dallas, Texas, my office receive calls from potential clients with used or pre-owned lemon cars very often. The first question asked is whether the Texas lemon law applies to pre-own or used car cases. Unfortunately, the short answer to that question is that, generally, the Texas lemon law does not include used vehicles.
One exception to this rule is if the preowned vehicle is still covered under the car manufacturer’s existing warranty (and not the extended warranty), then the Texas Lemon Law “may” be used to force the manufacturer to repair the problem.
Specifically, section 2301.602 of the Texas Occupations Code dealing with the Regulation of Motor Vehicles and Transportation (better known as the “Texas Lemon Law”), only refers to “new motor vehicle(s).”
Therefore, it is of utmost importance to protect yourself before you make a used car purchase. I always recommend that a purchaser of a used car do some homework before visiting the used car lot or used car seller. Run car history reports from multiple vehicle history service report providers, instead of just one provider. Often times, information from one provider may be incomplete and may not include information that you would want to know about the vehicle. Some examples of vehicle history report providers are AutoCheck and CarFax.
In the event that you are an owner of a used lemon car and the Texas Lemon Law does not protect you, there may be other laws such as the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act that may help you with your situation.