What follows is a table showing which states include towable RVs in their lemon laws. If you have a motorhome instead, see the table that applies here.
Bad News First
Only 7 states include motorized RVs in full in their lemon laws. Nineteen include only the chassis portion (i.e. not the living quarters or “RV stuff”). The remaining 25 (including DC) don’t include motorized RVs at all.
But today we’re talking about non-motorized RVs, as in travel trailers, fifth-wheels. (Truck campers will be addressed separately, as they’re not ordinarily considered “motor vehicles”.) In general, the states that include towable RVs at all only include chassis portions, which might include things like the axles and frame, but not the water tanks, air conditioners, or other appliances.
Slightly Better News
Ok, that wasn’t too encouraging. State lemon laws might not be much help when you have a problem with your towable RV. But your new RV likely came with a warranty, and many of its components and appliances did as well. You may have state remedies to hold the manufacturers’ feet to the fire, but generally without the hard limits of auto lemon laws. Lemon laws usually have a limit on the number of repair attempts, or number of days out of service that aren’t present in other warranty acts.
But the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act does offer some protections. Again, you don’t get the “hard limits” of lemon laws, but state lemon laws often do influence what’s reasonable under Magnuson-Moss, often referred to as the federal lemon law. If you want to know more about it, expert lemon law attorney Steve Lehto has a number of videos talking about it.
Ok, is your state on the list?
Now that I’ve warned you that it probably isn’t, and that all hope isn’t lost when it isn’t a “yes”, have a look and see what your state has to say. Only Connecticut and Texas clearly include towable RVs, while six more states are sufficiently ambiguous in defining a motor vehicle that we don’t make a determination. The rest, sadly, clearly exclude your towable RV.
Did you find this useful? Be sure to check out other guides like this on our Resources page.
Towable RV Lemon Laws: Which states are included?
Note: State abbreviations are links that take you to the relevant statute. In reading them, start with the definition of “motor vehicle” in the lemon law section or chapter. Determine whether it includes the phrase “self-propelled” or “motor driven” before reading what the lemon law requires.
The last column contains notes as to whether a vehicle has to be purchased, registered, sold, etc., to be covered. This would be relevant in determining where your tow vehicle is covered. It could be multiple states, or none at all.
| AL | No | |
| AK | No | |
| AZ | No | |
| AR | No | |
| CA | (1) | |
| CO | No | |
| CT | Yes | Sold or leased in state |
| DE | (1) | Leased or bought in state, or registered |
| DC | (1) | Manufactured, offered for sale, sold, or registered |
| FL | No | Sold in state |
| GA | No | Leased, purchased, or registered in state |
| HI | No | |
| ID | No | Sold or licensed in state |
| IL | No* | |
| IN | No | Sold to buyer in IN and registered in IN, or sold in IN to nonresident |
| IA | No | Purchased or leased in state |
| KS | (1), must be registered for gross weight of 12k lbs or less) | Sold or leased in state |
| KY | No | Required to be registered or licensed in Commonwealth |
| LA | No (2) | Sold in state |
| ME | No | Sold or leased in state |
| MD | No | Registered in state |
| MA | No(3) | |
| MI | No | Purchased or leased in state or by state resident |
| MN | No | Sold or leased in state |
| MS | No | Sold in state |
| MO | No | |
| MT | No | Sold or registered in state |
| NE | No | Sold in state |
| NV | No | |
| NH | No | |
| NJ | No | Purchased or leased in state or registered in state |
| NM | No | Sold and registered in state |
| NY | (1) | Purchased, leased, transferred, or registered in state |
| NC | No | Sold or leased in state |
| ND | No | Sold or leased in state |
| OH | No | |
| OK | No | Registered in state |
| OR | No | Purchased or registered in state |
| PA | No | Purchased or leased in Commonwealth, or registered for the first time in Commonwealth |
| RI | No | |
| SC | No | Sold and registered in state |
| SD | No | |
| TN | No | |
| TX | Yes | Purchased at retail from license holder or resident of state and registered in state |
| UT | No | Sold in state |
| VT | (1), but Chassis Only if included | Purchased, leased, or registered in state |
| VA | No | |
| WA | No | |
| WV | No | Purchased or registered and titled in state |
| WI | No | Purchased or transferred in state |
| WY | No | Sold or registered in state |
- Bad law. Definition of “motor vehicle” or “new motor vehicle” is circular, and doesn’t define whether a motor vehicle must be self-propelled or not.
- Error in law. Law references definition of “motor vehicle” at RS 32:1252(13), which is instead a definition for “distributor branch”. Definition of “motor vehicle in RS32:1252 is at RS32:1252(34) and does not include any form of trailer.
- “Auto homes”, including towable RVs, are not included in lemon law. Other types of trailers are not excluded from lemon law.