RIDE-CT – Classic Cars Celebrating Classic Cars in Connecticut
HARTFORD – More and more car, truck and motorcycles buyers dissatisfied with their new and recent purchases are fighting back. They’re taking advantage of the Connecticut Lemon Law Program, which helps owners of defective vehicles get monetary refunds and replacement models.
In 2025, the program returned more than $8 million, a 30 percent increase 2024, according data contained in the Lemon Law Annual Report 2025. The report was issued last month by the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection. The program covers defective vehicles at or under two years old with 24,000 miles or less.
Over the past five years, the amount returned has risen from $2.3 million and increased every year. New vehicles manufactured by Jeep, Hyundai and Ford were the most apt to be defective.
While the report was issued in early June, it didn’t gain notice until last week when Cassidy Williams did a story on Eyewitness News on WFSB-TV (Channel 3). That prompted RIDE-CT to search for it.
The program is funded by a $3 fee that new vehicle buyers pay. Connecticut was the first state to establish an auto dispute program in 1982. The lemon law has returned more than $100 million to consumers over the decades.
In 2025, the program reviewed 165 cases. Only 24 cases were deemed ineligible for arbitration, with 141 arbitration hearings being scheduled. The outcomes saw that 80 percent resulted in refunds and replacement vehicles, 11 percent resulted in cash and keep settlements, and 9 percent resulted in no action.
The largest refund was $204,000.
The number of applications received by the state has risen steadily over the past five years from 80 in 2021 to 82 in 2022, 137 in 2023 and 146 in 2024.
Jeep was the manufacturer with the most complaints eligible for arbitration between 2021 and 2025 with 48 decisions. Jeep was followed by Hyundai with 32, Ford with 21, Toyota with 14 and Honda with 13.
Prior to 2019, cases have involved models also made by Acura, BMW, Buick, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, KIA, Infiniti, Land Rover, Lexus, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Polaris, Porsche, Subaru, and Volkswagen.
The exact sum that was returned to consumers in 2025 via the Lemon Law Program was $8,167,269.
(Photos by Emily and Paul Siciliano.)
