Lemon Law Buyback Calculator
This free tool gives you a rough, ballpark estimate of what a lemon law buyback figure might look like using a common approach: the purchase price plus certain incidental costs, minus a mileage offset for the miles you drove before the first repair attempt, minus any loan payoff. It runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is saved or sent anywhere.
How this estimate works
Many states use a similar idea when they calculate a repurchase. You start with what you paid for the car and certain out-of-pocket costs, then subtract a "mileage offset" for the use you got before the vehicle first went in for the defect, and finally subtract anything still owed on a loan so the payoff can be handled. The formula this tool uses is:
| Mileage deduction | Purchase price × (Miles at first repair ÷ State mileage figure) |
| Estimated buyback | Purchase price + Incidental costs − Mileage deduction − Outstanding loan |
The "state mileage figure" is the denominator many buyback formulas use to spread the vehicle's expected life across mileage. This tool uses 120,000 as a general default. Some states are known to use 120,000, but the exact number, the way the offset is applied, and what counts as an incidental cost all vary by state and can change. Treat the result as a starting point for a conversation, not a number you are owed.
The Core Formula: Purchase Price Minus a Mileage Offset
Most state lemon laws use the same basic structure: the manufacturer refunds your full out-of-pocket costs minus a mileage deduction for miles you drove before the defect first showed up. That deduction is called the mileage offset (sometimes "usage fee").
The typical formula looks like this: Refund = (Purchase Price + Taxes + Fees) − Mileage Offset. The mileage offset is usually calculated as: (Miles Driven Before First Repair Attempt ÷ Expected Vehicle Life) × Purchase Price. "Expected vehicle life" is a fixed number set by state law — commonly somewhere around 100,000 to 120,000 miles, though your state may use a different figure. Always confirm the exact number your state uses.
What counts as the "purchase price" also varies. Many states include sales tax, registration fees, and dealer-added charges you paid at signing. Some exclude after-market add-ons. Pull out your purchase contract and identify every line item before you estimate.
What Gets Added Back In
Beyond the base refund, most lemon law statutes require the manufacturer to reimburse certain out-of-pocket costs you incurred because of the defect. Common reimbursable items include:
- Repair-related costs you paid (towing, rental car, diagnostic fees) that the dealer did not cover
- Finance charges and interest paid up to the date of the repurchase
- Incidental costs directly caused by the defect — keep receipts for everything
- Down payment and monthly payments already made (these are typically rolled into the full purchase-price refund rather than added separately — confirm with your state's formula)
If you are still making loan payments, the manufacturer typically pays off your lender directly and refunds whatever you already paid. If you leased, the calculation works differently — the lessor (finance company) and the lessee each receive a portion, and your out-of-pocket refund reflects only what you actually paid, not the full vehicle price.
Texas Lemon Law Buyback Calculation: State-Specific Notes
Texas runs its lemon law through the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles/TxDMV, not the courts. The state uses its own administrative formula — the mileage-offset divisor Texas applies may differ from other states. Texas also has its own repair-attempt and time-out-of-service thresholds that affect when the mileage clock starts.
For Texas: the odometer reading at your first repair attempt is critical — a higher number means a larger mileage offset and a smaller refund. Document that first visit with a dated repair order. Verify the current formula and eligible cost items at the TxDMV website or with a Texas-licensed attorney, as TxDMV rules can be updated.
Want the bigger picture first? Read the full buyback guide, check the signals in is my car a lemon?, or see whether you need a lawyer.
What You Get Back Is the Price Minus a Use Allowance — and Each State Calculates It Differently
A lemon law buyback is not a refund of what you paid. It is what you paid, plus certain charges, minus an allowance for the use you had of the vehicle before it was taken off your hands. The allowance is where the money is decided, and the states that put a formula in statute differ sharply from those that leave it to negotiation.
| State | How the use allowance is calculated | On a $38,000 car with 9,000 miles |
|---|---|---|
| California | Price paid (including transportation and factory-installed options) multiplied by a fraction: miles travelled before the first repair attempt over 120,000 | $2,850 |
| Pennsylvania | The lower of 10 cents per mile driven or 10% of the purchase price | $900 — the mileage figure ($900) is below the 10% ceiling ($3,800) |
| Washington | Where repurchase rests solely on days out of service, the mileage counted stops at the fifteenth cumulative day out of service | Depends on mileage at that date, not at surrender |
| Colorado | A formula introduced by the 2024 amendments; the previous law provided no method at all | Set by the statutory formula rather than by argument |
Work the California example through, because the structure is the one most often misread. The fraction uses the miles you drove before you first took the car in for the problem — not the mileage when you hand it back. A car with 9,000 miles at the first repair attempt and 31,000 at surrender is charged for 9,000. On a $38,000 vehicle that is 9,000 ÷ 120,000 × $38,000 = $2,850. Those extra 22,000 miles, driven while the manufacturer failed to fix the car, cost you nothing. Getting this wrong in the manufacturer's favour is an expensive mistake.
What Goes Into the Refund Besides the Price
California states it explicitly and it is a useful checklist anywhere: restitution is the actual price paid or payable, including charges for transportation and manufacturer-installed options, excluding non-manufacturer items a dealer or you installed — plus collateral charges such as sales or use tax, licence fees, registration fees and other official fees, plus incidental damages.
| Usually recoverable | Usually not |
|---|---|
| The purchase or lease price actually paid | Aftermarket parts you or the dealer fitted |
| Transportation charges and factory options | Depreciation beyond the statutory use allowance |
| Sales or use tax, licence, registration and official fees | Negative equity rolled in from a previous loan, in some states |
| Incidental costs — towing, alternative transport | Loss of your own time, in most states |
Pennsylvania's cap is worth testing against your own numbers. The allowance there cannot exceed 10 cents per mile or 10% of the price, whichever is less. At 9,000 miles on a $38,000 car the mileage calculation gives $900 and the percentage gives $3,800, so the cap is $900. Past 38,000 miles the percentage becomes the lower of the two and the deduction stops growing entirely — a point at which additional mileage costs you nothing.
Calculating a Buyback: Common Questions
Which mileage figure is used in the California calculation?
The miles you drove before you first delivered the vehicle for repair of the problem — not the mileage when you give the car back. Miles accumulated while the manufacturer was failing to fix it do not increase the deduction.
Why is the denominator 120,000?
It is the figure written into Civil Code 1793.2(d)(2). The statute treats 120,000 miles as the assumed useful life, so each mile driven before the first repair attempt costs you that fraction of the price.
Is sales tax refunded?
In California it is expressly included: restitution covers collateral charges such as sales or use tax, licence fees, registration fees and other official fees. Check your own state, because the treatment of tax and fees is not uniform.
What about accessories I had fitted?
Non-manufacturer items installed by a dealer or by you are excluded from the California calculation. Factory-installed options and transportation charges are included.
Does Pennsylvania's cap ever stop growing?
Yes. Because the allowance is the lower of 10 cents per mile or 10% of the price, once your mileage passes the point where the percentage becomes the smaller figure, further miles do not increase the deduction at all.
Can I negotiate the deduction?
Where the state writes a formula, there is little to negotiate — that is the point of having one. Colorado added a formula in 2024 precisely because the previous law left the figure open to argument. Elsewhere the calculation may be more contestable.
Sources. The California calculation is Civil Code 1793.2(d)(2), which sets the use allowance as the price paid multiplied by a fraction with 120,000 as its denominator and the miles travelled before the first repair attempt as its numerator, and defines what restitution must include. The Pennsylvania cap is in the Automobile Lemon Law, Act 28 of 1984. The Washington mileage limitation is Revised Code of Washington 19.118.041. The Colorado formula was introduced by Senate Bill 24-192, effective 7 August 2024, as described in the Attorney General's Public Advisory of 6 August 2024.