Can you sell a lemon or a lemon-law buyback car?

So the real question isn't whether you may sell it. It's which kind of lemon you have, and what has to go with it.

Two kinds of "lemon"

People use the word for two different cars, and the rules are different for each.

• A car that keeps breaking and is still yours. The maker never took it back. Nothing is printed on the title yet. You can still press a lemon-law claim if you're inside your state's window, or you can sell it as it is.
• A car the maker repurchased. It went back to the manufacturer under a lemon law, was retitled, and was resold. Its history is now part of the title, and you're the next link in a chain of disclosures.

If you bought a used car and only later found out it was a buyback, you have the second kind.

What the brand says on the title

Only a few states' rules were checked for this guide. Here is what each one prints or posts.

For any other state, ask the title office what brand, if any, it prints for a manufacturer buyback. This guide doesn't cover those rules, and it won't guess at them.

What you owe the next buyer

Nevada spells out the disclosure chain more fully than most. The seller of a buyback must give the buyer a signed written disclosure before the sale. And anyone, a dealer included, who acquires a repurchased car to resell it and knows its history must hand the next buyer a written notice and get that buyer's signed acknowledgment (NRS 597).

Three more points from the same chapter:

• These duties are added on top of other consumer-notice laws. They don't replace them.
• The Nevada notice form says the maker must warrant to the buyer, for one year, that the car is free of the problems listed.
• A person harmed by a breach of the buyback title and disclosure sections can sue for actual damages, costs and reasonable attorney fees, and possibly punitive damages.

Washington puts the duty on dealers: they must tell buyers whether a car was ever returned to a manufacturer, and the Attorney General enforces it (WA AG).

The safe habit anywhere: keep the buyback papers with the title, and put the history in writing for whoever buys the car next.

The brand and the price

The Washington Attorney General puts it plainly: buyback cars have branded titles, so their resale value is lower. A buyback that has also stopped running loses value on both counts, so get an offer for it in its current state before you spend money on it.

If there's a loan on it

A lemon with a loan is still a car with a lien. The CFPB's point applies directly: if the sale price is less than what you owe, the sale can't pay off what you owe (CFPB). Get the payoff before you agree to a price. Our guide to selling a car you still owe on walks through the order.

Still early on? Nevada's lemon-law limits

If your car is the first kind, a claim against the maker may be worth more than a sale. Nevada's statute is the worked example here; other states set their own limits, and this guide didn't verify them.

• The window. The maker must fix defects covered by the express warranty before the warranty runs out or within one year of delivery to the original buyer, whichever comes first. The one year counts from that delivery date.
• The remedy. If the maker can't fix it after a reasonable number of attempts, and the defect substantially impairs the car's use and value, the maker must replace it or refund the price, less a reasonable allowance for use.
• What counts as reasonable. Nevada presumes it when the same defect was repaired four or more times in that period and still exists, or when the car spent a total of 30 or more calendar days out of service for repairs.

Keep every repair order. The count of visits and days in the shop is the evidence.

Signing the title over, state by state

Once you've decided to sell, the title still changes hands under your state's ordinary rules. This table is the one step each state stresses for that handoff; the buyback disclosure goes with it, not instead of it.

Fix it, file a claim, or sell it

Work through it in this order:

1. Inside the lemon-law window? Talk to the maker before anything else. If the defect can't be fixed, the maker may owe a replacement or a refund, less an allowance for use.
2. Still under warranty but past the window? Ask the dealer what your warranty still covers. Check for maker warranty extensions on known faults too.
3. Out of warranty, and the repair is big? Set the quote against what the car is worth with a branded title. When the quote tops the car's value, selling usually wins.
4. Already a buyback and now broken? The brand has cut its value once. Get an offer for it as it sits before you pay for a large repair.

Selling a lemon or buyback to us

We buy whole non-running and junk cars, including ones with a lemon-law buyback brand. Tell us up front that it's a buyback and send a photo of the title, so the brand is part of the offer from the start rather than a surprise at pickup. You sell the whole car as it sits, with free pickup anywhere in the US.

If there's still a loan on it, tell us the lender and the payoff so the title can be cleared before it's signed over.

Questions about your title first? Call (877) 421-6008.

When the car is gone, finish with your state's plate and sale-notice rules; after you sell lists them.