Conway Lemon Law

Civil actions by Conway residents are filed in Faulkner County Circuit Court at 801 Locust Street, after completion of any required certified informal dispute settlement procedure the manufacturer offers under Ark. Code Ann. 4-90-409. Venue is proper in Faulkner County for residents of Conway, Mayflower, Vilonia, Greenbrier, and Damascus. Cases are typically filed in state circuit court rather than federal court because the claim amount, even with treble damages and fees, often falls below the $75,000 diversity threshold.

Yes, if the vehicle is registered in Arkansas and used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes. The statute does not require the registered owner to be an Arkansas resident before purchase. A student attending UCA, Hendrix, or Central Baptist College who buys a new vehicle from a Conway dealer and registers it in Arkansas qualifies on the same terms as any other Arkansas consumer. The statute does require the vehicle to weigh under 10,000 pounds and to be used principally for non-commercial purposes; a vehicle owned by a parent and lent to a student for school use still qualifies.

Ark. Code Ann. 4-90-406 contains a uniquely strong provision: for a defect likely to cause death or serious bodily injury, the manufacturer is allowed only one repair attempt before the statutory presumption applies. Common examples include unintended acceleration, loss of power steering, brake failures, airbag deployment defects, and unintended engine shutoff at highway speeds on I-40. A single documented unsuccessful repair attempt for a serious safety defect is enough to qualify, without waiting for the third attempt or the 30-day out-of-service threshold.

Yes if the manufacturer participates in a program certified by the Arkansas Attorney General, which covers essentially every major automaker selling vehicles in the state. Under Ark. Code Ann. 4-90-409 you must file with the certified program within two years of first reporting the defect. The arbitrator's decision is non-binding on you. If you reject it, you can sue in Faulkner County Circuit Court for the same statutory refund or replacement remedies plus attorney's fees and costs. If the manufacturer has no certified program or failed to give the required notice, you can file in court immediately.

Any visit during which you presented the vehicle to an authorized dealer for repair of a defect under warranty, even if the dealer says 'no problem found' or 'cannot duplicate,' counts toward the three-attempt presumption. The dealer must produce a repair order documenting your complaint, the technician's findings, and the work performed (or not performed). Keep every RO, including from out-of-town dealers in Little Rock or Searcy, because Arkansas counts attempts at any authorized franchise dealer of the same manufacturer, not just the selling dealer.

Under Ark. Code Ann. 4-90-404 you can elect a comparable replacement vehicle or a refund of the full purchase price plus Arkansas sales tax, title, registration, and license fees. Reasonable incidental costs like towing and rental cars caused by the defect are also recoverable. The refund is reduced by a mileage offset of (purchase price x consumer miles) divided by 120,000. Prevailing consumers recover reasonable attorney's fees and costs, and the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (Ark. Code Ann. 4-88-113) allows treble damages where the manufacturer's conduct was willful or deceptive.

The Arkansas New Motor Vehicle Quality Assurance Act does not cover used vehicles. If you bought a vehicle still inside the original manufacturer's express warranty, federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act claims (15 U.S.C. § 2301 et seq.) remain available for any written-warranty breach. The Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (Ark. Code Ann. 4-88-101 et seq.) covers misrepresentations about a used vehicle's condition, mileage, prior accidents, or known defects. Document everything the Conway dealer told you in writing (texts, emails, brochures, window stickers) because that contemporaneous record is the single most important piece of evidence in a deceptive-trade-practices claim.