Owensboro Lemon Law

Kentucky lemon-law actions under KRS 367.840-846 are filed in Kentucky Circuit Court in the county of your residence or where the vehicle was purchased. For Owensboro residents, that is the Daviess Circuit Court (6th Judicial Circuit), located at the Daviess County Judicial Center, 100 E 2nd Street downtown. If you bought your vehicle in another county - or across the river in Indiana - venue and even which state's lemon law applies may differ. Most cases proceed in the civil division. If the manufacturer runs a Magnuson-Moss-compliant arbitration program, you typically must submit there first.

Kentucky has the shortest lemon-law rights window in the country - 12 months from delivery OR 12,000 miles, whichever comes first. Inside that window you must hit one of two presumption triggers: the same nonconformity subject to repair four or more times, OR the vehicle out of service for warranty repair for 30 or more cumulative days. Then you must give the manufacturer written notice (certified mail recommended) and a final opportunity to cure. Owensboro commuters using US-60 or the parkways can hit 12,000 miles in under a year, so document every defect immediately on a written repair order.

Where you bought the vehicle matters for both venue and which state's lemon law applies. If you signed at an Evansville or other Indiana-side dealership, Indiana's lemon law (Ind. Code 24-5-13) likely applies and venue may lie in an Indiana circuit court. The two statutes differ on repair-attempt thresholds, rights windows, and remedies - Indiana gives you 18 months / 18,000 miles, which is broader than Kentucky's 12/12. Talk to a lemon-law attorney about which forum and which statute best fit your facts before filing.

If your manufacturer maintains an informal dispute settlement procedure that substantially complies with the federal Magnuson-Moss regulations at 16 C.F.R. Part 703, KRS 367.840-846 requires you to submit there before invoking the statutory refund or replacement remedy. Most major manufacturers - Ford, GM, Stellantis, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Kia - run BBB AUTO LINE or a similar qualifying program. Kentucky does not operate a state-administered arbitration program. The arbitrator's decision is not binding on you, so if unfair you can still file in Daviess Circuit Court.

No. KRS 367.840-846 explicitly limits coverage to new motor vehicles. If you bought a used vehicle from a Daviess County dealer and it has serious defects, your remedies are the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (for any active manufacturer written warranty still in effect), UCC implied warranties of merchantability under KRS 355.2-314 (unless validly disclaimed in an 'as-is' sale), and the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act (KRS 367.170) for deceptive seller conduct. The KCPA authorizes civil penalties up to $2,000 per violation.

KRS 367.846 sets a two-year statute of limitations measured from the expiration of the manufacturer's express warranty - not from delivery and not from when you discovered the defect. Because most new-car warranties run three years / 36,000 miles or longer, Kentucky's effective filing window is often longer than the typical UCC four-year clock. You still must have first triggered the lemon-law presumption inside the 12-month / 12,000-mile rights window with four repair attempts or 30 days out of service on a substantial nonconformity.

Modern heavy-duty diesel pickups common in agricultural Daviess County rely on DEF (diesel exhaust fluid), DPF (diesel particulate filter), and SCR systems that can fault repeatedly under highway-heavy or rural use. If your Owensboro-area dealer cannot permanently clear the same emissions-system nonconformity, capture each visit on a repair order - even diagnostic-only visits - and verify the RO names the same complaint each time. Four or more attempts on the same nonconformity inside 12 months / 12,000 miles triggers the KRS 367.840 presumption, after which you can demand refund or replacement (subject to required Magnuson-Moss arbitration).