Nashua Lemon Law

New Hampshire channels new-vehicle lemon law disputes to the state-run New Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board, administratively attached to the NH DMV with NH Department of Justice oversight, rather than directly to court. Either party may appeal a Board decision to Hillsborough County Superior Court South in Nashua within 30 days under RSA 357-D:6. Parallel claims under the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act or the NH Consumer Protection Act (RSA 358-A) may be filed in superior court. Consumer complaints can also be filed with the NH DOJ Consumer Protection Bureau.

Commute conditions do not change the legal standard, but they often produce the kind of repeat-repair pattern that satisfies it. Nashua owners running US-3 south into Massachusetts daily frequently log repeat brake, suspension, and TPMS complaints from salt-treated pavement and high-mileage commuting. Under RSA 357-D:3, the Arbitration Board presumes the manufacturer has had a reasonable number of attempts when the same nonconformity has been subject to repair at least three times, or the vehicle has been out of service 30 or more business days during the warranty term.

RSA 357-D generally applies to vehicles purchased or leased in New Hampshire. A vehicle bought in Massachusetts but registered and serviced in Nashua may instead fall under Massachusetts' lemon law (M.G.L. c. 90, § 7N1/2), which has its own state-run arbitration program and slightly different repair-attempt thresholds. You should check the dealer's address on your bill of sale and the registration state at the time of purchase. Federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act claims are available regardless of which state's lemon law applies.

Under RSA 357-D:3, the presumption arises after either the same nonconformity has been subject to repair at least three times during the express warranty term, OR the vehicle has been out of service for repairs for a cumulative total of 30 or more business days during the warranty term. Each repair attempt must be documented by a written examination or repair order, so save every record from your dealer visits, whether on Amherst Street, on the Daniel Webster Highway, or anywhere else in southern New Hampshire.

Under RSA 357-D:11, you must file within one year of the later of (a) expiration of the express warranty term or (b) the manufacturer's final repair attempt. That is one of the shortest lemon law deadlines in the country. Parallel claims under the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and the NH Consumer Protection Act (RSA 358-A) have their own, typically longer, limitations periods, so a Nashua owner who has missed the Arbitration Board window may still have superior court options for refund-equivalent damages and attorneys' fees.

If the New Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board rules in your favor, you can recover either a comparable replacement vehicle or a refund of the full purchase price including collateral charges (sales tax, registration, and finance charges), reduced by a use allowance calculated as purchase price times (miles driven before first repair attempt / 100,000) for passenger vehicles. RSA 357-D:10 authorizes the Board to award reasonable attorneys' fees and costs to a prevailing consumer. If the manufacturer ignores the Board's decision, RSA 357-D:7 makes that conduct an unfair or deceptive act under RSA 358-A, which can support double or treble damages.