The dealer told you that you haven’t hit the repair count. The manufacturer’s customer service line says the same thing. What neither of them mentioned is that Louisiana gives defective vehicle buyers two separate legal remedies, and the one the dealer hopes you don’t know about doesn’t require any minimum number of repair attempts at all. Which remedy applies to your situation and which one is stronger is the difference between walking away empty-handed and recovering the full purchase price with interest.
I’ve handled defective vehicle claims in Louisiana for more than 30 years. In that time, I’ve seen buyers lose leverage because they focused on the lemon law when their facts were stronger under redhibition, and vice versa. The comparison below is designed to give you a clear framework before you decide how to proceed.
What Each Law Actually Does
Louisiana’s lemon law, codified at La. R.S. 51:1941 through 51:1948, protects buyers of new motor vehicles, personal watercraft, ATVs, and motorhome chassis and drivetrains that are still covered by a manufacturer’s express warranty. It creates a structured process: the manufacturer gets a defined number of repair opportunities, and if the problem isn’t resolved within those boundaries, specific remedies are triggered by law.
Redhibition operates on an entirely different foundation. Rooted in Louisiana Civil Code Articles 2520 through 2548, it traces back to the state’s French and Spanish civil law heritage and has been part of Louisiana law in some form since the Civil Code of 1870, with substantial revisions taking effect January 1, 1995. No other U.S. state has this doctrine. It creates an implied warranty against redhibitory defects, hidden defects that existed at the time of sale, and it applies to any product, new or used, whether or not a written warranty exists.
The Key Differences That Determine Your Strategy
The lemon law sets concrete thresholds before its protections kick in. Under La. R.S. 51:1943, four or more repair attempts for the same defect, or 45 or more cumulative days out of service, creates a presumption that a reasonable number of repair attempts have been made. Under La. R.S. 51:1944, 90 or more cumulative days out of service triggers the manufacturer’s mandatory obligation to replace or refund. These are two distinct thresholds that do different things, and confusing them is one of the most common mistakes buyers make when evaluating their own claim.
Redhibition doesn’t count repair attempts. A buyer pursuing a redhibition claim must show that the defect existed at the time of sale, that the buyer gave notice of the defect, and that the seller had a reasonable opportunity to repair it. One failed repair attempt can be enough if the defect is serious and the seller had a fair chance to fix it. Redhibition also applies to both new and used vehicles, even when no written warranty exists, a critical distinction for any buyer who purchased used or whose warranty has already expired.
Redhibitory defects fall into two tiers under the Civil Code. A defect that renders the vehicle completely useless, or its use so inconvenient that the buyer wouldn’t have purchased it had he known, entitles the buyer to full rescission of the sale. A defect that merely diminishes the vehicle’s value entitles the buyer to a reduction in the purchase price.
What You Can Recover Under Each Remedy
Under the lemon law, a successful buyer is entitled to either a comparable replacement vehicle or a full refund of the purchase price, including sales tax, registration fees, and license fees, minus a reasonable use allowance calculated on miles driven before the first repair attempt for the defect.
Redhibition against a manufacturer can yield a more complete recovery. Under Civil Code Article 2545, a manufacturer is presumed by law to know of defects in the products it manufactures. That legal presumption eliminates the need to prove actual knowledge, and it opens the door to the full purchase price with interest from the date paid, reimbursement of reasonable expenses of the sale, damages, and attorney fees.
Both statutes allow recovery of attorney fees when the buyer prevails. That’s the foundation of contingency fee representation in these cases: I don’t collect a fee unless the case results in a recovery for you.
Filing Deadlines & How Repairs Reset the Clock
The lemon law deadline under La. R.S. 51:1944 is three years from the date of purchase or one year from the expiration of the warranty period, whichever is longer. Most buyers have more time than they think, but the clock is real.
Redhibition prescription depends on who you’re pursuing. Against a good-faith seller who didn’t know about the defect, the prescription period under Civil Code Article 2534 is two years from delivery of the vehicle or one year from the date you discovered the defect, whichever comes first. Against a manufacturer, who is always presumed to know of defects under Article 2545, the period is one year from discovery or ten years from the date of the contract, whichever is first.
Under both statutes, each time you return the vehicle for repairs, the prescription period stops running. When the dealer tenders the vehicle back to you, the clock resets from that date. If your vehicle has been in and out of the shop, your claim may be very much alive even if significant time has passed since the original purchase.
Which Remedy Fits Your Situation
If you purchased a new vehicle that’s still under the manufacturer’s express warranty and you’ve had four or more repair attempts for the same problem, or the vehicle has been out of service for 45 or more cumulative days, the lemon law provides a clear presumption in your favor. At 90 days out of service, the manufacturer’s replacement or refund obligation becomes mandatory. Pursuing a lemon law claim in that situation makes sense, though redhibition can often be asserted alongside it for additional remedies.
If you purchased a used vehicle, if your repair count falls short of the lemon law thresholds, or if your warranty has already expired, redhibition is most likely your primary path. Its lower proof burden and broader scope make it better suited to those facts.
Used vehicle buyers should also know that a warranty waiver in a purchase contract isn’t automatically effective against a redhibition claim. Under Civil Code Article 2548, any waiver of the implied warranty against redhibitory defects must be clear and unambiguous and must have been specifically brought to the buyer’s attention at the time of sale. A waiver buried in fine print, or one that was never explained, may be unenforceable. And even a properly executed waiver is void if the seller declared a quality the vehicle didn’t actually have.
Because Louisiana is the only state with the redhibition doctrine, buyers here have access to remedies that simply don’t exist anywhere else in the country. Whether the stronger claim runs through the lemon law, redhibition, or both depends entirely on the specific facts of the sale, the defect, and the repair history.
If your vehicle has been giving you problems and you’re not sure which remedy applies, Rick Dalton Law Firm, LLC offers a complimentary, no-obligation consultation to walk through the facts of your case. I handle these claims on a contingency basis, so there’s no fee unless your case results in a recovery. Reach me directly at (888) 577-8520.