A California lemon law buyback calculator with the mileage offset

If your car, truck or SUV keeps going back to the dealer for the same problem, California's lemon law may require the manufacturer to buy it back. This lemon law buyback calculator gives you a rough idea of what a buyback could look like: the deduction for the miles you drove, the money that would come back to you, and the amount that would go to pay off your loan or lease.

It also works as a lemon law mileage offset calculator if that is the only number you need. It is an estimate, not an offer. Real buyback numbers come from your contract, your payment history and your repair orders, and manufacturers often dispute them. Below the tool we explain each input in plain language, walk through a worked example, and list what the calculator cannot know.

How this lemon law buyback calculator works

California's lemon law is the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act. When a manufacturer or its dealers cannot fix a warranty defect in a new vehicle after a reasonable number of tries, Civil Code § 1793.2(d)(2) says the manufacturer must promptly replace the vehicle or make restitution. Restitution is the legal word for a buyback. The choice is yours: the statute says the buyer is free to choose restitution instead of a replacement.

Under § 1793.2(d)(2)(B), restitution is the actual price paid or payable, including transportation charges and manufacturer-installed options, plus collateral charges such as sales tax, license and registration fees, plus incidental damages such as towing and rental cars. Items a dealer or the buyer added that did not come from the manufacturer are left out of that figure. Finance charges you have paid are generally treated as part of what you paid and are refunded too.

In practice, a buyback usually works in two pieces. The manufacturer pays off what you still owe on the loan or lease directly to the lender, and it pays you back what you have already paid, plus your incidental costs, minus the mileage offset. That is the structure this calculator uses.

The same rules reach leases. Civil Code § 1795.4 treats a lessee as a buyer for these purposes. For a lease, the refund is based on what you have actually paid, such as money due at signing and monthly payments, and the manufacturer pays the leasing company to end the lease.

The mileage offset formula

The manufacturer does not have to pay you for the miles you drove before the problem first showed up. Section 1793.2(d)(2)(C) lets it subtract an amount for that use. The amount is the actual price of the vehicle paid or payable by the buyer, including transportation and manufacturer-installed options, multiplied by a fraction. The bottom of the fraction is 120,000. The top is the miles the vehicle traveled before the buyer first took it to the manufacturer or its authorized repair shop for the problem.

Written as a formula, the calculator uses:

Mileage offset = (odometer at first repair visit − odometer at delivery) ÷ 120,000 × vehicle price

Three details matter more than people expect:

• Only the miles before the first visit count. Miles you drove after the first repair attempt, while waiting for the dealer to fix it, are not part of the offset. That is why the first repair order is often the most valuable document in a lemon law case.
• It is the first visit for this defect. If the dealer fixed an unrelated problem at 3,000 miles and the transmission problem you are claiming first came in at 9,000 miles, the offset generally uses 9,000. A visit where the dealer wrote "could not duplicate" can still count as the first visit.
• Delivery miles are subtracted. A new car usually has a few miles on it when you take it home, from shipping and test drives. Lawyers and manufacturers commonly subtract those miles so the offset reflects only your use. The calculator does the same.

The price in the formula is the price of the vehicle, not the total of your contract. Taxes, registration, finance charges, service contracts and dealer add-ons are generally not multiplied by the fraction. Manufacturers sometimes try to use a larger number. If your offset looks too high, that is worth a second look.

What each input means

• Vehicle price. On a purchase contract, look for the cash price of the vehicle. It should include destination charges and factory options. Leave out dealer add-ons such as window tint, paint protection or anti-theft etching, plus taxes, fees and service contracts. For a lease, use the vehicle's agreed value shown in the lease. How the offset applies to leases is less settled, so treat a lease result as rougher.
• Total you have paid so far. Your down payment, the credit you received for a trade-in, and every monthly payment you have made. If you paid cash, this is the amount you paid.
• Taxes, registration and fees; finance charges paid. These are part of a buyback, but they are usually already inside your down payment and monthly payments. The calculator uses them only to check whether your numbers add up, so nothing is counted twice.
• Incidental costs. Money you spent because of the defect: towing, rental cars, rideshare, and repairs the warranty did not cover. Keep receipts. Incidental damages are listed in Civil Code § 1794.
• Loan or lease payoff. Call your lender or leasing company, or check its website, for a payoff quote. The manufacturer pays this amount directly to the lender.
• The two odometer readings. The delivery reading is on your contract or the odometer disclosure statement. The first-repair reading is printed on the first repair order for the defect.

A worked example

Maria bought a new SUV. The cash price, with destination and factory options, was $42,000. Taxes and fees were $4,300. She put $5,000 down and financed the rest. The odometer read 12 miles when she drove it home. At 8,412 miles, she took it to the dealer for a transmission that shuddered and slipped. It went back three more times. She has made 14 payments of $750, and her lender's history shows $1,900 of those payments went to interest. Her payoff is $32,700. She paid $600 for a tow and a rental car.

Miles before first repair	8,412 − 12 = 8,400 miles
Mileage offset	8,400 ÷ 120,000 × $42,000 = $2,940.00
Total she has paid	$5,000 down + 14 × $750 = $15,500.00
Estimated refund to Maria	$15,500 + $600 incidental − $2,940 offset = $13,160.00
Estimated payoff to lender	$32,700.00
Estimated total from the manufacturer	$45,860.00, plus her attorney's fees, paid separately

Her numbers check out. Price, taxes and fees, and interest paid come to $48,200. What she paid plus her payoff is also $48,200. When those two totals are far apart, something else is in the contract, such as an add-on or negative equity from a trade-in, and the buyback math gets harder.

If Maria had leased instead, the idea is the same. She would get back what she paid at signing and in monthly payments, plus incidentals, minus the offset, and the manufacturer would pay the leasing company to close out the lease.

If your manufacturer opted in to the new procedures

Changes to California's lemon law that took effect in 2025 created a separate set of procedures in Code of Civil Procedure §§ 871.20 to 871.30. They apply only to manufacturers that elect to use them; the Department of Consumer Affairs publishes the list. For those manufacturers, § 871.27 changes some of the money:

• The manufacturer may subtract optional equipment, service contracts and GAP coverage bought from third parties. Items supplied by the selling dealer are still recoverable without that offset.
• The manufacturer may subtract negative equity, the amount still owed on a trade-in that was rolled into the new contract.
• A noncash manufacturer rebate used toward the down payment is left out of the price paid.
• The manufacturer does not have to pay unpaid future interest that you would no longer owe once the loan is paid off.

The calculator does not apply these rules, because they depend on line items in your contract. Our guide to the 2025 lemon law changes under AB 1755 explains the opt-in system, the written notice those manufacturers can require before a civil penalty claim, and the deadlines that come with it.

What the calculator leaves out

The biggest item is the civil penalty. Under Civil Code § 1794(c), if the manufacturer's failure to comply was willful, a court can add a civil penalty of up to two times your actual damages. Whether a penalty is available depends on how the manufacturer handled your request, and for opted-in manufacturers, on whether you gave the required written notice first. Section 1794(d) also lets a buyer who wins recover attorney's fees and costs from the manufacturer, which is why lemon law clients usually pay nothing out of pocket.

A calculator also cannot tell whether your vehicle qualifies at all. California presumes a vehicle is a lemon in some situations within the first 18 months or 18,000 miles, under Civil Code § 1793.22, but many vehicles outside that window qualify too. It cannot read your repair orders, spot a missed first visit that would lower the offset, or know whether a deadline is close. Used and leased vehicles have their own wrinkles; see our guides to used cars under the lemon law and leased cars under the lemon law.

If the numbers here look like your situation, gather your contract, your payment history and every repair order before you talk to the manufacturer. Our California lemon law team reviews cases statewide, in English and Spanish, and the manufacturer pays our fees when you win. If you are wondering about timing, read how long a lemon law case takes.

Frequently asked questions

This guide is general information about California and federal law and about public records as of its date. It is not legal advice, and reading it or contacting us does not create an attorney–client relationship. Allegations in lawsuits are claims, not findings. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Attorney advertising.