Some of the confusion lies in state to state variation. You are incorrect for many states. For example, mine does not distinguish between new and used, but doesn't run the entire length of the OEM warranty for either. I could, as unlikely as it is, be the third owner but if it's at 5k miles and 6 months I'm still covered by lemon laws. This sometimes comes into play when dealerships boost their sales numbers by buying their own vehicles, registering them to the business as shop vehicles for a few months, then selling them as used.
Also, lemon laws are almost always more restrictive than the OEM warranty limits. Most states limit it to 12k or 18k miles and 1 or 2 years. A very few states do allow for the entirety of the warranty terms, though.
In short, folks need to check their state's law, or if they bought it in another state which one's will apply. Some stipulate the vehicle must have been purchased at a dealership within their own borders for their arbitrator/judge to have jurisdiction.
Reasonable place to *start* is here:
https://www.kbb.com/car-advice/vehicle-lemon-laws-by-state/ but of course you'd want more detailed info if you actually needed to use it.
There are Federal lemon laws and state ones. I did quote from what a GM Exec told me when I inquired about what was going to happen to the expensive SUV with the cracked frame weld. And that was years ago. Whether he told me what he did based upon GM's own guidelines, Federal ones, or Texas ones, I'll never know.
But I have seen MANY people throw 2-year old temper tantrums on the service drive because "They spent X-tens of thousand of dollars" on their fancy-mobile and it has been tendered for repairs 3,4,5,6times and has never been fixed. I felt bad for their frustrations. I also knew then and do now that many of these problems stem from the culture within dealers and the lack of training of technicians, and, sadly, some technicians who were just technically challenged.
This is probably why manufacturers have field engineers to fly down and roll up their sleeves and get involved. Even that can be affected by the arrogance of some of these engineers, rife with confirmation bias.
In the case of the Explorer with the intermittent A/C cooling, I had been tapped by management to look at it after the first 3 failures to get it fixed failed by 2 other techs in the service department. This explorer used a network communication system called SCP (Standard Corporate Protocol)... an early Can/Bus type system. The first 3 attempts to fix it were to replace the car's main ECM. This was confirmed by me germane to the factory diagnostic tree.
Due to the urgency in the matter (She was hollering "Lemon Law" and had retained an attorney), I documented my findings and called Ford's tech help line. After a lengthy, detailed interaction with their tech guru, I was told to install a 4th ECM, and issued a case number. I replaced the ECM and it, too, failed to fix the vehicle. It is important for me to point out that there was a "U" code in the HEC module (The Hybrid Electronic Cluster). I pointed that out to the Tech guy and he dismissed it as not a possible issue. (Confirmation Bias)
When that failed, I called the tech help line and was referred to the actual people who manufactured the ECM, and spoke with one of their gurus. After an arduous and lengthy discussion with him, he said that the diagnostic flow cart was correct and to install a 5th ECM! Yeah, UH HUH! More Confirmation Bias!
Management of the dealer called Dearborn and a field engineer was sent out. Keep in mind it was 102 degrees and hotter than that in the shop with 80+ % humidity... and that engineer shows up in a 3-piece suit!
I recalled my training about computer systems inter connectivity, and clearly recollect being taught to cure ANY DTC on ANY one of the system network modules FIRST! This must have escaped those whom I'd spoken with (but in all fairness, this was fairly new cutting edge technology on cars).
The engineer commenced to take the vehicle away from me and get 2 other techs in the shop to unwrap and isolate every wire in the underhood harness, just ****-sure it was a wiring issue. I tried to tell him about the "U" code, but he would have none of that. He even demeaned me when I saw how thoroughly he sweat soaked his suit the second day that he and these other 2 techs were chasing snipes, and reminded him of the possibility that addressing the "U" code in the Instrument cluster would fix it. He commenced to tell me to go back to my work stall, and arrogantly said he had access to engineers out of my reach, and so on.
Eventually, (the 3rd day), the engineer ordered a new cluster. This was chancy because the cluster has to be programmed with the mileage and VIN, so it is a no-return item. IIRC, this one cost 600 dollars. But, it fixed the problem.
I really think he resented my reference to my training in computer networking as being from GM. I was truly only interested in helping them solve the problem and was treated as though I was a "meekanik" from the old school.
So, unfortunately, there are many dynamics against modern techs and smooth, successful, accurate warranty repairs . Lack of training is one. Getting techs like me no longer works; most of my generation have died, retired, or gone into their own world, which is what I did.
