Terms used in this chapter mean:

(1) “Consumer,” the purchaser, other than for purposes of resale, of a new or previously untitled motor vehicle used in substantial part for personal, family, or household purposes, who is entitled by the terms of the warranty to enforce the obligations of the warranty;

Terms Used In South Dakota Codified Laws 32-6D-1

  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Person: includes natural persons, partnerships, associations, cooperative corporations, limited liability companies, and corporations. See South Dakota Codified Laws 2-14-2
  • Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
  • written: include typewriting and typewritten, printing and printed, except in the case of signatures, and where the words are used by way of contrast to typewriting and printing. See South Dakota Codified Laws 2-14-2

(2) “Express warranty,” a written warranty, so labeled, issued by the manufacturer of a new motor vehicle, including any terms or conditions precedent to the enforcement of obligations under that warranty;

(3) “Lemon law rights period,” the period ending one year after the date of the original delivery of a motor vehicle to a consumer or the first twelve thousand miles of operation, whichever first occurs;

(4) “Manufacturer,” the person, firm, corporation, or limited liability company engaged in the business of manufacturing, importing, or distributing motor vehicles to be made available to a motor vehicle dealer for retail sale;

(5) “Motor vehicle,” any vehicle intended primarily for use and operation on the public highways which is self-propelled. The term also includes any all-terrain vehicle with four or more wheels and with a combustion engine having a piston or rotor displacement of two hundred cubic centimeters or more. The term does not include any electric bicycle as defined in § 32-20B-9, any motor home or to any motor vehicle having a manufacturer’s gross vehicle weight rating of fifteen thousand pounds or more;

(6) “Motor vehicle dealer” or “authorized dealer,” any person operating under a dealer agreement from a manufacturer and licensed pursuant to chapter 32-6B;

(7) “Nonconforming condition,” any condition of a motor vehicle that is not in conformity with the terms of any express warranty issued by the manufacturer to a consumer and that significantly impairs the use, value, or safety of the motor vehicle and occurs or arises solely in the course of the ordinary use of the motor vehicle, and that does not arise or occur as a result of abuse, neglect, modification, or alteration of the motor vehicle not authorized by the manufacturer, nor from any accident or other damage to the motor vehicle which occurs or arises after the motor vehicle was delivered by an authorized dealer to the consumer;

(8) “Notice of a nonconforming condition,” a written statement delivered to the manufacturer and that describes the motor vehicle, the nonconforming condition, and all previous attempts to correct the nonconforming condition by identifying the person who made the attempt and the time the attempt was made.

Source: SL 1993, ch 227, § 1; SL 2014, ch 139, § 7; SL 2015, ch 164, § 1; SL 2019, ch 132, § 1; SL 2019, ch 135, § 11.