"As is" means less than the dealer told you.

GEN. BUS. LAW § 198-b · GEN. BUS. LAW § 349

What "as is" actually does.

"As is" is a disclaimer of implied warranties. In a sale of goods, the law ordinarily implies a promise that the thing sold is fit for its ordinary purpose. A seller who says "as is" conspicuously is telling you that promise is off: you take the car in whatever condition it is in, and if the engine fails the next week, that is your loss. New York's commercial law generally allows that disclaimer between a buyer and a seller, which is why it works for private sales.

What "as is" does not do is override a statute that imposes a warranty the seller cannot waive, and it does not excuse lying about the car. Those two exceptions are where most real disputes live.

When "as is" sticks.

Private sellers. A person selling their own car on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, or through a friend is not a dealer, and the used car lemon law does not apply. If the listing said "as is" or the bill of sale did, you generally have no warranty claim when something breaks. Your remaining claims are about what the seller said: if they told you the transmission was rebuilt and it was not, that is misrepresentation, and it survives the disclaimer.

Cars below the price floor. The used car lemon law excludes very inexpensive cars. A dealer selling a car below the statutory floor is not required to give the statutory warranty, and an as-is sale of such a car is generally effective.

Cars over 100,000 miles. The statute does not require a warranty above the mileage cap. Dealers sell these as is routinely, and the disclaimer is generally effective, subject again to the fraud exception.

Non-consumer purchases. A car bought for a business rather than personal use may fall outside the statute's consumer protection.

If you are in one of these categories, skip to the fraud section, because that is where your claim is if you have one.

When "as is" does not stick: covered dealer sales.

General Business Law § 198-b, New York's used car lemon law, requires a dealer to give a written warranty on a used car sold to a consumer above the price floor and under 100,000 miles. The warranty's length scales with mileage and it covers the engine, transmission, drive axle, brakes, steering, radiator, alternator, generator, starter, and ignition system. The statute does not let the dealer opt out. A buyer's order, bill of sale, or window sticker that says "as is" on a covered car does not waive the statutory warranty, and the dealer's obligation to repair covered defects, and to refund or replace after failed attempts, remains. The full structure is on the used car lemon law hub.

Dealers use the as-is form anyway because buyers believe it. The form is not worthless to the dealer: it may still disclaim coverage of parts the statute does not list, and it may still be effective for the portion of the warranty beyond the statutory minimum. But on a covered component during the statutory period, a dealer who says "you bought it as is" is wrong, and a letter that says so with the statute attached usually ends that argument.

The Department of Motor Vehicles licenses and regulates dealers, and selling covered cars without the required warranty is the kind of practice the DMV takes complaints about. A dealer who wants to keep its license has a reason to read your letter carefully. How to run the repair sequence against a dealer is on dealer won't fix my used car.

Fraud survives "as is": odometers, titles, and lies.

No disclaimer protects a seller who deceived you about the car. Three kinds come up constantly.

Odometer fraud. Rolling back or replacing an odometer to show fewer miles, or certifying a mileage the seller knows is wrong, is prohibited under federal law and New York law, both of which provide civil remedies to the buyer, including enhanced damages and attorney's fees in appropriate cases, and both of which carry criminal penalties. The odometer disclosure on the title transfer is a sworn statement. If a vehicle history report shows 140,000 miles two years ago and the car was sold to you showing 80,000, you have a case that does not depend on any warranty.

Title fraud. Selling a car with a salvage, rebuilt, flood, or lemon-buyback history without disclosing it, or "washing" the title through another state to remove the brand, is deception about a material fact. New York requires certain title brands to be disclosed. A seller who knew and did not say is liable regardless of the as-is form.

Affirmative misrepresentations. "Never been in an accident." "One owner." "Dealer-serviced." "New transmission." If it was said, it was material, it was false, the seller knew or should have known, and you relied on it, the as-is disclaimer does not help the seller. Texts, listings, and screenshots are how these are proven; save the listing the day you buy.

GBL § 349: the consumer protection backstop.

General Business Law § 349 prohibits deceptive acts and practices in the conduct of business directed at consumers in New York. It is the state's general consumer protection statute, and it reaches car dealers. A consumer injured by a deceptive practice can sue for actual damages, and the statute allows a court to award additional damages for willful or knowing violations, subject to a cap, and to award attorney's fees to a prevailing consumer. The statute applies to dealers' practices generally, not to private individuals selling their own car, and it requires conduct that is consumer-oriented and materially misleading, which an as-is form used to convince buyers they have no statutory warranty may well be.

For a dealer case, § 349 is the second count in the letter: the first is the used car lemon law, the second is that the dealer's as-is representation and any false statements about the car's history were deceptive practices. The fee-shifting provision changes the dealer's calculus, because a small claim becomes a large one if the buyer's lawyer is paid at the end. DemandLetterNY's deceptive practices demand letter is built on § 349 for dealer and other consumer cases that fall outside the lemon law.

What a demand letter does here.

The letter depends on which category you are in.

Covered dealer sale. The letter cites § 198-b, states that the as-is language is ineffective as to the statutory warranty, documents the defect and the repair history, and demands repair, refund, or replacement as the facts warrant. It adds a § 349 count where the dealer's as-is practice or history statements were deceptive, and it mentions the DMV.

Private sale or uncovered car with fraud. The letter does not cite the lemon law. It lays out the misrepresentation: what was said, where (the listing, the text), what was true (the history report, the mechanic's inspection), and the loss. It demands rescission, meaning you return the car and get the price back, or the difference in value, and it cites the odometer laws where the mileage was the lie. Private sellers often settle these because the evidence is their own listing.

True as-is sale with no fraud. We will tell you there is no letter to send. An honest private seller who sold an old car as is and made no false statements does not owe you a new engine.

See how our flat-fee demand letters work.

A worked example.

A Staten Island buyer pays a dealer $7,200 for a car with 91,000 miles, signs an as-is form, and has the steering rack fail at day nineteen. The dealer says as is. The car is covered: above the price floor, under 100,000 miles, steering is a listed component, and the 30-day, 1,000-mile statutory warranty applies. The letter says so, demands the repair, and notes that the dealer's as-is representation to a consumer on a covered car is the kind of practice § 349 addresses and the DMV regulates. The dealer repairs the rack. Had the dealer failed three times, the refund remedy would follow. Had the same car been bought from a private seller, the buyer would have no warranty claim and, absent a false statement about the steering, no case at all.

For sequencing the dealer dispute through the AG's program, see used car lemon law arbitration. For a deal that never closed, see car dealer won't return my deposit. Smaller claims fit the small claims courts.