It protects against the "buggy piece of shit" but only in very specific cases, which depend entirely upon which state you live in. Most notably, it only applie

It protects against the "buggy piece of shit" but only in very specific cases, which depend entirely upon which state you live in. Most notably, it only applies to new cars. Some states require you to be out of a car for a total of 90 days in one calendar year, and/or have the same problem occur several times. In several states, recalls don't count towards lemon law because it's a preventative measure, or only applies if the nature of the recall renders the car inoperable. Meaning, you can wait four years for a replacement of a potentially deadly airbag. You can absolutely have a buggy piece of shit that can't be lemon law'ed. Getting a car lemon law'ed is a nightmare. It's rare that you have a cut-and-dry case. Just ask people with those Ford Powershift transmissions in their Fiestas. A warranty will ensure that someone doesn't have to pay to fix the buggy piece of shit, assuming the buggy shit isn't a wear item that the dealership can claim that the owner broke. But there's still the hassle of scheduling the fix, taking the car to the dealership, hoping they have transportation for you, etc.