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California's 3-day right to cancel a used car
In effect since October 1, 2026. Type your date, price and miles to see your deadline and the fee.
How to cancel, step by step
- Look for the dealer's disclosure. It is a separate document titled "3-Day Right to Cancel Used Car Purchase or Lease", and it must state the time you have.
- Take the car back in person to the dealer that sold it, during business hours, before the period ends. Close of business on the last day is the end.
- Bring everything you got with the sale. The car must be free of liens and in the same condition as when you got it, apart from reasonable wear and tear.
- Sign what the dealer reasonably needs. The dealer may ask you to sign documents needed to carry out the cancellation.
- Get your money back within 48 hours. No later than 48 hours after you cancel, the dealer must cancel the contract and refund you, less the restocking fee. If you paid by check or something like it, the dealer may wait until two business days after your payment is verified.
Sources: Civil Code 1784.43; SB 766 as chaptered (Stats. 2025 ch. 354), on CalMatters Digital Democracy, read November 3, 2026.
The restocking fee
The dealer may charge 1.5% of the sale price, at least $200 and at most $600. If the car was driven over 250 miles, it may add $1 for each mile over 250, at most $150. The fee comes off your refund. A dealer that charged you for shipping the car may keep what shipping actually cost instead, up to the same limit.
| $10,000 car | $200 |
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| $20,000 car | $300 |
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| $30,000 car | $450 |
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| $45,000 car | $600 |
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| $30,000 car, 300 miles | $500 |
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| $30,000 car, 400 miles | $600 |
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Sources: Civil Code 1784.31; SB 766 as chaptered (Stats. 2025 ch. 354), on CalMatters Digital Democracy, read November 3, 2026.
Your trade-in
When you cancel, the dealer must give back your trade-in and its keys. If it has already sold the trade-in or started the title transfer, it must pay you the greatest of the value agreed in the contract, what it sold the trade-in for, or its fair market value, less any loan on it, with an itemized receipt.
Sources: Civil Code 1784.43, read November 3, 2026.
What is not covered
- New cars. The notice on the first page of the contract must say: "CALIFORNIA DOES NOT HAVE A COOLING-OFF PERIOD FOR NEW VEHICLES."
- Used cars priced above $50,000.
- A car driven more than 400 miles between signing and the attempt to cancel.
- Motorcycles, a lease sold to the person already holding the car, and certain auction sales.
The right to cancel does not take away any other right you have to rescind a contract or revoke acceptance under other laws.
Sources: Civil Code 1784.31; Civil Code 1784.43, read November 3, 2026.
What the dealer may not do
It is a violation to do anything to impede you from cancelling, to overcharge the restocking fee, to withhold or fail to refund your down payment or trade-in in time, to claim damage beyond reasonable wear and tear without a reasonable basis, or to say the person who can return your money is not available. The DMV lists refunding down payments and trade-in values and reversing financing contracts among what a dealer can be required to do. The Attorney General's page sends a problem with a dealer to the DMV.
Sources: Civil Code 1784.43; California DMV notice OLIN 2026-10, Implementation of CARS Act (SB 766); California Attorney General: buying and maintaining a car, read November 3, 2026.
Calendar days or business days?
The code says calendar days: the 3 calendar days start the calendar day after the contract is signed. If the third day falls on a day the dealership is closed to the public, the period runs to the next day it is open, and it ends at close of business. The DMV's notice to dealers says "three business days", so its count can run later. Counting calendar days is the safe way to read it.
Sources: Civil Code 1784.31; California DMV notice OLIN 2026-10, Implementation of CARS Act (SB 766), read November 3, 2026.
The old two-day option is gone
The DMV says the CARS Act replaces the prior optional 2-day paid cancellation agreement. The right is now automatic, and you do not buy it. When we read it on November 3, 2026, the Attorney General's page still described the old option.
Sources: California DMV notice OLIN 2026-10, Implementation of CARS Act (SB 766); California Attorney General: buying and maintaining a car, read November 3, 2026.
Outside California
The FTC says: "Federal law doesn't require dealers to give you three days to cancel the deal and return the car." It says some states require a cancellation right and others leave it to the dealer, so ask for any return policy in writing and check with your state attorney general.
Sources: FTC consumer advice: buying a used car from a dealer, read November 3, 2026.
How we read this: the law's details come from the chaptered bill and California Public Law's copy of the code, which agree, because the Legislature's own site refuses our reader. Laws change, so check your contract and the dealer's disclosure before you count on a date. Facts and math, not legal advice.
Questions
Can you return a car after buying it in California?
A used car from a dealer, yes, within limits: priced at $50,000 or less, driven 400 miles or fewer since signing, within 3 calendar days, for any reason. The dealer may keep a restocking fee. A new car has no such right.
When do the 3 days start?
The calendar day after you sign. A contract signed on Monday can be cancelled through Thursday, until close of business. If the dealership is closed to the public on the third day, the period runs to the next day it is open.
How much is the restocking fee?
1.5% of the sale price, at least $200 and at most $600, plus $1 for each mile over 250, at most $150 more.
Does it work on a new car?
No. The contract's first page must say California does not have a cooling-off period for new vehicles. Ask the dealer whether it has a return policy of its own, and get it in writing.
Is there a form to cancel?
The dealer must give you a separate disclosure titled "3-Day Right to Cancel Used Car Purchase or Lease". To cancel, you take the car back in person, and the dealer may ask you to sign documents needed to carry out the cancellation.
Does it cover a leased car?
The right covers the purchase or lease of a used vehicle at $50,000 or less. It does not cover a lease sold to the person already holding the car.
What about add-ons I bought with the car?
If you cancel the sale, the dealer must cancel the contract and refund you, less the restocking fee. If you keep the car, see cancelling dealer add-ons.
If you signed, or before you do