Quotes about C.A.R.S.

Los Angeles Times
"In 1979, when a car dealer gave Rosemary Shahan a hard time about getting her car fixed, he could not have imagined the consequences for the auto industry. Not only did Shahan picket his dealership for five months, but the North Canton, Ohio native then spent the next 20 years as a consumer advocate -- lobbying, cajoling, complaining, and generally causing trouble for the auto industry.

She now heads the California-based Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, which is based in Sacramento. But by phone and fax, she recently played an important role in awakening less-than-alert Ohio legislators and preventing the auto industry from planting what she saw as a boobytrap in Ohio's lemon law....In Ohio, Shahan was concerned about proposed changes to the lemon law, which was adopted in 1987. It gives consumers the right to force automakers to take back defective vehicles." -- "The 'nuisance' who helped win Ohio's lemon-law fight," Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 30, 1999.

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Money Magazine: Heroes
A yearlong celebration of 40 people who have made extraordinary efforts to improve others' financial well-being.
May 2012

"A Driving Force for Lemon Laws"
Rosemary Shahan, President and Founder of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety Why she's a hero: Shahan, 62, has spent three decades fighting on drivers' behalf for more effective repairs, improved safety, and fairer financing.
Read more here: money.cnn.com/galleries/2012/pf/1205/gallery.consumers-customer-service.moneymag

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Los Angeles Times
Auto safety activist Rosemary Shahan turns lemons into legislation
April 1, 2012; by Ken Bensinger

"Shahan is the founder and president of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS). The Sacramento organization has been the driver of some of the most important advances in auto-related safety and financial protection regulation on the books today.

Shahan, 62, championed the nation's first lemon law in California, which has since been copied in every state. She was a major force behind the federal air bag mandate and laws protecting military service members from abusive car loans. And she's not finished."
Read more here: articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/01/business/la-fi-himi-shahan-20120401

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"CARS is one of the most consistently strong consumer groups...Consumers can thank CARS for today's lemon laws, air bags and generally safer cars." -- Clarence Ditlow, Executive Director, Center for Auto Safety, Washington, DC. "Safe Passage: driven to push for better auto laws," San Diego Union-Tribune, June 15, 1991

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CARS Founder, Rosemary Shahan, is "as tenacious as a bulldog, consistent as the Milky Way, and as humane in her own way as Mother Teresa." -- Ralph Nader, consumer advocate. Safe Passage: driven to push for better auto laws," San Diego Union-Tribune, June 15, 1991

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"Auto company lobbyists here not only know who [CARS founder Shahan] is, they acknowledge that she does their homework. Automakers are reluctant to discuss Shahan, but during the past year they have begun to gripe informally that she knows all too well how to draw national attention to air bags, which auto makers have fought for for than 15 years as being too costly...in sum, says a Toyota Motor Corp. lobbyist: 'She has everything it takes to cause this industry many headaches for many years.'" -- "Auto activist steers fight for air bags," Detroit Free Press, Jan. 11, 1987

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"There's going to be a big lemon aid party in Lemon Grove, CA...[CARS Founder] is planning to celebrate the passage of the 'lemon law' bill giving vehicle owners increased rights when it comes to cars that turn out to be lemons... It was her encounter with a dealership in Lemon Grove that started the push for the law... Since then, she has pursued making getting lemon-aid easier for other consumers...
One manufacturer testified that his firm might take 30 tries to have a single problem fixed. The new law says that if a substantial defect isn't remedied after 4 repair attempts or 30 days out of service, the owner is entitled to a refund or replacement." -- "After 3 1/2 years of bitter struggle, the lemon law finds sweet success," The Daily Californian, July 10, 1982

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CARS Founder "has proved that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Three years ago, she was a lone picketer, protesting at an auto dealership in Lemon Grove...she started lobbying for a 'lemon law' bill, fighting her way from San Diego to Sacramento, where she watched Gov. Edmond Brown Jr. sign the bill into law...Assemblywoman Sally Tanner, who authored the law, flew her to Sacramento" for the signing ceremony. -- "Originator of 'lemon auto' protest sees it bear fruit," Los Angeles Times, July 9, 1982