Two auto safety advocacy groups, joined by the mother of two girls killed in the crash of a defective vehicle knowingly rented to them by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, today petitioned the Federal Trade Commission to take action to stop Enterprise and its owner company from renting out recalled but unrepaired vehicles to customers.

Employees of Enterprise Rent-A-Car and its owner, Enterprise Holdings – the company that also owns the National and Alamo car rental businesses – have admitted that the company’s procedures allow them to rent out cars that have been recalled by a manufacturer due to a safety defect but not yet repaired, and to withhold this information from customers. “There is nothing in place that keeps an employee from renting that car… Enterprise’s corporate offices looked the other way regarding this fact,” a company manager has testified.

The petition, to “remedy Enterprise’s deceptive trade practices,” was filed by the Center for Auto Safety (CAS), Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS), and Carol S. Houck. Enterprise Holding is North America’s largest provider of rental vehicles.

Read more: www.autosafety.org/…deadly-practice-renting-defective-vehicles

Read the petition filed by CAS and CARS: PDF file