GM, Fiat Chrysler, Honda, the National Safety Council, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, mayors and other elected officials, are investing millions in an attempt to reach owners of older recalled cars and persuade them to take their vehicles to car dealers for recall repairs. They’re using advertisements, social media, even private investigators who track people and find out who owns vehicles that have repeatedly changed hands.
They are trying to impress on the owners that their safety is at stake, and driving without repairing the safety recalls is too risky. The biggest challenge: the millions of older vehicles with Takata airbags that are prone to exploding with excessive force, spewing shrapnel into the faces, necks, and chests of drivers and passengers, causing victims to bleed to death.
But the messages that consumers are getting from the auto industry are extremely mixed. The former Chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association, Jeff Carlson, a Colorado car dealer, claims that “only 6 percent of recalls are ‘hazardous.'” Carlson and the NADA have been opposing federal legislation that would require dealers to fix all safety recall defects on used cars, prior to sale — in addition to the existing protections under state laws in all 50 states.
He claimed that “Such a move would ground millions of cars unnecessarily and diminish vehicle trade-in values.” That attitude is dangerous, reckless, and irresponsible, but it’s all too common in the car dealer world. By that nutty calculus, none of the following safety defects would be considered “hazardous” — brakes that fail, steering loss, sticking accelerator pedals, catching on fire, wheels that fall off, seat belts that fail in a crash, or a myriad of other safety defects that have claimed hundreds of lives and maimed thousands of people.
No wonder consumers are confused about whether it’s worth taking time off from work to take their car to a dealership that may be over 100 miles away, and where they may not get a loaner car, while their car sits waiting for repairs. Meanwhile, many consumers would be without their only means of transportation to get to work, and get their kids to school, or get to medical appointments.
Car dealers across the country have also been urging state legislatures to allow them to get away with selling unsafe, unrepaired recalled cars without repairing them first. What message does that send to the public about the importance of getting safety recall repairs? If the cars are so unsafe, they should be repaired first, right? Shouldn’t the car dealers, who are the professionals, set the right example? Of course they should.
It appears that the car dealers’ double standard is aimed more at forcing consumers to go to car dealerships for repairs, than at ensuring their safety. Once there, consumers are often subject to high-pressure tactics to sell their car and purchase a new one. Among the scams common at many car dealerships — refusing to return the car keys unless the consumer buys another car.
Recent complaints about car dealers posted on Quora: “I had my car keys taken at the dealership and was almost forced to purchase a car (refused to let me leave).”
Automotive News: Carlson vows to press NADA’s fight against regulation
Bottom line: Consumers should take safety recalls seriously. So should auto dealers. Car dealers need to do the right thing, comply with state laws, and stop selling unrepaired, defective recalled used cars — shifting the burden onto consumers. Auto manufacturers should offer roving repairs to consumers with unrepaired recalled cars where they work or at their homes. And the National Automobile Dealers Association should acknowledge publicly that of course all the cars with Takata airbags and other safety recall repairs are unsafe, and should be repaired immediately.