Tag Archives: safety recalls

Used car buyers have friends in the White House in auto safety battle

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America’s used car buyers and our nation’s roads will be a lot safer if the Obama Administration wins the battle against shady car dealers who sell unsafe, recalled cars to used car buyers.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx and the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Dr. Mark Rosekind, are urging Congress to make it illegal for car dealers to sell unsafe, recalled used cars to consumers.

They joined the President of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety at a press conference in Richmond, VA, along with representatives of Hertz, Enterprise, and Avis, and the American Car Rental Association, who have been working together with CARS to enact federal rental car safety legislation. Auto manufacturers (except GM) and car dealers are blocking the rental car safety bill, and lobbying Congress to weaken protections for America’s car buyers.

It is historic for a President and his safety team to call for people who rent cars, or purchase used cars, to have the same level of protection as new car buyers. Under federal law, it is illegal for car dealers to sell recalled cars with lethal safety defects to NEW car buyers. That has been the law since the 1960’s. But there is no similar federal law to protect people who rent cars or purchase used cars.

“What we need now is for Congress to step up, and to make renting or selling a recalled vehicle [to a consumer] illegal,” said Secretary Foxx.

Read more: US DOT safety recall news

ABC 20/20 exposes CarMax’s sales of damaged cars and unsafe, recalled cars

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CarMax Admits It Sells Unsafe, Recalled Cars
So — how can a car that’s so unsafe pass their so-called  “rigorous 125+ point inspection”? No one seems to know…and CarMax refuses to go on camera…

From ABC NEWS RADIO:

” CarMax says it has transformed the used car buying experience with no haggling pricing and financing and its “125+ point” inspection process to make sure drivers don’t end up with a lemon. But consumer advocates say CarMax sales reps don’t always disclose the complete history and condition of the vehicles they sell.

A 20/20 investigation found instances on two CarMax lots where vehicles were being sold with reportedly significant accident histories or unrepaired safety recall issues….

When it came to outstanding safety recalls, the Hartford dealership salesman was recorded on hidden camera telling Benitez that CarMax is unable to sell a car with a major safety recall. “We can’t even sell it until that’s taken care of,” he said. “We take care of any kind of safety concern prior to the car even being out here.”

However, a check of a federal government website revealed that the Toyota Camry at the Hartford CarMax dealership had three outstanding safety recalls on it at the time of our visit, including one for a power switch that could overheat and melt, possibly resulting in a fire. Five other vehicles sitting on the lot also had unfixed safety recalls, according to the government website.

CarMax declined an interview but told 20/20 in a statement that it doesn’t automatically fix recall vehicles before selling them and only does so if a customer requests it. CarMax says it does inform consumers about any open recalls and recently upgraded its website so customers can look up open recalls online through the government database. CarMax also says it retrained its staff on its recall policy.

A coalition of consumer and safety groups filed a petition with the Federal Trade Commission this June, urging the agency to investigate CarMax’s safety recall policy. Rosemary Shahan, head of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS), is calling on the FTC to require CarMax to have all safety recall vehicles repaired before selling them to consumers. “CarMax sells vehicles that are under safety recall without bothering to fix them,” said Shahan. “If they wanted to do it right, it would be very easy for them to do it right.” (Emphasis added)

Read more: ABC 20/20:  What Do Some CarMax Sales Reps Tell  Consumers?

“Regional” auto safety recalls place military families at risk

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The refusal by Takata and some manufacturers to expand the safety recall of defective, exploding air bags to cover the entire nation is jeopardizing the safety of many of America’s military families.

If you are a member of the Armed Forces, under Federal law, you are allowed to register your car in your official state of residence. Regardless where you are stationed, or the state where you and your family members are actually driving your car.

Auto manufacturers use data from RL Polk to identify owners of recalled vehicles and send them notices. But that data is based on where their vehicles are registered.

So if you are serving  in the military, and register your car in New York, but are stationed in a high-humidity state like Florida, you may not receive the safety recall notice for your car.  Even though  Honda, Toyota, and other manufacturers, as well as the air bag supplier Takata, now acknowledge the air bags should be recalled in high-humidity states like Florida.

That’s because, as far as RL Polk and the manufacturer are concerned, cars that are registered in New York are being driven in New York. They fail to account for the fact that if you’re serving in the military, you may have registered your car in New York, but be stationed for years in a high-humidity state like Florida.

Florida is home to at least 29 Navy, Marine, Air Force, and Coast Guard bases, with over 50,000 active duty personnel.  No doubt many of them have chosen to register their cars in their official state of residence, where the taxes may be lower, or it is simply more convenient.

What are Takata and auto manufacturers who installed the potentially deadly air bags in their cars doing to protect military families?  It appears that the answer is nothing.

We hope that Members of Congress and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will pressure the manufacturers to ensure that members of the Armed Forces and their families are alerted to the hazards, and their cars are repaired, regardless where they are stationed, or where their cars are registered.

Better yet, all auto manufacturers and Takata should make the safety recall national, so all owners and their families can have the safety recall repairs performed, without having to pay out of pocket for the mistakes made by Takata and the manufacturers — and without being injured or killed by flying shrapnel from the defective air bags.

One more reason NOT to buy a car from a car dealer

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Even the auto dealers themselves have to admit:  many car buyers dread buying cars from auto dealers. Young people are especially wary.  And for good reason.

Car dealers keep selling unsafe, recalled used cars to consumers, putting them, their friends and family, and other motorists at risk of death or serious, debilitating injuries.

And as if that weren’t bad enough, they also insist that you surrender your Constitutional rights as part of the price of buying a car from them.

Good luck trying to buy a car from a dealer without a “gotcha” clause hidden in the contract that says you give up your Constitutional right to take them to court, and benefit from  our nation’s hard-won consumer protection laws. Like laws against rolling back odometers, selling “junk” cars that are advertised as being “in mint condition,” or engaging in other forms of cheating, lying, fraud, and thievery.

And get this:  the dealers got a special exemption from Congress — just for car dealers —  that allows them to keep THEIR Constitutional rights. So they can take anyone they want to court, and use the laws that benefit THEM. But they killed a bill that would have protected YOU from losing your rights when you sign on the dotted line to buy a car from them.

If you’re fed up with car dealers and their scams, check this out:

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Arbitration: What you don’t know about fine print can hurt you

And let your local car dealers know you’re not buying from them until they clean up their act, and you don’t have to surrender your rights to buy a car from them.

ABC 30 investigation finds dangerous recalled cars for sale on dealer lots

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“A record number of vehicles are getting recalled this year. Car makers have pulled about one of every five vehicles on the road, 58 million of them. But many of the potentially dangerous cars are hiding in plain sight on used car lots here in the [Central] Valley.

The truth is: they’re all over the place, and you may never know it until it’s too late.”

ABC 30 investigation finds dangerous recalled cars for sale on dealer lots

 

CarMax — caught on Camera AGAIN selling unsafe, recalled cars

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An undercover investigation by WSB-TV in Atlanta, GA found CarMax is still selling unsafe, recalled cars — while claiming they take care of safety recalls.

Instead of cleaning up their act, and ensuring the cars they sell are safe, CarMax says they plan to keep leaving it up to car buyers to get the safety recall repairs done — AFTER they buy the car. For millions of recalled cars, it could take months before repair parts are available, and meanwhile CarMax customers will be stuck driving ticking time bombs.

Watch video: WSB-TV report: CarMax under Fire over Recall Policy

CarMax sells unsafe, recalled cars

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CARS continues to hear from more consumers who bought cars from CarMax, believing that they were safe. They were astonished and dismayed to find out that their car or truck was so unsafe, it was being recalled by the manufacturer due to safety defects.

One consumer in Richmond, VA called to say that he bought a GM car from CarMax, which advertises that all its cars must pass a rigorous “125+-point inspection” and be “CarMax Quality Certified” to be offered for sale. Then he found it that GM had recalled it because of the notorious ignition switch defect, which causes the car to die in traffic without warning, and also disables the power steering, power brakes, and air bag. A local GM dealer told him that it could take months before repair parts are available.

CarMax told him that was his problem, not theirs.

Meanwhile, he is afraid to drive the car. So he and his partner have a very expensive lawn ornament in their back yard.

Did CarMax sell you an unsafe, recalled car? Here’s what you can do:

1. Contact CARS. We want to hear your story. The only way we’re going to get CarMax to stop selling unsafe, recalled cars is for enough consumers whose lives are being put at risk, to speak up.

Contact CARS

2. File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC has the authority to crack down on CarMax over its false, misleading advertising, that claims its cars are so safe, they passed a 125+-point inspection. But — CarMax does not even check for safety recalls.

Complain to the FTC

 

 

Honda: “Oh, and by the way, this Honda’s air bags may explode in your face”

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In case you thought that other auto manufacturers were smarter than GM, or at least capable of learning from GM’s mistakes, here’s a reality check:

Honda is now specifically allowing its dealers to sell unsafe, recalled used cars with faulty air bags that are prone to spewing metal fragments that become sometimes-lethal projectiles — as long as they get the used car buyer’s signature on a written “disclosure”  — which the dealer can hide in a stack of documents and slip in AFTER you have already agreed to buy the car, settled on a price, and spent 4 hours at the dealership.

Safety Research and Strategies writes about why cars equipped with  these defective air bags are finally being recalled — because of horrific incidents like these:

“In May 2009, 18-year-old Ashley Nicole Parham.of Oklahoma died in a 2001 Honda Accord, after her vehicle [collided with] another car in the school parking lot, tripping an explosion that sent a piece of metal right into her carotid artery.

In 2010, Kristy Williams, a Georgia college student, was stopped at a light, when her airbags deployed, expelling metal shards, which severed her neck and carotid artery and required two weeks in intensive care. Williams’ case against Honda was settled for an undisclosed sum.

On Christmas Eve, Guddi Rathore was at the wheel of her 2001 Honda Accord, when a U.S. postal service truck pulled out in front of her. The minor fender bender caused the airbag to explode. The metal shards severed the arteries in her neck, killing Rathore in front of her three young children, also occupants in the Accord.”

One of the complaints SRS documents, that was filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

“Oncoming driver crossed center line making a left turn in front of Honda driver. Honda struck passenger side of turning vehicle. Both driver and passenger side airbags deployed. However, the diver side airbag inflator ruptured and propelled a one-inch piece of shrapnel into the driver’s right eye. Loss of sight and severe lacerations to nose requiring 100 stitches.”

Even if those disclosures would pass legal muster — and some legal experts think they may be worse than no disclosure at all — what sort of car dealer would deliberately sell their customers a car with an air bag that may explode in their face and blind or kill them?

Read more:

Automotive News: Honda pushes dealers for buyer’s signatures on air bag liability

Safety Research and Strategies: NHTSA finally gets curious about exploding air bags

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CarMax sells recalled used cars

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Auto retailing giant CarMax advertises that all of its cars have to pass a rigorous, 125+ point inspection before they are fit to sell. But ever wonder if that inspection includes safety recalls?

Huh?  How could a car pass CarMax’s rigorous inspection and still have a major safety defect that makes it so unsafe, it would be a violation of federal law for it to be sold as a “new” car?

Wellll…  that’s a very good question.

Keep in mind — CarMax recently played a major role in killing first-in-the-nation legislation in California that was backed by consumer and safety organizations, to make it illegal for car dealers to sell recalled used cars to consumers.  Their excuse?  They are not authorized to perform safety recall repairs.

That’s right. Auto manufacturers don’t allow independent dealers like CarMax to perform safety recalls because under federal law, the manufacturers are responsible for ensuring that the recall repairs are done properly.  Which makes sense, since the manufacturer is the one that made the defective product, issues the recall, and oversees the repairs.  Ultimately, if the safety recall repair is inadequate, or isn’t performed properly, and someone is killed or injured as a result, the manufacturer is the one who is held liable. Witness what’s going on with GM.

So watch out. CarMax thinks it’s OK to sell unsafe, recalled used cars to consumers simply because they’re not authorized by auto manufacturers to perform safety recall repairs. Seriously.

See for yourself. Here’s the testimony of CarMax’s Counsel against the California auto safety recall bill:

CarMax:  Don’t make us stop selling unsafe, recalled used cars

Bottom line:  Don’t get snookered by those CarMax ads claiming that all their cars are “CarMax Quality Certified” and passed a “125+ point” inspection.  Unless you don’t mind the fact it could be a certified 125+ point deathtrap.

Did CarMax sell you a recalled used car? CARS wants to hear your story. Here’s how to get in touch:

Contact CARS

P.S. Even if you think your CarMax car is safe, it’s a good idea to check the manufacturer’s website for safety recalls, and enter in your car’s Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).

NY Times: Ford issues safety recall, NHTSA upgrades investigation into Jeep fires

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WARNING — FORD EDGE and CRYSLER JEEP owners:

“Ford recalled about 28,000 of its 2012-13 Edge crossover utility vehicles for possible fuel leaks on models equipped with the 2-liter 4-cylinder EcoBoost engine, according to a report posted on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website. The automaker said the fuel line pulse damper was not manufactured properly by a Michigan supplier, which could allow ‘fuel odor, seepage or a small fuel leak.’ ”

Caution: If you are buying a used vehicle, NEVER  rely on the auto dealer to ensure that the safety recall repairs have been performed. Car dealers have been caught over and over again selling unsafe, recalled cars, pickups, and SUVs.

One large new car dealership in California even sold one that was supposedly a  “certified” used car — that nearly killed the buyer when the safety defect occurred.

How can you find out if a vehicle has a pending safety recall? It’s easy — write down the Vehicle Identification Number and call a local dealer, or check the manufacturer’s website.

Read more: “NY Times report”

Dealers selling unsafe, recalled used cars

 

Attack against Tesla : HUTZPAH

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Automotive News publisher attacks Tesla over safety —
Ignores dealers who oppose having to perform safety recall repairs

“Musk Can Run, but he can’t hide,” writes Automotive News publisher Keith Crain, whose publication caters to auto dealers. Crain echoes the sentiments of auto dealers, who have mounted an aggressive campaign in an attempt to force Tesla to sell vehicles through dealership networks, where they can get a cut of the profits and subject Tesla customers to a wide variety of shady practices that further line the dealers’ pockets.

In his editorial, Crain questions whether Tesla has the ability to perform safety recalls on its cars — which so far have not even been subject to a safety recall.

He writes: “If and when, and it’s bound to be when in my opinion, his car is recalled — if not for the three Model S fires since October 1, it will be something else — he’s going to find it increasingly difficult to take care of all his customers in a timely manner. …I doubt that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will allow just anyone to repair a recalled Tesla or let the company ship parts to customers and tell them to install the replacements at their leisure.” (Automotive News: Musk car run, but he can’t hide,” by Keith Crain, Nov. 25, 2013.) Crain implies that Tesla, like other auto manufacturers, should depend on auto dealers to do the safety recall repairs.

What he conveniently fails to write is that auto dealers are aggressively opposing legislation in Washington DC and Sacramento that would require them to get unsafe, recalled rental cars or used cars fixed, before renting or selling them to consumers. A glaring fact that Automotive News has apparently forgotten.

As numerous national and local news organizations have reported, dealers have been caught time and time again selling unsafe, recalled vehicles to unsuspecting used car buyers without bothering to fix them first — even when the repairs are free.

Sample news report: Today Show finds recalled used cars for sale on dealer lots

Unless and until auto dealers show that they actually do place a priority on their customers’ safety, including sales or rentals of recalled cars, they don’t deserve to sell Teslas. They have shown over and over again that they simply can’t be trusted not to sell their customers unsafe cars, knowing full well that the safety recall repairs have not been performed.

Bottom line:  Elon Musk and Tesla are wise to avoid trusting dealers to ensure that recalled cars are safe.

Read more:

Auto dealers oppose rental car safety legislation in Washington, DC

Auto dealers oppose used car safety legislation in Sacramento, CA

Automotive News Editorial: “Musk can run, but he can’t hide”

 

 

 

 

 

Honda announces new safety recall of popular Odyssey and Acura models

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Honda announced it’s recalling 318,000 Odyssey minivans in the U.S. and 63,400 Acura MDX sport-utility vehicles in several nations because the air bags could deploy unnecessarily, due to electrical interference with a computer chip.

Honda acknowledged it had received complaints from owners of 2003 and 2004 model year Odyssey minivans and 2003 Acura MDX sport-utility vehicles, after the air bags popped open while they were just driving along.

Honda said that owners of the recalled vehicles should take them to Honda dealers, where technicians will install an “electrical noise filter.”

Caution:  If you are shopping for a used car, you cannot rely on the dealer to ensure that the safety recall repairs have been performed.  Auto dealers are actively opposing legislation that would require them to fix unsafe, recalled vehicles prior to renting, selling, or loaning them to unsuspecting consumers.

Read more: Dealers play unsafe, recalled used car roulette