Used Car Safety Recall Repair Act Reintroduced
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Connecticut and Massachusetts Senators Richard Blumenthal and Edward Markey have reintroduced the “Used Car Safety Recall Repair Act,” which would force dealerships to fix any outstanding safety recalls before selling a used vehicle.
In the past, dealers could legally sell used cars that had been recalled without necessarily performing the repair. As a matter of fact, General Motors, along with other carmakers, was called out by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the past for selling certified pre-owned vehicles with unrepaired safety recalls.
America’s largest second-hand car dealer network, CarMax, has been accused of selling cars, truck, and SUVs affected by recalls in an unrepaired state. The company advertised its vehicles saying they went through a “125+ Point Inspection”, and included a small message at the bottom of TV commercials that said, “Some CarMax vehicles are subject to open safety recalls.”
The FTC found that the tiny print appeared for only three seconds during an entire commercial, which is clearly not enough time for anyone to notice it, let alone understand its purpose.
Hence, the Used Car Safety Recall Repair Act introduced by Blumenthal and Markey aims to protect consumers that purchase a used vehicle by requiring car dealers to fix any outstanding safety recalls prior to selling a used vehicle. But dealer associations claim dealers shouldn’t be forced to make recall repairs because some recalls can take months while waiting for parts. They argue that the proposed Used Car Safety Recall Repair Act would allegedly leave a dealer stuck with holding a used car that could otherwise be sold and moved off the lot. Dealers argue that it would make more sense to inform consumers about any unrepaired recalls instead.
The proposed repair act takes this into account, and states that if a recall solution is not available at the time of the car’s sale, a dealer would not be violating the law. Hence, when consumers set out to buy a second-hand Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac product from any dealership – even an official GM one – the dealer would need to inform the customer of all safety recall repairs that were performed on the vehicle before delivering the vehicle.
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Source: carcomplaints.com
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They should go one step further and require an auto manufacturer to replace ALL KNOWN FAULTY PARTS !!!
Why should an auto manufacturer be able to even sell a vehicle with a part they know is faulty ?
I guess its just marketing at this point and as long as the mass population doesn’t relies you are selling a known faulty product it just doesn’t matter.
Because I can’t believe the auto manufacturers sales wouldn’t suffer if they told the average public ” we know these parts are faulty but chose not to fix them, so it will be an additional expense of vehicle ownership “.
In my opinion.
Dealers should fix any recalls for a car belonging to their brand. For brands that are not their’s they should have to show there is a possible recall.
This is definitely not a case of “What the customer doesn’t know won’t hurt them.”
Zero chance this gets passed or that Trump would sign it.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/2/2/18476473/consumers-beware-used-car-dealers-are-selling-vehicles-despite-open-recalls
Thanks for covering this! But – the last paragraph is incorrect. There’s no provision that would allow a dealer to sell an unrepaired recalled used car, regardless whether or not parts are available.
Also — it’s also already illegal for dealers to engage in such practices, under various state laws. The main benefit of the federal law proposed by Senators Blumenthal and Markey is that it could be enforced by NHTSA, without anyone having to suffer damages or be injured or killed.
Hello – This is non-negotiable in Canada. Dealers cannot sell any used or even new vehicles that are under a recall notice. We had a diesel truck on our lot for over a year due to the air bag recall. However, used car stand alone operators can sell these vehicles. Not a fair level playing field by any means.
It’s just common sense to repair factory recall’s before the dealer/agent even put’s those price stickers on the windshield of any used car! From 6 months or older automobiles! Because the people of the consumers reports mag. don’t report on mis-managed automobiles to the public to research before a buyer attempts to buy those automobiles!! We the people would rather a factory brand lose money; than the damage/or injury of folks after a bad purchase! Because many STATES HAVE LEMON LAWS!