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Used
cars
often
sold
with
unfixed
defects,
despite
recalls
By TOM
KRISHER
and
DEE-ANN
DURBIN
AP Auto
Writers
DETROIT
- It's a
case of
buyer
beware,
with
potentially
dangerous
consequences.
More
than 46
million
cars and
trucks
on the
road in
the U.S.
- about
one-fifth
the
total -
were
recalled
because
of
safety
defects
but
never
repaired,
according
to a
study by
Carfax,
a
company
that
sells
vehicle
history
reports.
Some of
those
defects
have the
potential
to cause
a crash,
injury,
even
death.
Last
year,
around 5
million
of those
cars
were
sold to
new
owners.
That's
because
there is
no legal
requirement
for
dealers
or
individual
sellers
to get
the
repairs
done
before a
used car
is sold.
They are
not even
obligated
to tell
buyers
if a car
is
subject
to a
recall.
"It's a
very
major
public
safety
problem,"
says
Chris
Basso, a
used-car
specialist
for
Carfax,
which
analyzed
state
registration
data to
determine
that
one-fifth
of the
238
million
cars on
the
nation's
roads
has an
unrepaired
problem
that was
the
subject
of a
recall.
"When
those
recalled
cars go
unfixed,
they
compound
over the
years,
and it
increases
the
chance
of those
parts
failing."
Federal
regulators
are
pushing
for
legislation
that
requires
dealers
to fix
recalled
used
cars.
Independent
dealers
oppose
such a
measure
but say
they
might go
along
with a
requirement
to
disclose
recalls
to
buyers
because
a new
government
database
makes it
easier
to tell
if a car
on their
lot has
been
recalled.
The
number
of
unfixed
cars is
certain
to rise
because
automakers
recalled
nearly
64
million
vehicles
nationwide
last
year,
double
the old
record
set in
2004.
Government
data
show
that 25
percent
of car
owners
never
get
recall
repairs
done.
No one
is sure
how many
crashes
or
injuries
happen
because
of
unheeded
recalls.
But
buying
an
unrepaired
car cost
Carlos
Solis
his
life.
The
35-year-old
father
of two
died
Jan. 18
when
shrapnel
from the
driver's
air bag
in his
2002
Honda
Accord
tore
into his
neck
after a
minor
accident
near
Houston.
Solis'
Accord
had been
recalled
in 2011
to fix a
faulty
air bag
inflator
made by
Takata
Corp.
that can
explode
with too
much
force.
But
neither
the two
previous
owners,
nor the
independent
dealer
in
Houston
who sold
Solis
the car
last
April,
had the
repair
done.
Solis
had no
other
injuries,
says Rob
Ammons,
an
attorney
representing
his
family
in a
lawsuit
against
Takata,
Honda
and the
dealer.
"You fix
the
defective
air bag
and he
doesn't
die,"
Ammons
says.
Federal
law
requires
car
companies
to
notify
owners
of a
recall
within
60 days
of
finding
a safety
defect,
which
Honda
did in
2011.
But
there's
no legal
requirement
that
companies
contact
the new
owner if
a car
changes
hands.
John
Castro,
36, of
Glen
Burnie,
Maryland,
traded a
pickup
truck
for a
2011
Toyota
Prius in
March of
last
year at
Koons
Ford in
Baltimore.
Shortly
after he
took the
car
home, he
read a
dealer-provided
Carfax
report
and
found
that his
car had
been
recalled
in
February
2014 to
fix a
hybrid
component
that
could
malfunction
and
cause
stalling.
Koons
had not
done the
repair,
and no
sales
person
mentioned
the
recall,
Castro
says.
"You
think
when you
buy
something,
it's
been
checked
and
cleared,"
he says.
Dennis
Koulatsos,
Koons
Ford
general
manager,
says
Castro's
car
should
have
been
fixed
because
there
was a
safety
issue.
All
dealers,
he says,
have
incentives
to fix
recalled
cars.
They
could
lose
customers
to
dealers
who do,
or they
could be
sued if
something
goes
wrong.
But he
also
thinks
dealers
should
be able
to sell
cars
with
open
recalls
if the
problems
don't
affect
safety
or
drivability.
"Used
cars are
hard to
get, and
they
depreciate
by the
day when
they sit
on the
lot," he
says.
A number
of
attempts
to pass
laws
requiring
dealers
to fix
recalled
cars or
disclose
problems
have
stalled
under
opposition
from
carmakers,
auto
dealers
and the
U.S.
Chamber
of
Commerce.
Mark
Rosekind,
the new
head of
the
National
Highway
Traffic
Safety
Administration,
and
Transportation
Secretary
Anthony
Foxx are
making
another
push.
"We
cannot
allow
vehicles
with
potentially
dangerous
defects
to leave
used-car
lots
without
the
necessary
repairs,"
Rosekind
says.
Used-car
dealers
fought
past
legislation
because
they
didn't
have
access
to a
national
database
to check
for
recalls,
says
Steve
Jordan,
CEO of
the
16,000-member
National
Independent
Automobile
Dealers
Association.
That
changed
in
August
when the
government
set up a
website
for
dealers
and
drivers
to check
recalls
by
keying
in the
17-digit
vehicle
identification
number.
Now,
Jordan
says the
association
may
support
a
disclosure
law, as
long as
the
database
allows
dealers
to check
multiple
numbers
at a
time to
save
time and
labor.
The
association
still
opposes
a repair
requirement
because
independent
dealers
would be
at the
mercy of
competitors
franchised
by
automakers.
Those
dealers
are the
only
ones
authorized
to do
recall
repairs.
The
National
Automobile
Dealers
Association,
which
represents
new-car
dealers
that
sell
used
cars,
hasn't
taken a
position
on the
repair
requirements.
It is
waiting
for the
government
to
estimate
the
cost,
the
effect
on sales
and
whether
the
measure
would
save
lives.
Individual
sellers
won't
face any
repair
or
disclosure
requirements.
Individuals
sold
just
under
one-third
of the
42
million
used
cars in
the U.S.
last
year,
according
to the
Strategic
Vision
research
firm.
Last
year, a
Honda
executive
floated
the idea
of
requiring
recall
repairs
before
license
plates
can be
renewed.
That's
similar
to the
practice
in
Germany,
where
the
government
can
revoke
registrations
of cars
with
outstanding
recalls.
U.S.
federal
law does
require
dealers
to make
recall
repairs
on new
cars
before
selling
them.
CarMax,
the
nation's
largest
used-car
dealership
chain,
says it
informs
buyers
of open
recalls,
but it
does not
get the
vehicles
repaired.
AutoNation,
the
largest
dealership
group in
the
U.S.,
says it
repairs
recalled
used
cars
before
selling
them
when
parts
are
available.
If there
are no
parts
available,
it
discloses
that to
buyers
and
tells
them of
any
danger.
AutoNation
CEO Mike
Jackson
says he
favors
laws
requiring
disclosure.
"The
recall
situation
is a
mess.
It's a
disgrace
and it's
a black
eye for
the
industry,"
he says.
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