AG: sixteen Rochester auto dealers failed to disclose recalls
Volkswagen cars for sale are on display on the lot of a VW dealership in Boulder, Colo. On Tuesday, Aug. Two, 2016, major automakers report sales for the month of July. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File)
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHAM) — More than one hundred auto dealerships reached settlements with the Fresh York Attorney General’s Office Friday for failing to disclose vehicles they sold were under recall.
According to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, one hundred four dealerships sold vehicles to people who "reasonably assumed that any known and existing safety issues have been repaired or disclosed by the dealer."
This was not always the case. Some of these undisclosed safety issues included unintended acceleration, airbag problems, vehicle fires, steering and brake loss.
Of those dealerships, sixteen of them were located in Rochester. They included Auction Direct USA, L.P., Best Value Auto, Cavallaro Neubauer Chevrolet Buick, Doan Buick, Inc., Doan Chevrolet, LLC, Doan Kia, Good Buy Auto, J & J Auto, Inc, Pioneer Truck Sales, Inc., Pool Auto Sales, Inc, Ralph Honda, Santa Motors, Inc., Stone Road Auto Inc., Tiffany Transportation Services, Ltd, Websmart Auto, Inc., and Websmart Imports.
The settlement requires the auto dealers to give advance notice to any customers about any existing and unrepaired recall.
The SaferCar.gov website and mobile app operated by NHTSA permits customers to check the status of recalls on any given vehicle.
Other guidelines the dealerships will have to abide by include:
- Used vehicles advertised online must include information that lets users check the recall status of advertised vehicles
- Used vehicles advertised in print or other media must also disclose any safety recalls for that vehicle
- Decal notices with a recall status must be placed in the window of used cars
- Two days prior to any sale, dealers must provide a copy of the NHTSA recall status report for a vehicle with an unrepaired safety recall, and obtain a written acknowledgment from the consumer.
- Notices must be sent to customers who have purchased vehicles with unrepaired safety recalls that are still unrepaired, from January two thousand sixteen to present. The manufacturers’ franchise dealers must also cover up to five days of a loaner car for consumers if their vehicle requires repairs that will take longer than one day.
- Each auto dealer must pay a fine of $1,000 to Fresh York State
Dealerships selling used cars under recall are required to have an authorized repair person on site or to transport the vehicle to a dealer related to the vehicle’s maker to have the recall work done.
Anyone who purchased vehicles after January 1, two thousand sixteen who may have unrepaired safety recalls should contact the AG’s Office at (800) 771-7755 or online here.
Recall statuses can be checked by injecting a VIN on the NHTSA website.