Should I Pay Cash for My Next Car or Finance It?

Most people don’t have any choice except to finance their cars. However, if you are reading this column, the chances are you are in that fortunate higher demographic income group, and can afford to pay cash for your next car. People who read newspaper columns and blogs tend to be more intelligent and affluent. But, just because you can, is it the right move?

Many people think they can get a better deal on a car if they pay cash. This was true 50 years ago before dealers discovered the new profit center referred to as the Finance and Insurance Department. Today this is not true. In fact, paying cash may even make the actual vehicle cost you more! The reason for this is that car dealers make money when they handle the financing with the bank or with the manufacturer’s lenders like Ally, Honda Finance, or Chrysler Credit. A dealer typically averages about $4,000 on every car he handles the financing on. Therefore, if the dealer’s minimum acceptable profit on the car’s markup was $1,000, he may sell it to someone who he could make $4,000 finance profit on for less than someone who he knew was a cash buyer. Dealers will sometimes sell a car for zero profit or even lose money on the car because they can make a good profit on the financing.

If you plan on paying cash for your next car, my recommendation is DO NOT TELL THE CAR DEALER THIS. Tell the car dealer that that you are considering financing with him. This will help you get a lower price because the dealer still has hope that he can make money when he finances our car. The average profit a car dealer makes financing cars is much larger than he makes marking up the selling price.

My second recommendation is check interest rates and terms with your own bank or credit union before you talk to the car dealer’s finance people. The finance manager (aka business manager) is on commission and paid a generous percentage of the profit he makes by marking up the bank’s interest rates and selling you extra “products” like extended warranties, GAP insurance, and car maintenance.

One argument in favor of financing a car is being able to keep your money invested, and earning a greater return than your interest cost of financing. There has never been a never time in our history that this is true. The bad news is that interest rates are not only at historical lows for borrowing but also for CD’s and interest income. With very good credit, you can finance a new car today for between 2% and 3%, but you can’t find a short federally insured CD for that amount. However, you can find very secure equity and bond investments that will earn considerably more than your cost of interest on financing a car.

There is one very important intangible reason why some people should pay cash for their car. That intangible is called “peace of mind”. My older brother, Doug, grew up during the Great Depression. When he built his new house, he paid cash for it. I couldn’t believe this and was severely critical of him. It was entirely illogical for him to pay cash when he could get a very low interest rate and home mortgage interest is tax deductible. His investments earned him far more than the interest rate on his mortgage would cost. After a while I finally realized why Doug was right and I was wrong. He paid cash for his home because it made him feel better. Growing up in the thirties, like many of my customers did, made an indelible impression on his emotions. Owning his home with no debt made him feel happy and secure and what could be more important than that?

Never Go Car Shopping Alone

I continuously get phone calls, emails, and texts from car buyers who mostly have “already bought a car”. The “horse is already out of the barn” and they want me to give them advice on how to get it back. Most of these car buyers went car shopping and bought their car alone. Most of the complaints are associated with verbal promises by the sales person, not committed to writing. Bringing at least one other person when you are car shopping doesn’t negate the importance of getting all promises in writing, but substantially lowers the chances of a car salesman trying to pull a fast one. The salesman and his manager know that, in court, two people’s word trumps one.

A woman wrote me a letter this week in response to one of my columns. Her husband had recently passed away and this was the first car she had bought on her own. The dealer did not have the model car with the accessories she wanted and was unable to locate one at another dealership. She did not want to decide without seeing the actual car she wanted to buy but the salesman and manger talked her into signing a buyer’s order, assuring her that she was under no obligation to buy. They also included two accessories that she did not want because “the manufacturer required it”. I’ve heard of distributors ordering cars with certain accessories from the manufacturer which essentially makes them “standard”, but never “$250 floor mats” which was one of the accessories she mentioned. I get a lot of emails, phone calls, and letters from people who made a bad deal in their car purchase and want to know how they can get out of it. This is one of the less egregious, but I chose it because it was a simpler and shorter example.

There is strength in numbers when shopping and negotiating to buy a car. In fact, this applies to any serious decision in life. You might be the sharpest, shrewdest negotiator on the block, but your odds of striking a better deal and not get taken advantage of are enhanced when you have others on your side. Personally, I make a habit of always having at least one partner when I am engaged in a serious, adversarial decision-making process. When meeting with those on the other side, I make it a point to arrive with at least as many people as they have present. One reason is the psychological factor. When you are in an office by yourself with 2 or 3 others, it can be intimidating. Another reason is that you always have people on your side to corroborate what was said. If a salesman or a sales manager makes a verbal promise that can be corroborated by a friend or two, it is far less likely to be broken. It will also hold up in court, if it must come to that. Of course, the better solution is to see that all promises are committed to writing.

Buying a car, especially a new car is often an emotional decision. Having a friend or two with you can help you make more of an analytical, logical decision. Another point of view is always useful when making an important decision. Also, having one or two friends with you slows down the process to a level more easily absorbed and understood by you. A friend will often think of a question you should have asked but forgot.

Ideally you should bring someone with you who is skilled in negotiation and experienced in buying cars. However, if you don’t know someone like that, somebody is better than nobody.

By the way, most car dealers are unhappy when prospective customers bring in advisors and friends. Naturally they feel that way because they recognize their chances of making a fast, very profitable sale are diminished.

Buying Tires: Caveat Emptor!

In case you’re a little rusty on your Latin, “Caveat Emptor” means “Let the Buyer Beware”. This is something to keep in mind when you buy anything, but the danger of being ripped off when you buy new tires ranks right up there with buying and servicing your car.

Retailing tires is very important to, not only tire companies like Goodyear, Firestone, and Michelin, but independent retailers like Pep Boys and Tire Kingdom. In recent years car dealers have become very interested in selling tires too. The reason is that car customers too often don’t return for service and service is generally more profitable to car dealers than selling cars. Independent service departments and tire manufacturers’ retail service and tire outlets are taking away car dealers’ service business. Tires are something that you have to buy regularly for your car. Wherever you go to buy one or more new tires, the tire seller will take that opportunity to sell you additional services and products…you can bet your life on it.

Tires have become “loss leaders” for car dealers, tire factory service stores, and independents. When I say loss leaders, I don’t mean that you don’t end up paying the tire seller a profit on the tire transaction. What I mean is that the advertised price would result in a loss to the seller if he really sold it at that price. This is very similar to car advertising. Car dealers go through a great deal of thought and effort to advertise a price which is perceived to be lower than they will really sell you the car and tires sellers do the same thing. You can be sure that you can never buy a tire advertised on the Internet, newspaper, or TV for the price that you see.

To demonstrate this I chose one of the largest tire sellers in the USA, Tire Kingdom. I chose them because, as the leader, they set the pace in how tires are sold and advertised. Buying tires from other sellers, including most car dealers, will be at least as risky and often more so.

I sent in a mystery shopper to two Tire Kingdom retail tire and service outlets in Palm Beach County. My shopper responded to an ad for a special sale which is blanketing TV, newspaper and the Internet. The ad says that from August 1 to August 12 you can buy one tire and get the second one free. I watched the TV ad several times and it is literally impossible to read the fine print disclosure. By going to Tire Kingdom’s website, I was able to read the fine print, but the vast majority of respondents to this sale would come from TV and be clueless to the “gotchas” in the fine print.

The first revelation to my mystery shopper was that only certain makes and types of tires were eligible. No name brands like Michelin or Goodyear were available for this sale. Interestingly there was an inconsistency on this between the two Tire Kingdom stores we shopped. In fact, there were several inconsistencies between the stores on types of tires, prices and other procedures.

To me the biggest deception was that the tire buyer was required to purchase “road hazard insurance” and a wheel alignment. The prices on the insurance ranged between 14% and 18% of the total price of the tires and the prices of the wheel alignment ranged from $114.99 to $79.99. The advertisement didn’t say they are advertising a package deal for tires and road hazard insurance and wheel alignments. But the fine print (indecipherable on TV) disclosed this condition. Being required to buy a four-wheel alignment is wrong for two reasons. Firstly, buying a wheel alignment should be your decision and not tied to the purchase of tires. Secondly, what if your wheels don’t need an alignment? You may have had your four wheels aligned two hours ago, just now run over a nail in the road, and now have to buy a tire.

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE! The fine print also tells you that you must pay $1 per tire for the state tire tax. This is a real tax but it should be included in the quoted prices. There’s another fee you are charged which is a “tire disposal fee” which Tire Kingdom can charge you any amount they like. It’s not specified. The truth is that Tire Kingdom actually sells many of their take-off tires to used tire dealers for a nice profit. I do the same thing in my dealership and that profit off-sets my cost of having take-off tires hauled away and disposed of. And the final “gotcha” is the infamous “shop fee” which usually is 10% of the full retail price of the service invoice with a cap of $35. Now remember that there is no legal prohibition or cap on “tire disposal or shop fees”. Tire Kingdom imposes their own caps and prices on these rip offs. Other tires sellers are left to their own chutzpah and imagination to gouge you to limit of your tolerance.

BUT WAIT THERE’S STILL MORE! In the fine print is “No carry-outs”. I’ve seen this in some restaurants, but it’s an unusual term for Tire Kingdom and other tire sellers to tell you that before you can buy their tires at their advertised price, you must pay them whatever they want to charge you for mounting and balancing those tires.

I’ll end this article with constructive suggestions of how you can avoid these sorts of unfair and deceptive advertising and sales practices. Refuse to play the tire sellers games. Demand an “out the door” price for the specific brand and style of tires you want. Make it clear that it must include all federal, state, and local taxes, all fees like shop and tire disposal, all extra services like alignment, all extra products like road hazard insurance, and all services associated with putting the tires on your car like mounting and balancing. Ideally you should do this on the telephone and make it clear that you have only one check left in your checkbook and you will be filling it out at home for the total amount due, an out-the-door price. Of course, you should do this at least three times with three different tire sellers and buy them from the one who gives you the lowest price.

The Lemon Law: Unhappy New Car Buyers’ NUCLEAR OPTION

Lemon laws are state laws which give rights to purchasers of new vehicles if they find that they have bought a car with a defect that cannot be fixed in a timely fashion by the dealer or the manufacturer. The first lemon law was the results of the efforts of a great California consumer advocate, Rosemary Shahan. Every states lemon law is somewhat different but they all have a lot in common and are aimed at the same result. Most car buyers have misconceptions of the lemon law. These are some the most common ones: The car owners think they are going against their car dealer when they are really going against their car’s manufacturer. If you prevail it costs the car dealer nothing. The manufacturer pays. The law applies only to cars purchased as new, not used. If you win a lemon law dispute, the manufacturer or dealer does not simply replace your car with a brand new on. The amount of credit you win toward a replacement vehicle is arrived at by deducting a charge for the usage of your lemon car based on time and mileage.

The complete lemon law process is a difficult and time consuming task for all concerned…you, the car dealer, and the manufacturer. It’s difficult for you because the law requires specific and extensive documentation. You must have allowed your dealer to try to fix the problem at least three times and you must have detailed written documentation of this. You must be sure that your complaint is clearly spelled out by the dealer on your repair order and that his failure to fix it is also a matter of written record. After three times, you must notify the manufacturer by certified letter that you are invoking the lemon law. Now the manufacturer has one last chance to fix your car. At this time, the manufacturer may take your car to another dealer who he feels is more competent in repairing your car. If the fourth attempt to fix your car fails, your case is assigned to a board of arbitrators. Their ruling is final. This entire process usually takes a very long time. A time of several months is not uncommon. Meanwhile, you’re saddled with a car that has a problem nobody can fix.

When you formally invoke the lemon law with your certified letter, you sever all communications with the manufacturer other than formal, legal communications as dictated by the law. The manufacturer considers you a legal adversary and their attorneys consider anything they say to you as something that can be used against them in the arbitration. At this point they are legally barred from fixing your car or talking to you about fixing your car.

All of the above is why I advise that you use the lemon law only as a last resort…the nuclear option. Put emotion aside and focus on what your purpose should be which is to have a car that you can drive without the problem that has been driving your crazy since you bought it. Your priority should not be to punish the dealer because as I already said, he suffers nothing from your winning a lemon law decision. You are punishing the manufacturer to some extent, but this is “business as usual” to all manufacturers who fight (and usually win) thousands of lemon laws annually. What I’m suggesting is that you might want to consider giving the dealer and manufacturer a little more time to fix your car after the first three attempts. If they look like they are sincere and trying hard, it could save you a lot of time driving your broken car (not to mention the mental anguish) compared to waiting months for the lemon law process to work itself out.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t tell the dealer and manufacturer that you will invoke the lemon law if you have no other choice. You definitely should do that. You should let both the dealer and the manufacturer know in no uncertain terms that you have meticulous documentation of their failed efforts to fix your car, you have familiarized yourself completely with the specifics of your state’s lemon law, and you will not hesitate to invoke it if you are left no other choice. This will instill a sense of urgency to fix your car ASAP if it’s within their abilities. The reason is the dealer and the manufacturer want to keep you as a customer. In fact, the dealer may stretch to give you a better deal on a new car to replace yours than you would ever otherwise have gotten. He can’t do that once the lemon law has been invoked because he would be trading in a “lemon”. A “legal lemon” has the same stigma as a flood car or totaled car that has been rebuilt. The manufacturer not only wants to keep you as a customer but wants to avoid the cost of arbitration (the manufacturer is responsible for all of the costs), the cost of disposing of a lemon, and the cost of the damage to their reputation by chalking up another lemon laws loss in the record books. For more information about the lemon law, Florida residents can call the lemon law hotline,800 321-5366 or you can click this link: http://www.myfloridalegal.com/lemonlaw.

Caveat Emptor and Car Dealers: You Can Fool Some People All of the Time

Almost everyone has read Abraham Lincoln’s popular saying, “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.” I think Abe meant this to be a positive assertion that government may get away with deceiving us for a while, but in the long run, truth justice and the American way will prevail…and I think he was right.

However, it doesn’t work that way with unethical car dealers and car buyers. It always has been “caveat emptor”, or “buyer beware when it comes to buying or servicing a car. Unfortunately for a buyer to “beware” he must be “aware” …that is to say educated, mature, sophisticated and experienced. This excludes a very large segment of our population including the very young, the very old, the uneducated, those with low I.Q.’s and those not proficient in the English language. This is one reason why our regulators and elected politicians don’t seem to care or act with respect to the rampant unfair and deceptive sales practices of a large number of Florida car dealers? Most elected officials and regulators are lawyers and are highly educated and sophisticated. They don’t have a problem buying or servicing a car. In fact, the car dealer that tries to take advantage of a lawyer, regulator, or politician is asking for trouble.

I’ve been writing this column/blog and broadcasting my radio show, Earl Stewart on Cars, for about eight years. I sometimes feel that I’m “preaching to the choir” when it comes to advising people how to avoid getting ripped off by a car dealer. You, my readers and listeners, largely fall into the category of the educated and sophisticated, “aware” buyer. Most of you aren’t taken advantage of when you buy or service your car because you won’t allow it. Unfortunately, there are enough uneducated, naive, and otherwise vulnerable consumers to feed those unethical car dealers who prey on the defenseless among us. All you must do is read some of the car ads online or watch some on TV. To the educated, sophisticated buyer, these ads are funny, if you can forget the fact that so many fall prey to them and are taken advantage of by the dealers. For example, it’s hard for you or me to believe that anybody would respond to an advertisement without reading the fine print. Many dealers today are advertising prices that, when you read the fine print, are understated by many thousands of dollars. When you or I see a dealer stating that the car price is plus “freight”, we are educated enough to understand that the law requires that the freight cost be already included in the price. A shrewd buyer knows that “dealer list” is not the same thing as MSRP and that a large discount from “dealer list” means absolutely nothing. We know that the “lowest price guarantee” is worthless if the dealer reserves the right to buy the car from the other dealer that offers a lower price.

There are those who argue that all buyers have the responsibility to guard against unethical sellers, to take care of themselves. In fact, that’s the literal translation of the Latin legal term “caveat emptor”…let the buyer beware. That’s sounds good, but what about the elderly widow whose husband recently died and who never had to make the decision on a major purchase in her entire life? What about the young person just out of school with no experience in the real world? How about the immigrant who struggles with English? Should we be concerned about our underprivileged classes who often drop out of school because they must go to work to support themselves or their family? You and I know lots of good people who, for one reason or another, simply can’t cope with a slick car or service salesman.

My bottom line is this, since we can’t rely on our regulators and politicians to protect those who “can be fooled all the time”, maybe we owe it to society to protect these folks. If you know someone who is thinking about buying a car or has a service problem with her car and you feel she may not have the ability to fend for herself with the car dealer, offer your support. If you’re one of the people who needs support, ask someone who can go “toe to toe” with a car dealer to come with you when you are car shopping. By the way, nobody, sophisticated or not, should car shop alone. Two heads are always better than one and it’s always a good idea to have a witness to what was said during a negotiation. And, of course, if you don’t have the time to help a person or you’re that person, you can always call me…I’m always here for you.

BEWARE BUYING A “FLOOD CAR”

FLOOD CARS ARE FLOODING SOUTH FLORIDA

As I’m sure you know, the flooding from hurricane Harvey in Houston and surrounding areas was unprecedented and catastrophic; over 50 inches of rain fell which was the second highest on record in the USA (51 inches once fell Hawaii). About a MILLION cars were “destroyed”. Our most recent hurricane, Irma, caused very little flood damage compared to Harvey. When I say “destroyed”, you may envision a vehicle badly and visibly damaged, but most of these cars caught in the flood look good. Most of the damage and signs of damage are hidden. Many of these cars are brand new. The cars that you see in the aerial picture above are all “destroyed” or totaled by the insurance companies, but lots of them will end up on car dealers’ lots for sale…many in South Florida. 

South Florida is a magnet for “problem” cars. Problem cars are those that aren’t supposed to be sold or that can be hard to sell. For example, cars missing airbags, cars with un-repaired dangerous recalls (Takata airbags), totaled cars that were rebuilt, cars with very high mileage that have had their odometers replaced with lower miles, and, of course flood cars.

The four main reasons that South Florida is so popular with crooked used car wholesalers are: 

(1) It’s the second largest volume retail car market in the world, next to southern California. 

(2) South Florida exports more new and used cars (mainly to Central and South America) than anyplace else. Other countries have very lacks safety regulations compared to the USA. 

(3) More car dealers in South Florida rank below the already low average of honesty and ethics for car dealers (Google “Gallup Annual Poll for Honesty and Ethics in Professions”). 

(4) Florida regulators and legislators are more lax than most other states in the enforcement of rules and laws controlling the bad behavior of car dealers.

Consumer Reports has an excellent article on spotting flood cars. These are the main signs of a car that has been in a flood:

 How to Spot a Flood-Damaged Car

Water damage can be hard to detect, but Consumer Reports recommends that you look for some telltale signs:

·        Inspect the carpets to see if they show signs of having been waterlogged, such as smelling musty or having caked-on mud. Likewise, brand-new carpets in an older vehicle may be another red flag.

·        Check the seat-mounting screws to see if there is any evidence that they have been removed. To dry the carpets effectively, the seats must be removed and possibly even replaced.

·        Inspect the lights. Headlights and taillights are expensive to replace, and a visible water line may still show on the lens or reflector.

·        Inspect the difficult-to-clean places, such as gaps between panels in the trunk and under the hood. Waterborne mud and debris may still appear in these places.

·        Look for mud or debris on the bottom edges of brackets or panels, where it wouldn’t settle normally.

·        Search around the engine compartment. Water lines and debris can appear in hard-to-clean places, such as behind the engine.

·        Look at the heads of any unpainted, exposed screws under the dashboard. Unpainted metal in flood cars will show signs of rust.

·        Check to see if the rubber drain plugs under the car and on the bottom of doors look as if they have been removed recently. That may have been done to drain floodwater.

You should know, that the some of the crooks that sell these cars also read Consumer Reports and can successfully disguise many of the signs you read above. As with computer hackers and the anti-virus companies, there’s a seesaw battle staying ahead of each other. For this reason, I suggest that you insist on a CarFax or AutoCheck report and take the car you’re proposing to buy to a mechanic you can trust. For about $100 he can do a thorough check on your car…money well spent. 

Another precaution you should take is simply don’t buy a car that was titled in the Texas flood area during the time of hurricane Harvey. However, remember that titles can be “washed” and this means some states will allow a new title to be issued on a car that erases all evidence of its previous history. The three worst states are Mississippi, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. There is no national, federal title law; each state makes up its own. Fortunately for us, Florida has a rigid law, but that protects you only if the car was never titled out of state. If you buy a used car that was sold new in Florida and retitled for new owners only in Florida, you can be sure it wasn’t flood damaged anywhere else.

As if that’s not enough to worry about, remember that lots of Texans didn’t have flood insurance and never had their cars repaired even though they were partially submerged. It takes only about 18 inches of water to destroy the electronics in a car. Modern cars are “computers on wheels”. The car can function fine after its initial submersion for weeks and even months. Many of these uninsured cars were quickly traded in or sold outright by their owners. There is no official record on these cars. Your only hope is a thorough inspection by a trusted mechanic.

Consumer Reports is your Best Friend When Choosing and Buying a Car

If you don’t already subscribe to Consumer Reports, you should. I have been a subscriber for as long as I can remember. I get the magazine in the mail and also subscribe online. I rarely buy any product without consulting this great magazine. I subscribe to the online edition because it’s even more current than the regular magazine, and I get many consumer tips via email. I recently received their annual auto issue, which no car buying family should be without. All libraries would have this on hand.

Don’t be fooled by other magazines with similar names purporting to objectively analyze and recommend products. There is only oneConsumer Reports. They do not accept any advertising and therefore are not beholding to any companies. They even go beyond this and will not allow a retailer or manufacturer to use the name Consumer Reports in their advertising. Even if Consumer Reports gives a product a great rating, that company cannot mention this in their advertising. If they do, they get sued by Consumer Reports. No other company goes this far and is this “squeaky clean”. J.D. Powers is a company that ranks and compares lots of products including cars, but they allow companies to use the JD Power name to advertise their products when they rated them good. You can understand why a consumer might be just a little more skeptical of J. D. Powers’ objectivity than Consumer Reports’. You should ignore car enthusiast magazine like Motor Trend and Car and Driver that write articles on the “Car of the Year” and other articles praising various makes and models. You can be sure that these car manufacturers with the great articles are spending lots of money advertising in these magazines.

I am not saying that Consumer Reports is infallible. They do make mistakes and they have been successfully sued by some companies that were affected by their mistakes in testing. But this is very rare. As a car dealer for almost fifty years, I have not always liked what I read about all of the makes and models of cars I have sold, but I grudgingly had to admit that the reports were almost always accurate. Issues of CR recently gave negative reviews to models of the cars I now sell, Toyota. I must confess that with some makes and model cars I have sold over the years, I was very thankful that the circulation of Consumer Reports is not very large. Their circulation is growing as consumers become more educated and sophisticated.

This annual auto issue should be a mandatory read before you buy your next used or new car. Here are some of the articles in this issue…Top Picks (the best new vehicles they have tested), Best and Worst (tells you the ones you definitely shouldn’t buy), Coming for 2018, Who Make The Best Cars (best manufacturers), Buy Better on the Web (The Internet is the best place to buy your next car), Reliability trends (repair histories on all makes and models), What’s Next in Auto Safety, and Used Cars, Best and Worst.

Consumer Reports also offers other car buying services like their “New Car Price Service” which discloses the best price you should expect from a dealer, rebates and incentive information, negotiating strategies, and their expert recommendations. They also offer a “Used Car Price Service” which provides an evaluation tool kit that helps you establish the right price for most used cars.

Open Letter to Governor Rick Scott

A letter addressing the critical issues associated with the sale of used vehicles equipped with recalled Takata airbags was written just over one year ago, and I’ve received no reply; It was also published as a full page ad in Governor Scott’s hometown newspaper, the Tallahassee Democrat. In the last several weeks, TWO MORE FLORIDIANS were killed by exploding, defective Takata airbags, and it is inevitable that the toll of deaths and serious injuries will continue to rise as long as the sale of used cars equipped with defective Takata airbags continue. While I argued last year for laws specifically requiring dealers to disclose outstanding safety recalls, it is now clear that the only effective way to address this problem is to extend the ban that already applies to the sale of new cars subject to safety recalls to include used cars as well. Indeed, the nature of the Takata defect is such that the older the car is, the more likely it is that the airbag inflator will explode. So I am writing once again with a renewed sense of urgency, and I not only call for action by the Governor, but I also ask every car dealer in this State to consider the dire consequences of continuing to sell used cars with defects that can kill and maim their customers and every other passenger in the car they are putting on the road. Governor, please read my letter and call me at 561 358-1474. 

Dear Rick, 

Please excuse this public form of communication, but I chose it because my message is urgent and I believe it will get your attention faster than going through the normal, bureaucratic channels. 

Florida law not only fails to expressly ban the sale of used cars with unremediated safety recalls, there is no Florida law that even specifically requires a car dealer to disclose national safety recalls on used cars sold to their customers. This has always been bad, but considering the unprecedented Takata air-bag inflator recall (currently affecting 75 million vehicles in the U.S. and rising), this legal loophole presents a problem of critical magnitude. And efforts to address the problem with disclosure requirements, while certainly better than nothing, do not go nearly far enough in safeguarding consumers from the lethal timebombs  hidden in their steering wheels. 

I communicated my position directly to the Florida Automobile Dealers Association over a year ago, and they are aware of this serious omission in Florida’s laws. Unfortunately, legislative action, as you well know, is always a slow process if it ever happens at all. What is required in this case is an emergency executive action by you, the governor of the state of Florida. 

I can assure you that very few Florida automobile dealers are voluntarily disclosing safety recalls affecting the used cars they sell, and even when some form of disclosure is made, it is never adequate to properly alert purchasers to the danger posed by exploding airbags. As I write this letter, there are Floridians unknowingly buying cars with defective Takata airbag inflators that could possibly explode on impact, firing metal shrapnel into their bodies. There have already been several deaths across the country attributed to these faulty inflators. 

It is a certainty that nearly all car dealers in our state have vehicles in their current inventories with these defective airbags and other safety recalls. I have identified sixteen in my used vehicle inventory that are affected. It’s a simple matter to identify these vehicles by entering the VIN online at the NHTSA website, http://www.nhtsa.gov/Vehicle+Safety/Recalls+&+Defects. 

The sad fact is that most dealers don’t check these vehicles for recalls because it takes time to have the recalls performed and “time is money”. Recalls can only be performed by franchised new car dealers of the make that is recalled. Franchised car dealers prioritize recalls for their inventory cars and for their customers’ cars. They are also dealing with long waiting lists of these cars awaiting the requisite parts. With the Takata airbag inflator recall, the wait time is about about a year because of the lack of availability of parts. Letting  a used car sit on a dealer's lot for a year is a cost that few dealers will be willing to incur unless the law expressly requires it!

Sadly, another reason safety recalls are not being disclosed to customers is fear of loss of profit. As it should, telling a customer that they are buying a used car with a potentially deadly defective airbag reduces the value of that vehicle - especially when the customer learns he or she must drive that car for a year before a safe airbag can be installed. 

Because disclosure negatively impacts the affected vehicles' values, car dealers are caught between a rock and a hard place. If they attempt to retail the cars to fully informed customers, they have to slash the selling price and if they sell them at the wholesale auction they have the same problem. Florida consumers will also be adversely affected, as car dealers will not be able to offer as much money for trade-ins under this recall since the dealer knows he or she can’t resell it for as much as they could with a safe airbag. 

This presents an entirely new and different problem…an economic liability question. Everyone agrees that Takata is largely responsible for the reduction in value of the 75,000,000 vehicles with dangerous airbags. However, Takata is on the verge escaping responsibility through bankruptcy and/or selling out. This leaves the auto manufacturers with, potentially, all of the liability. The only parties that clearly have no responsibility in this are the owners of these affected cars and the dealers who  either do not sell Takata airbag equipped vehicles at all or who properly disclose the defective airbags, the full extent of the danger they present, and the difficulty involved in correcting the defect when replacement parts are unavailable. Unfortunately, honest dealers and uninformed purchasers are the only two parties that currently bear all of the economic loss.

Adding to the urgency of this crisis is the fact that the failure rate of Takata airbags is higher in Florida than most other states because of our high humidity which increases the risk of the airbag accelerant, ammonium nitrate, exploding. Furthermore, many of the cars recalled are older models, dating back to 2004 that have been on the highways for many years, and age is also a contributing factor to risk. 

Rick, if you have any questions or comments about this letter, please call me on my personal cell phone, 561-358-1474. If you would like to meet with me, I will fly to Tallahassee on a moment's notice. 

Best, 

Earl

Minimize the Pain and Inconvenience Having your Car Serviced and Repaired

Before I get into the pitfalls, it is important for you to understand how important it is to have your car serviced per the manufacturer’s recommendations. The pitfalls and consequences of not doing so can be equal to or greater than those you might experience at the hands of an incompetent or unethical service department.

I strongly recommend that you have your car serviced and repaired by a franchised dealer of the make of your vehicle. I know that this statement, coming from a franchised car dealer, may be met with some skepticism. Listen to my reasons before passing judgment. Modern vehicles are highly complex computerized machines requiring very sophisticated diagnostic equipment and highly trained technicians. The evolution of new, expensive diagnostic equipment requires constant updating. The evolution of car technology requires continuing education of dealers’ factory trained technicians who attend many weeks of schools every year. Forty years ago, it was possible for a good mechanic to fix anybody’s car. Those days are gone and your car needs a highly-trained specialist with the very latest diagnostic equipment. It is impossible for an independent service company to be competent in servicing and repairing all makes of automobiles.

Carefully choose the dealership that will service your car. You don’t have to take your car to the dealership that sold you the car for warranty repairs, as many believe. Every dealership of your make car will welcome your warranty and non-warranty work. Do your homework on which dealer has the best service department. Every dealer is graded in customer satisfaction by the manufacturer. Ask to see a copy of his CSI (customer satisfaction index) scores. Be forewarned that service satisfaction surveys can and are manipulated by car dealers (offering a free tank of gas to let the dealer fill out your survey). Many auto manufacturers have begun measuring their dealers’ service competence by the percentage of service customer that return for more service. It’s usually called SERVICE RETENTION. If a high percentage of service customers keep coming back, that dealer must be doing a good job. Check with the BBB and the County Office of Consumer Affairs.

When you take your car in for maintenance or repairs, always ask for an estimate. State law requires that a service department not exceed a written estimate by more than 10%. When paying your bill, scrutinize the detail to be sure that you know exactly what each charge means. Most service departments add a fee on top of everything else with various labels like “miscellaneous supplies”, “sundry supplies”, “environmental handling”, etc. This fee is simply a 5% or 10% charge tacked onto the total bill. If you object to this fee, which you certainly should, dealers will often waive it.

You will find that prices for maintenance like oil changes, alignments, tire rotation and balancing, etc. are usually priced competitively. On many new cars manufacturers are offering free maintenance for 2 or 3 years. Where you have to be careful is in the pricing of major repair items like transmission, engines, and air-conditioners. When quoted a price on a big repair, don’t be afraid to negotiate. If you let it be known that you are willing to take your car elsewhere (even if you’re bluffing), you can often negotiate the price down significantly.

You should always make an appointment before bringing your car in. Appointments should be scheduled at relative slow times and days. Avoid bringing your car in early on a Monday morning and other very busy times. You want the service advisor to spend as much time with you as is necessary. This will allow you to drive the car with the service advisor if necessary to identify a specific problem like a squeak, rattle or vibration. Pick your car up at a time when the service advisor or technician has time to road test the car with you again to be sure that the problem was fixed.

Don’t be shy about asking for a loaner car when you have to take your car back a 2nd or 3rd time for a repair that was not done properly. It’s the dealership’s fault and you should not be inconvenienced. On a comeback, always talk with the service manager directly. Be very careful that you really speak to the real service manager. Service salesmen are not managers. They are commissioned salesmen but they often identify themselves as service managers or assistant service managers. Also ask that they assign their best technician to the job. The technician that works on your car should have a few years’ experience and be ASE (American Association for Automotive Excellence) certified in the area of the car he’s working on…transmission, air conditioner, engine, etc.



Most car dealership and independent service departments will recommend “extra” maintenance not found in your car’s owner’s manual. You should be very skeptical of anything that your car’s manufacturer does not recommend. “Flushes” of the radiator and transmission are popular and expensive extras that are often recommended. A good rule of thumb is to “just say no”.

As I have said in earlier columns, there is nothing more important than choosing the right dealership to do business with. No service department is perfect and never makes a mistake. What you want to find is that service department that, in addition to being competent, will fess up to their occasional mistakes, sincerely apologize and make them right.

How Can I Learn the Dealer’s Cost on a Car?

It’s almost impossible for you to determine the true cost of a new car. This might sound crazy, but many dealers don’t know the true cost of their cars. The manufacturers and distributors invoice their dealers for an amount when they ship them a car that is almost always several thousands of dollars more than the true cost. It’s fair to say that in virtually every case the “invoice” for a new car is much higher than the true cost. By true cost, I am referring to cost as defined by GAAP, generally accepted accounting principals.

You probably have heard about “holdback”. That is an amount of money added into the invoice of a car ranging from 1% to 3% of the MSRP which is kicked back to the dealer after he has paid the invoice. In some cases there are two holdbacks…one from the manufacturer and one from a distributor. Some manufacturers include the cost of regional advertising in the invoice which offsets the dealer’s advertising costs. Another common charge included in invoices is “floor plan assistance”. This goes to offset the dealer’s cost of financing the new cars in his inventory. Another is “PDI” or pre-delivery inspection expense which reimburses the dealer for preparing the car for delivery to you. I could name several more, depending on the manufacturer or distributor. Some of these monies that are returned to the dealer are not shown as profit on dealers’ financial statement and some are. Technically a dealer could say that the cost he showed you reflected all the profit (by definition of his financial statement), but the fact would remain that more money would come to back to him after he sold you the car. To me (and the IRS) that’s called profit.

Besides holdbacks and reimbursements for expenses, you must contend with customer and dealer incentives (usually referred to as customer cash or dealer cash) when trying to figure out the cost of that new car. You will probably be aware of the customer incentives, but not the dealer incentives. Most dealers prefer and lobby the manufacturers for dealer rather than customer incentives just for that reason. Also, performance incentives are paid to dealers for selling a certain number of cars during a given time frame. These usually expire at the end of a month and are one reason why it really is smart to buy a new car on the last day of the month.

Last but not least, remember the “dealer fee”, “dealer prep fee”, “doc fee”, “dealer inspection fee”, electronic filing fee, tag agency fee, etc. which is added to the price you were quoted by the salesman.. It is printed on the buyer’s order and is lumped into the real fees such as Florida sales tax and tag and registration fees. Most dealers in Florida (it is illegal in many states) charge this fee which ranges from $500 to $3,000. If you are making your buying decision on your perceived cost of the car, even if you were right, here is up to $3,000 more in profit to the dealer.

Hopefully you can now understand why it is virtually impossible to precisely know the cost of the new car you are contemplating buying. Most often the salesman and sales manager is not completely versed on the cost either. Checking the cost on a good Internet site like www.kbb.com or www.edmunds.com is about the best you can do. Consumer Reports is another good source. One reason that Internet sites don’t always have the right invoice price is that different distributors for cars invoice their dealers at different prices.

Do not decide to buy a car because the dealer has agreed to sell it to you for “X dollars above his cost/invoice”. This statement is virtually meaningless. You are playing into the dealer’s hands when you offer to buy or he offers to sell his car at a certain amount above his cost. As I have advised you in an earlier column, you can only be assured of getting the best price by shopping several dealers for the exact same car and getting an “out the door” price plus tax and tag only.

Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware)

Car Dealers Can Fool all the People Some of the Time

Almost everyone has read Abraham Lincoln’s popular saying, “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.” I think Abe meant this to be a positive assertion that government may get away with deceiving us for a while, but in the long run, truth justice and the American way will prevail…and I think he was right.

However, it doesn’t work that way with unethical car dealers and car buyers. It always has been “caveat emptor”, or “buyer beware when it comes to buying or servicing a car. Unfortunately for a buyer to “beware” he must be “aware” …that is to say educated, mature, sophisticated and experienced. This excludes a very large segment of our population including the very young, the very old, the uneducated, those with low I.Q.’s and those not proficient in the English language. Is this one reason why our regulators and elected politicians don’t seem to care or act with respect to the rampant unfair and deceptive sales practices of a large number of Florida car dealers? Most elected officials and regulators are lawyers and are highly educated and sophisticated. They don’t have a problem buying or servicing a car. In fact, the car dealer that tries to take advantage of a lawyer, regulator, or politician is asking for trouble.

I’ve been writing this column/blog and broadcasting my radio show, Earl Stewart on Cars, for over seven years. I sometimes feel that I’m “preaching to the choir” when it comes to advising people how to avoid getting ripped off by a car dealer. You, my readers and listeners, largely fall into the category of the educated and sophisticated, aware buyer. Most of you aren’t taken advantage of when you buy or service your car because you won’t allow it. Unfortunately, there are enough uneducated, naive, and otherwise vulnerable consumers to feed those unethical car dealers who prey on the defenseless among us. All you must do is read some of the online or TV car advertisements. To the educated, sophisticated buyer, these ads are actually funny if you can forget the fact that so many fall prey to them and are taken advantage of by the dealers. For example, it’s hard for you or me to believe that anybody would respond to an advertisement without reading the fine print. Many dealers today are advertising prices that, when you read the fine print, are understated by many thousands of dollars. When you or I see a dealer stating that the car price is plus “freight”, we are educated enough to understand that the law requires that the freight cost be already included in the price. A shrewd buyer knows that “dealer list” is not the same thing as MSRP and that a large discount from “dealer list” means absolutely nothing. We know that the “lowest price guarantee” is worthless if the dealer reserves the right to buy the car from the other dealer that offers a lower price.

There are those who argue that all buyers have the responsibility to guard against unethical sellers, to take care of themselves. In fact, that’s the literal translation of the Latin legal term “caveat emptor” …let the buyer beware. That’s sounds good, but what about the elderly widow whose husband recently died and who never had to make the decision on a major purchase in her entire life? What about the young person just out of school with no experience in the real world? How about the first generation immigrant who struggles with English? Should we be concerned about our underprivileged classes who often drop out of school because they must go to work to support themselves or their family? You and I know lots of good people who, for one reason or another, simply can’t cope with a slick car or service salesman.

My bottom line is this, since we can’t rely on our regulators and politicians to protect those who “can be fooled all the time”, maybe we owe it to society to protect these folks. If you know someone who is thinking about buying a car or has a service problem with her car and you feel she may not have the ability to fend for herself with the car dealer, offer your support. If you’re one of the people who needs support, ask someone who can go “toe to toe” with a car dealer to come with you when you are car shopping. By the way, nobody, sophisticated or not, should car shop alone. Two heads are always better than one and it’s always a good idea to have a witness to what was said during a negotiation. And, of course, if you don’t have the time to help a person or you’re that person, you can always call me…I’m always here for you.

Ten Tips on Buying the Right Used Car

I sell new and used cars, but if I was not a car dealer and I needed to buy a car, I would buy a used one instead of a new. This is because a used car is a better value. You get more for your money due to avoiding the initial rapid depreciation of a new car. I use the term “used car” in this article because I despise mumbo jumbo euphemisms like “pre-owned”. A used car is a used car is a used car.

(1) Never buy a used car without a CarFax or Autocheck report. The dealer should provide you with one at no charge because any dealer worth his salt runs a historry report on every used car he trades in or buys to protect him. Simply don’t buy a used car from anybody that does not give you this report. CarFax and Autocheck reports now have, not only the information about collision damage, floods damage, previous odometer reading, and title issues, (all obtained from insurance records) but also the mechanical repair history (obtained from dealer records). The history report also shows outstanding safety recalls, but I also recommend that you double check this with the NHTSA, National Highway Traffic Safety Association at www.SaferCar.gov. In my experience, vehicle history reports misses safety recalls about 30% of the time. Unfortunately, there is no law requiring car dealers to even disclose an unfixed safety recall and most dealers are willingly selling their customers cars with dangerous safety recall like Takata airbags.

(2) Have your car inspected by an independent mechanic. Insist on having the used car you are thinking about buying inspected by your mechanic, not affiliated with the dealer. This should cost you no more than $150 and will be money well spent. The mechanic should look, not only for mechanical issues, but body and flood damage. If the mechanic finds some minor things that need fixing, insist that the dealer take care of these and include it in the price he already quoted you. If the dealer won’t allow this, don’t buy from him.

(3) Consult Consumer Reports, www.KBB.com, and www.Edmunds.com. These sources have complete information on the safety, reliability, maintenance cost, and even what a fair price is to pay for any used car. Consumer Reports lists the “Best and Worst Used Cars”. This is great guide and don’t ever buy a used car that’s on the “worst list”.

(4) A Certified Used Car is only as good as the dealer who sold it to you. Most manufacturers don’t even require that the dealer fix open safety recalls to call the car “Certified”. All manufacturers sponsor “certified” used cars of their make. The main reason for this is that they like to sell the dealer warranties that the dealer then marks up and sells to you. A secondary reason the manufacturers do this is to enhance the resale value of their make car. This helps them sell more new cars because of the higher trade in value and the higher residual values on cars they lease enhance their profits. You can buy a warranty for used car even if it’s not certified, but in a certified used car it’s usually included in the price (which makes the price higher). One good thing about manufacturers’ certified programs is that sometimes the manufacturer will offer you lower financing rates. Certified used cars require that the dealer inspect all critical parts of the car and fill out a checklist that is anywhere from 75 to 150 items. That’s all well and good but how carefully is this inspection being done and by whom? You should ask to see a copy of the check list and ask about the qualification of the mechanic who performed and signed the inspection. All too often, the dealer assigns the lowest priced mechanic he has to perform these checks. It’s questionable whether he even performs all of them. A red flag is if you notice a straight line drawn through all of the check boxes instead of them being checked off individually.

(5) Money Back Guarantee. A lot of dealers advertise that if you change your mind about the car you bought you can bring it back and exchange it for another. This is a worthless guarantee. You can be sure that they will pick the car and the price of the car they will exchange it for and will end up making an additional profit. CarMax has a reasonable guarantee which refunds all your money within five days with restriction that the car is returned in the same condition that it was sold. CarMax is a good place to buy a used car.

(6) Contact the previous owner of the car. The previous owner of the used car should be happy to talk to you. Insist that the seller provide you with his telephone number. If the dealer sold the car to that owner as a new or used car and serviced it, ask if you can see the service file.

(7) Test drive the car just as you will be driving it later. Simply taking the car for a spin around the block with the salesman is not enough. I recommend that you drive the car in the manner and places that you will be driving it when you own it. Take it out on the expressway if you do a lot of higher speed driving. You should drive the car for at least a few hours at all the same speeds, conditions, and on the same roads that you normally experience. Park the car, back it up, and take a friend for ride to get their opinion. You don’t want to have any surprises when you bring it home for keeps.

(8) The Internet is the best place to shop for your used car. Most dealers today display all their used car inventory right on their website along with the prices. These prices are close to the real price you will pay. The dealer knows that he won’t get many responses if he overprices his used cars. Shopping on the Internet give you ample opportunity to compare the same or similar used cars with lots of different dealers. As always, call the dealer before you come in to confirm the Internet price is an out-the-door price without a dealer fee, doc fee, dealer prep, etc. www.TrueCar.com and www.CostcoAuto.com are good choices to buy a used car.

(9) Commit all of the dealer’s promises to writing. Take notes of everything the salesman and sales manager promises you such as “we’ll fix that CD player if you’ll bring your car in next week” or “if you ever have a problem with the car we’ll give you a free loaner when you come in for service”. Make those notes part of the buyer’s order and be sure that a manager signs it. It’s also a good idea to always shop with a friend. In a “He said she said” situation, two people trump one.

(10) Get at least three bids on financing. Know what your lowest interest rate is for the year, make, and model car you’re buying. Get quotes from your bank or credit union and at least one other bank in addition to the rate your dealer offers you. If you do use your dealer’s financing, be sure you know and understand everything that’s included in your finance contract. You will be offered products like warranties, GAP insurance, maintenance, road hazard insurance, etc. It’s illegal for a dealer to tie your acceptance for financing or interest rate to your buying a warranty or any other product.

THE LOWEST PRICED CAR CAN END UP BEING THE MOST EXPENSIVE

Too often car buyers focus on buying the car that fulfills their preferences of styling, size, and accessories that they can buy for the lowest price. There are other important cost considerations you should look at before buying the cheapest alternative.

Resale value is the number one consideration that is most often overlooked by car buyers. All cars depreciate, but some hold their value a lot better than others. You might save a thousand dollars by choosing to buy one used or new car over another more expensive make and model. But if the make and model that cost $1,000 more, held its value by $2,000 more over the 3 years you owned the car before trading it back in, the “lowest priced car” was really $1,000 more expensive.

There are several ways you can check on how much cars will depreciate. A good one is to check the resale value of that same make of car that is 3 or 4 years old. You can also find this information on the Internet. Kelly Blue Book, for example is www.KBB.com. If you are thinking about buying a new 2017 car of a particular model and make, find out what a 2014 model sells for today. Compare other makes and models.

Maintenance and repair cost are the second biggest factors in measuring the true cost of a car. When a car has a relatively higher depreciation, one of the biggest reasons is probably because it is more prone to break down. Check Consumer Reports or surf the Web to find the projected repair histories of the cars you are comparing. Saving $1,000 on a make and model is not very significant when you are facing the cost of a blown transmission or engine. Does the manufacturer provide complimentary maintenance? This should be a factor to consider as well.

Big cash rebates and big discounts are not necessarily a good thing. First you must ask yourself, why is it necessary for this manufacturer to giving me such a big cash rebate (I have seen them advertised as high as $11,000) to sell his car? You will generally find that the manufacturers of higher quality, higher demand cars offer fewer rebates and discounts. These are also the manufacturers of cars that depreciate less and cost less in terms of repairs. Big rebates and discounts also negatively affect a cars resale value. It’s what you could call “vicious cycle”. A car is hard to sell because of its high repair costs and high depreciation so the manufacturer pays a big cash rebate to sell it. The rebate lowers the value of the used car of that make and model because the price of a used car directly tied to the cost of that same new car.

You will be surprised how much the color of the car you buy can affect the resale value. Think about it. The color was very important to you when you bought your last car. It is just as important to the person who will be buying the car you trade in. The most popular colors are white, silver, beige, and black. If you have a “thing” for green, blue, orange, or another unusual color, it can negatively affect the resale value of that car by over $2,000. I’m not suggesting that you always buy a white car, but if you like white, silver, beige, and black you are going to get more money for that trade-in than if you like blue and green. Bright colors can be good for certain models. Red is a popular convertible color for example.

Be sure to check your cost of insurance before you make a final decision. Cars with side air-bags, highly rated in collision and rollover tests, relatively low cost of repair especially for bumpers, and non-high-performance cars have much lower insurance rates.

Cars are no different than any product that you buy when it comes to the principal of “the cheapest product is usually not the best value”. You buy a quality pair of shoes, paying more than you would for a cheap, poorly made pair because they will look good and wear many times longer. Shopping for the lowest price is a very good idea, but only after you have chosen a car that has low depreciation, operating costs, and cost of repair.

EARL STEWART QUOTED IN CURRENT FORBES MAGAZINE

You can also access the article below by going to: www.ForbesOnDangerousAutoCrashParts.com


Widespread Use Of Uncertified "Grey Market" Parts For Car Repairs May Undermine Crash Safety

by Diana Hembree

Aftermath of a crash
After a car crash, car repair and body shops often install “aftermarket” or “knock-off” replacement parts that are cheaper than the original parts, saving consumers lots of money. The Insurance Information Institute reports that aftermarket parts have saved consumers more than $2.2 billion in repair costs since 2010. The bad news: The bulk of these parts are not certified for quality and safety.

Knock-off parts purchased on the so-called “grey market” aren’t really an issue when it comes to fenders, grills and other cosmetic features that don’t affect safety. But structural parts like hoods and bumpers are another matter, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. If those parts aren’t up to standard, the cheap car repair could come at a very high price.

“I refuse to use aftermarket parts,” says Florida car dealer Earl Stewart, a consumer advocate based in North Palm Beach who has worked in body shops for the last 47 years. A poorly made part, he says, “can make the difference between airbag deployment and someone’s head going through the windshield.”

Controversy over aftermarket parts safety
Unless you've been hanging around repair shops lately, you may not have heard of aftermarket parts and OEMS. Here's a quick review: Some replacement parts come from Original Equipment Manufacturers, or OEMS, which use carmaker specifications to create a blueprint so their copy will be identical to the "genuine" parts from the carmaker. Aftermarket auto parts are copies of an original part. Some are certified for quality by a non-profit organization, and others aren’t.

The safety of aftermarket parts became a hot issue in 2010, when Consumer Reports reported computer-simulated crash tests from Ford showing that knock-off bumpers and radiator parts could cause the airbag system to malfunction.

Here’s how it’s supposed to work: An impact on the bumper sends vibrations through the vehicle body to the airbag sensors, which then trigger the airbag to deploy if necessary. In one Ford Mustang test, the magazine noted, the original Ford bumper was one piece made from “ultra-high-strength steel.” The aftermarket copy, in contrast, was created from two pieces of weak steel that were spot-welded together. The weaker bumper sent a different signal to the sensors, a potentially dangerous scenario.

Amid growing concerns about the safety of aftermarket replacement parts, an independent non-profit called the Certified Automotive Parts Association (CAPA) stepped forward to certify the structural auto parts.

CAPA’s goal is to provide high-quality alternatives to both shoddy knockoffs and expensive car company brand parts. “What’s different about us is that we don’t have any vested interest in the sale of these parts,” says CAPA executive director Jack Gillis. “The heart of our program is the public interest.”

Proven parts
CAPA puts the parts through a rigorous testing process, including crash-testing for car bumpers. A video on CAPA’s website shows an uncertified bumper exploding in a crash while a CAPA-tested bumper survives unscathed:

Gillis says the exploding bumper underscores the need for certification. “Some of these replacement parts look really great, and even an industry professional can’t tell the difference by looking at them,” he says. “Only testing will reveal whether they’re as safe and durable as the original and perform the way they’re supposed to.”

CAPA, which also tests cosmetic auto parts, has certified about 20 percent – or 85 million certified parts -- of all the replacement parts on the market.

To receive the certification, a manufacturer first has to pass a detailed inspection of its factory and manufacturing process. If that happens, the manufacturer can submit replacement parts to CAPA for a battery of different tests, all of which are available to the public. The nonprofit's tests have found everything from corrosion problems and substandard metal to missing hood reinforcement plates.

Your Car Insurance Company Hates Earl Stewart Toyota's Body Shop

This article was written by Alan Nappier, my Body Shop manager. I’ve owned and operated body shops for over four decades…at one time I owned five! I’ve never had a body shop manager as qualified as Alan and never had one that put the customer first 100% of the time the way Alan does. By putting the customer first, I mean considering the customers’ needs above those of the insurance company that pays us for repairing the customer’s car. Please read what Alan has to say carefully:


So, you had an accident and called your insurance company to report it and things seemed to be going pretty smoothly….. Then you told them you were taking your car to Earl Stewart and everything started getting weird…. The claims adjusters’ demeanor inexplicably just changed…. And NOT for the better!! Suddenly they’re telling you they that have a perfect shop in mind for you that will get your car in and out in a hurry and the whole process will be effortless for you. Yep, it’ll be such a great experience, you’ll be GLAD you had an accident. You thank them politely and tell them you’re just more comfortable repairing your vehicle at Earl Stewart, where you bought the car and know and trust the people.

Now it seems like the adjuster is downright angry with you and the real pressure tactics start!! They start making vague yet ominous sounding statements about Earl Stewart Toyota, almost as if they’re letting you in on a dirty little secret….. “We can’t guarantee their work….” “We’ve had problems with that shop….” “They charge more than we allow for repairs and you will have to pay out of pocket…” “If you take it to our shop, you won’t have to wait for an adjuster…” “They ignore our estimates…” The list goes on and on, but, they’re planting their seeds of doubt…. And now you’re concerned and thinking “Earl Stewart Toyota must have done something to cause this hostility by my insurance company…”, after all, your insurance company only has your best interest in mind…..

Well, you’re right, we DID do something to cause your insurance company to hate us and I’d like to tell you what….. We actually had the audacity to tell your insurance company something that they’re not used to hearing…. “NO!!” and they reacted like any spoiled 3 year old would who’s never heard the word before.

But wait, you’re still “in good hands” right? Wrong!! Your insurance company will instruct “their” repair facility to install untested aftermarket crash parts on your vehicle, even knowing that these parts can absorb crash energy differently and affect the timing of your air bag deployment, resulting in possible death and serious injury.

Here’s the really crazy thing…. The insurance company’s “approved” repair shop will do it!! Do you see what’s going on here? Everybody’s making out like Jesse James!! The insurance company is saving money, the body shop is making money, and you? You’re getting scammed!! Your insurance company has been provided with countless documents, provided by the vehicle manufacturers that state that these “cosmetic crash parts” are actually “designed and tested as part of the overall vehicle and may help send impact energy to the SRS sensors. In addition, some of these parts may help GM, Chrysler, Ford, Toyota, for Nissan vehicles comply with several Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) including hood intrusion in the passenger cabin, preservation of proper door operation following a collision and proper airbag function.

You may be thinking “Well, if these parts are that bad, surely there’s a law against using them without my permission…” You’re right again!! Florida statute 626.9743 states “An insurer may not require the use of replacement parts in the repair of a motor vehicle which are not at least equivalent in kind and quality to the damaged parts prior to the loss in terms of fit, appearance, and performance.” Sounds like an open and shut case, eh? The law doesn’t say “if the insurance company believes they’re the equivalent”. It doesn’t say anything about “if the insurance company hopes they’re the equivalent”. The insurance companies need to prove these cheap parts are the exact equivalent to the original factory parts to be in compliance with the law or stop mandating their use. Right? I thought so too….

So, I wrote a letter to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation!! Went right to the top, straight to Commissioner Kevin McCarty (well, his office anyway…. he’s got “people” for that…). After much arm twisting via the Florida CFO’s office, the FL OIR begrudging agreed to “investigate” our concerns. After a couple of months, we received their response “We have concluded our investigation and found no violation of the Florida Insurance Code.”, and my favorite part….“Generally speaking, the burden of proof that an aftermarket part is not of like kind and quality or as safe as an OEM part rests with the one making that assertion, as opposed to one having to prove that the aftermarket part is of like kind and quality and as safe as OEM.” Huh?? That one left me scratching my head. Why have a consumer protection law at all then? Your insurance company can mandate the usage of any part they desire, so long as it looks the same. Nobody really complains though because, as they say, “dead men tell no tales…”The jury’s still out on this one, but rest assured WE WILL NOT USE AFTERMARKET PARTS TO REPAIR YOUR VEHICLE.! (p.s. Also check out Title 49, Chapter 301 Subchapter II Sec. 30122 "Making Safety Devices and Elements Inoperative" in the Federal Code-you can Google it).

How about used crash parts then?? Your insurance estimator will tell you “they’re factory original parts taken off of a car that’s just like yours”. Really? Was your car damaged so severely that it was deemed a total loss and ended up in a junk yard? The car they want to cannibalize to get your replacement parts was. We won’t even know if the donor car was damaged in an accident, a flood or even a fire and quite frankly, we don’t care-WE’RE NOT GOING TO USE THESE PARTS EITHER!!

Well, what about Earl Stewart overcharging for labor??? THAT sounds pretty shady….. let’s talk about it…. I recently had my lawn mower repaired and it cost me $65 per hour and having an electrician fix my air conditioning at home cost me $75 per hour (plus gas & travel time), plumbers and a/c repairmen are $100+ per hour. If you have mechanical work on your car, it’s liable to cost you anywhere from $100 to $200+ per hour, depending on the repair shop and type of car.

The insurance companies feel that $42 an hour is more than fair to have your collision damaged vehicle repaired and they won’t pay a dime more. If you want to repair your vehicle here, they will tell you that you’ll have to pay the difference out of pocket OR, well….. they know a guy…… Ironically, back in the early 70’s, when Allstate and Sears were all part of the same company, Sears wouldn’t repair your toaster for less than $12 an hour while at the same time Allstate wouldn’t pay more than $7 an hour to have your vehicle repaired. Hilarious, ain’t it? Back in the 60’s, the insurance industry running roughshod over the repair industry was so pervasive and blatant that the Kennedy Administration tackled them before they even got started on the Mafia!!! (see 1963 Consent Decree-Google is your friend) What the insurance industry is doing to the repair industry is a clear violation of antitrust laws and we are part of a class action lawsuit to try to put a stop to it. WE WILL NOT MAKE YOU PAY THE DIFFERENCE IN LABOR RATES!!

Then we get to “charging for supplies and labor operations not customarily charged for in the market area”. This basically means that because they’ve been able to badger, coerce and intimidate some repair shops into not charging for certain supplies and labor operations necessary to return your car to pre-accident condition, they should not have to pay it to anybody whether they ask for it or not. Your insurance company won’t dispute that the materials are being used or the labor operations performed, nor will they dispute the necessity. Their only problem is having to pay for it because at some point, long ago, somebody “cut a deal” to get more business sent their way and it then became the “new norm” for every shop. We will never charge for a labor operation or supplies that cannot be verified. WE WILL NOT MAKE YOU PAY THE DIFFERENCE.

Now you’re probably saying “I never get into accidents so I can’t believe I’m still reading this. Can this guy just get to the point??” and the answer is “YES! Yes I can!!” Please don’t fall victim to your insurance companies scare tactics! The top 5 insurance companies spent over $4,000,000,000 (yep, that’s $4 BILLION) last year to convince you that they’re good guys so that you will buy their product (GEICO alone spent over $1 Billion if that tells you anything). Sometimes, there’s not enough perfume to cover up a smell and not enough lipstick to pretty up a pig and this is one of those times.

Please go to some consumer websites and check out how these insurance companies perform once you’ve had to turn in a claim (a.k.a. became an expense to them). Also keep in mind, the shops that enter into these unholy alliances with the insurance companies see them as their #1 priority and best customer and they will do whatever they are told to stay in their good graces. The insurance company feeds the shop lots of work and the shop does what they’re told to keep the repair cheap. It’s a marriage made in Hell. The repair shops that participate in this fraud are just as, or maybe even guiltier than the insurance companies. They should know better, but, it’s all about the money (insert photo of pigs at trough HERE) ;)

If you have already had your vehicle repaired at one of these direct repair shops and you’re not exactly sure how your car was repaired, bring it by with the invoice and the final estimate and we’ll be glad to take a look at it for you. If the vehicle has not been repaired properly, we’ll point out the deficiencies so that you can return to the shop for corrective repairs. If they repaired your car with aftermarket or junkyard parts, you may be entitled to higher than normal diminished value compensation. WHAT?? Your insurance company didn’t tell you that your car is worth less now and you’re entitled to additional compensation?? You might want to contact Gordon and Doner, they have a division that can handle that for you. If your insurance company has pressured you to not have your car repaired at Earl Stewart Toyota, please email me the details at alann@estoyota.com or Mr. Stewart at earl@estoyota.com and share the gory details.

Earl Stewart Toyota will repair your vehicle properly, per the manufacturers’ recommendations and only with new OEM crash parts. We will guarantee our paint, our workmanship AND the OEM replacement crash parts, for as long as you own your car. That’s right, I said AND THE PARTS!! The manufacturers’ warranty for replacement parts is 12 months or 12K miles. Earl Stewart Toyota will pick up the warranty after Toyota’s warranty expires, this includes parts, materials and any necessary labor to paint and install the failed part. Everything!! If we are unable to convince your insurance company to pay in full for the properly repaired property damage, with your written permission we will initiate action on your behalf to recover the funds. Ultimately, it is YOU who are responsible for ensuring your vehicle is repaired properly. You already had an accident; don’t let your insurance company force you into making a mistake.