Deaths from Dangerous Recalls Are the fault of our Legislators

Clearly auto manufacturers are partly to blame for the millions of vehicles on our highways with unfixed, dangerous recalls, like Takata airbags that explode in the driver’s face like a hand grenade. But the auto makers didn’t build cars with dangerous problems on purpose; it was a mistake.

Our lawmakers could get virtually all these cars repaired very quickly just by passing a law to make it ILLEGAL TO SELL A VEHICLE WITH A DANGEROUS RECALL. Their lack of action on this issue is not a mistake; it’s premeditated to enhance their chances of reelection.

You may be thinking that the auto makers are doing all they can because they issue recall notices to drivers and will fix their cars free when the owner brings it to one of their dealers. One wonders how many recalls would be issued if they weren’t required to do so by the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, NHTSA.

The reason that recalls don’t solve the problem is that only 1 out of 4 recalled cars is ever fixed. That’s because most drivers of recalled vehicles are unaware that their vehicles have been recalled and many procrastinate or just don’t care enough to have it fixed. Also, there are hundreds of thousands of recalled cars for which there’s no fix available.

Older recalled cars are often the most dangerous, especially those recalled for defective Takata airbags that become more dangerous over time. A driver of a 2010 used Honda could easily be the second, third or even fourth owner. The chances of that owner receiving a recall notice in the mail are slim. When the car was purchased new, there was no recall. When the car was subsequently sold by used car dealers, there was almost certainly no disclosure made to the buyer. Most states don’t require the disclosure. When and if a disclosure is made, it’s usually buried in the fine print. Yes, this information is available to buyers online via CarFax, NHTSA, and the manufacturers, but the reality is that very, very few used car buyers avail themselves of this.

I’ve mystery shopped dozens and dozens of car dealerships in South Florida over the last three years and virtually everyone is selling cars with dangerous recalls and no disclosure. Many car salesmen lie about the recall, saying there is no recall, or the recall was fixed. Many tell the buyer that all she must do is take it the new car dealer and have it fixed when he knows there is no fix available. You can read these mystery shopping reports at http://www.mysteryshoppingreports.com/.

The auto manufacturers and car dealers are fully aware of all the above, but if they voluntarily refused to sell a recalled car to a customer it would have a significant negative economic impact. The auto manufacturers and many of the car dealerships (AutoNation, CarMax, Penske, Sonic) are publicly owned companies. A public company has a fiduciary responsibility to their stockholders to make a profit by every legal means. Mike Jackson, then CEO of AutoNation, made the right and moral decision not to retail used cars with defective recalls to its customers. After a year of declining used car profits and outcries from stockholders, he reluctantly began retailing these dangerous cars.

The only way to get these dangerous vehicles off the road, fixed and safely back on the road is for our federal and state legislators to make it illegal to sell a vehicle with a defective recall. This is almost laughably simple and obvious. It’s also sadly simple and obvious that the only reason they don’t is because they will lose the financial support for reelection from the auto makers and auto dealers.