The Lemon Law Blog

Car buyers in the market for a used car now have a powerful tool to protect against dealer fraud, title washing, sale of rebuilt wrecks and other deceptive practices. The National Motor Vehicle Titling Information System (NMVTIS), a nation-wide database of used vehicle history is up and running. Consumer advocates have fought for many years to establish such a national public database for used cars and trucks. The car industry fought back and successfully stalled the implementation of this important mandate for a long time. But the waiting is over.

Rosemary Shahan, the executive director of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety and a tireless advocate for California drivers, emphasizes, "For used car buyers, this is the most valuable information, at the lowest price. Consumers should check this database first, then if they want more info, check Carfax and Experian. And of course ALWAYS get a vehicle thoroughly inspected by a trusted auto tech / body shop BEFORE agreeing to buy it."

Beginning in January 2010, every state now contributes to this valuable internet resource. Shahan is optimistic when she says, "Keep in mind that the national database has been receiving reports from over 8,000 insurers and junkyards, from all 50 states, and the data has to be updated every 30 days." The NMVTIS website itself cautions that it is only as good as its various sources, warning that there may be some variation in state reporting requirements. Although not foolproof, NMVTIS is an important step toward highway safety.

Hertz, Avis, Budget, Thrifty, Dollar and Enterprise are all household names for daily rental cars. The ease and convenience of pay-per-day driving is a blessing to the traveler, whether on business or for pleasure. On the other hand, we've all returned from a trip saying, "Nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there." The same can be said of rental cars.

Despite what the car companies say, daily rental drivers just don’t treat those cars and trucks like their own. All too many otherwise responsible people don’t bother about running up over a curb, leaving gum in the cupholder, slamming on the brakes or stripping the gears. Day after day, someone unfamiliar with the vehicle is at the controls. Innumerable poor driving incidents will go unnoticed at the end of the day. We even heard about one fellow who drove off with the gas pump nozzle still connected to the fuel tank, ripping the fuel cap hinge off in the process. Although possibly invisible on return to Hertz or Avis, these small defects add up over the short eventful life of a Prior Daily Rental. And that’s not all. A predictably large percentage of PDRs (as Prior Daily Rentals are known in the trade) come out of service in two states: Florida and Hawaii. These two locales are great for a holiday, but the environment is tough on any car or truck. Rust and corrosion are common problems with Prior Daily Rentals. Most troublesome is the fact that many rental cars and trucks are in serious accidents involving body and frame damage that diminish the safety and overall life of the vehicle.

Did you ever stop to think what happens to all of those prior daily rental cars? After somewhere between 15,000 and 30,000 miles on the odometer, they are taken out of fleet service and shipped throughout the 50 states. They then re-enter the marketplace in a wide variety of used car markets. Some are resold at dealer-only auctions.

Consumer protection laws in California require that Prior Daily Rentals must be disclosed as such. It is a clear violation of law to knowingly fail to disclose a vehicle’s history as a PDR. Why? The public policy behind the law is clear: the fact is important to the decision to buy or not to buy a particular car or truck, and certainly material to the price someone would pay. Some experts say the difference in value is 20-25% -- but many consumers say they would not buy a PDR at any price. The risk of frame damage, invisible rust or corrosion, and just plain poor driving habits day-in and day-out over the vehicle history are deterrents about which most used car buyers really want to know. The failure to make the disclosure required by law at the time of sale is deceptive; and when a single dealer makes a pattern of this concealment, that can be a deceptive business practice.

Unfortunately, cars often change hands only to have the title sent later in the mail, or even worse, sent only to the bank as lienholder. Used car buyers should protect themselves against these deceptive practices by ordering a CarFax report when they buy a used car.Whether we handle a PDR non-disclosure case as an individual matter or a class action, a CarFax report is one step in our investigation.

If you bought a low-mileage used car that seems to suffer from a high level of driveability or suspension problems, rust or corrosion, small dents and dings – not to mention that dangling fuel cap hinge – give us a call.

Car dealers sell you two separate things whenever you buy a car or truck, unless you pay cash for the full purchase price. They sell you (1) the vehicle itself and (2) the means to pay for it. You probably test drove the car. But did you “test drive” the financing? If you merely looked at the monthly payment, it is as though you kicked the tires, but failed to look under the hood.

It is important to remember that you pay one amount for the “wheels and steel” and you pay another amount for the lease or loan. Unless you pay cash, each of these items is a separate profit center for the seller. Many consumers who come to see us are surprised to learn that, just as the cash price of the vehicle is negotiable, so are terms of the financing.

It’s a good idea to take a calculator and scribble pad to make your own notes. That way you have your own record of what was said. If you were responding to an ad, keep a copy of that ad. Once you decide on a car, have the terms of the window sticker right at hand. Decide before you go whether you want to lease or buy, and the total you want to pay over a set period of time. When you are in the midst of deciding between black or tan interior, you may not notice a bait and switch.

You might deal with the salesman on the lot and the “F&I guy” (finance & insurance) in the office. The F&I guy loves to speak in terms of “win-win” situations. That’s when things can start to get slippery. Here’s a checklist to help you “test drive” the financing:

1) Is your credit application accurate? Never sign it in blank.

2) Is the contract labeled Lease or Retail Installment Sales Contract (loan)?

3) What is the cash price of the vehicle?
How is that different from the total amount you will pay?

4) What was the highest and lowest interest spread the bank is willing to offer?

5) If there is a rebate, where is that stated on the contract?

6) Does the contract list the add-ons and accessories you are paying for?

Are these all things you wanted, at the price you negotiated to pay?
In a lease, these should be in a box labeled “Itemization of Gross Capitalized Cost”

7) If you have a trade-in, are you being given a credit or being charged a negative?

And how much? Is that what you negotiated?

8) Cross out any mandatory arbitration clause in the contract.

If it is a “take-it-or- leave-it” requirement, note that in writing or walk away.

9) Calculate not just the monthly payments, but the number of months.

Look at the total figure you are agreeing to pay.
Do you know enough about your job, family and future finances
to know you can still pay that monthly amount at the end of the term?

10) Is the VIN on the contract the same as the VIN on the car you actually test drove?

A class action against Autowest Dodge and its parent AutoNation was certified as a class action last week in San Francisco Superior Court. We are the attorneys representing the class. The case involves the failure of the dealer to disclose the itemization of capitalized cost in the precise manner required by law. The class also claims the dealer altered the leases after the consumer signed it and left the dealership.

The unauthorized alteration of documents after they are signed is a kind of forgery. Leases are filled out at the dealership in triplicate, or even quadruplicate. The consumer of course thinks the forms are identical. What a shock it is for consumers to discover the bank got more information that they did.

Some consumers did not keep their leases or cannot find them to compare the documents to those produced by the dealer and/or the bank. While this case can be proved otherwise, consumers are well advised to keep all such documents as a routine matter, even after the lease has expired.