Newspapers, Bad Used Cars and Consumer Action
I am trying to buy a used car. Today after a supposedly reputable dealer tried to pawn a Manufacturer Buyback Car or Lemon on me, I began to think of the limitations of newspapers–and I might add lawmakers– and the online power of citizens.
The phone rang, it was the salesman from KIA of Atlanta North saying wow are we in luck. I found just the car you wanted. A 2005 Toyota Corolla with just 13,000 miles. Asking price $13,888, but we can negotiate it.
I got the VIN number — and ran a CarFax and up popped a big red ALERT sign.
Here is what it said:
ALERT! A manufacturer buyback was reported by a DMV for this 2005 TOYOTA COROLLA CE/LE/S 1NXBR32E95Z374966). This vehicle does NOT qualify for the CARFAX Buyback Guarantee.
Interesting that it got sold and then bought back by the manufacturer in Ohio and then sold to Georgia, where the KIA dealer was trying to sell me this Lemon. Maybe it landed in Georgia because according to a recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution article:
You live in a state where . . .
* Complaints against car dealers are kept secret.
* The agency regulating used car dealers is stacked with industry representatives.
* Dealers can repeatedly violate the law before facing penalties.
As senior member of the state agency that regulates Georgia’s used car dealers, Donny Riner has an observation after years of reviewing consumer complaints: It’s probably the consumer’s fault.
“The consumer is a lot to blame for what goes on,” said Riner, who, in addition to his role protecting the public, is in the car business. “The consumer is a lot to blame, for buying cars they shouldn’t be buying, for not doing their homework.”
Car buyers who feel cheated may expect to find an ally when they call state regulators. They shouldn’t.
In a rebuttal Richard T. Rainwater, executive director of the Georgia Independent Automobile Dealers Association, wrote:
Used-car dealers try to live the American dream that involves hard and honest work. Members of the Georgia Independent Automobile Dealers Association operate under a code of ethics, and our mission is to maintain the highest regard for each customer through integrity and honesty in everything we say and do. We believe in giving our customer a used car that is worth the purchase price.
Yeah, so why did Kia of North Atlanta, in Roswell, Ga., try to sell me a Lemon at an asking price that was similar to a perfect car?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ran its own editorial saying:
The General Assembly is such a buddy to business that the legislative committees that consider new regulations are dominated by industry members. Bankers direct the banking committee, insurance agents oversee insurance and auto dealers drive the state agency that regulates used-car sales.
The intent of too many lawmakers in Georgia has not been to help consumers, but to promote and preserve their own business interests. As a result, Georgia offers the weakest consumer protection laws in the country.
In the laws that govern mortgages, foreclosures or car sales, Georgia’s position has been to advise consumers to be smarter rather than businesses to be more ethical.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution deserves some credit here. It is owned by Cox Enterprises, which is big investor in AutoTrader.com and owns the Manheim Auto Auction, whose website says, ” is now the highest volume operator of wholesale auto auctions in the world with 115 locations in North America, Europe, and Australia. ”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution provided fair warning. However, when it comes to calling dealers on each unethical deal, who will do that? When it comes to demanding, on a continuing basis, that the legislature be more responsive to everyday citizens, who will do that? Maybe the citizens themselves by forming an online site by consumers, for consumers aimed at unethical used and new car dealers–and at the legislature.
One would guess that if the site built a reputation for accuracy, it could develop a substantial audience. After all the Journal-Constitution says 1 million cars are sold each year in Georgia. Of those the Journal-Constitution reports that at:
the Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs — auto-related problems are the leading topic of complaints, numbering more than 8,000 in the past fiscal year.
One would guess that at least some of them would be very motivated to volunteer to work at the site.
