The report, aptly titled “Used Car Roulette,” was released Thursday by the Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS) Foundation, a national non-profit 501(c)(3) auto safety organization “dedicated to preventing motor vehicle fatalities, injuries and economic losses.”
CARS found that about 1 in 4 vehicles reviewed had unrepaired safety recalls, including at least 45 models with defective Takata airbag inflators that have been linked to at least 16 deaths and nearly 200 injuries worldwide.
Other problems included fire risks and additional hazards that have been linked to serious injuries and death, the nonprofit said.
“Yet they continue to sell these to the public and they market them in a very deceptive way,” said Rosemary Shahan, president of CARS. “We are demanding that state law enforcement officials crack down on CarMax and other dealers who are engaging in these practices.”
A total of 461 vehicles contained at least one outstanding safety recall that had not been repaired, 41 of which had recalls for which no repair was available, the review found. The findings were the cumulative result of research carried out at 8 CarMax outlets in 3 U.S. states, 5 of which were also surveyed in 2015.
While not prohibited under federal law, selling used cars with unrepaired safety recalls is condemned by auto safety advocates and members of the U.S. Congress, who contend that it puts unsuspecting drivers at risk.
It is illegal to sell new cars with safety recalls that have not been fixed; however, only franchised new car dealers can perform recall repairs. Independent dealerships such as CarMax cannot.
Read more: http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/one-quarter-carmax-used-cars-need-recall-fix#ixzz4uYZIniBv
Source: Autoweek