Seattle-Tacoma’s News Tribune recently reported on a coalition meeting of lawyers and experts who say that auto fraud in Washington State is careening out of control. In addition to the horror stories of consumers who were ripped off by auto dealers and financiers, the story highlights some startling statistics. Attorney Victoria Cherniak was quoted as saying, “Consumer Reports found that of the totaled cars involved in fatal accidents, 20 percent were rebuilt and put back on the road, and 30 percent of those rebuilt cars had the totaled disclosure removed from the car’s title.” It was also noted that creditors gave dealers kickbacks totaling almost $475 million in 2007.

The coalition is urging Washington residents to contact their state legislators and demand additional consumer protections, such as a lemon law for used cars, minimum safety standards, a cooling-off period for buyers, and requirements that dealers inspect vehicles and disclose defects.

A recent report by KOMO News goes to show that any vehicle can be a lemon. The Seattle owner of a Lamborghini was recently awarded a full, $240,000 refund by a Washington State lemon law arbitrator. When the consumer’s 2008 Gallardo Spider had squeaky brakes, he took it to the dealer three times in Washington, and five more times in Arizona. In one sense, Lamborghini did go the extra mile, flying in a mechanic from Italy. But the company ultimately did what so many other automakers do – told the owner there was nothing else they could do.

So, the consumer turned to the state’s lemon law – and won.