Washington State Residents Called to Action
Washington October 21st, 2009Seattle-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.
Link to LemonJustice Blog
January 7th, 2010 at 2:19 am
I am a Washington state resident. I bought my 2005 Chevy Cavalier in Oregon on December 13, 2009. I have had nothing but issues with this car. Come to find out the dealership did not do the proper repairs to this car before placing it up for sale (i.e. bad brakes) I noticed that the car will pulsate upon stopping, and shakes and shimmys while driving down the road. There has also been issues with the driver side power window and on occasion when turning left I would hear a clunking sound. When I purchased the car I made them well aware of the shaking problem and the pulsating issue when coming to a stop and told them that I would like for them to fix the problem. When i brought the car in I was told that the front brakes were bad and they would change them out for new ones. They also said that my tires were not balanced, I demanded a copy of the “Complete vehicle inspection per checklist” and upon reviewing this checklist I see that they noted that there was a note that states “Pulsates and growl noise with cold brakes (cheap pads) should replace front breake coolant. Clunk in steering front wheel bearings growl rear window.” My concern is that these repairs were not done BEFORE placing the car on the lot for sale. I do not feel safe with this car and I need to know what my rights are. I live in Washington and purchased the car at a VERY well known car dealershhip in Portland, Oregon. I have an appointment January 9, 2010 with the service department at the dealership. PLEASE HELP..
Thank you so much