Consumer organizations want action against Enterprise for renting recalled cars

[Omaha Steve]

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/safety/2010/08/consumer-groups-want-action-for-renting-recalled-cars-enterprise-rent-a-car-nhtsa-alamo-national.html

August 18, 2010

Last week, two consumer groups, the Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS) and Center for Auto Safety (a non-profit advocacy organization co-founded 40 years ago by Consumers Union), filed a petition with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to order Enterprise Rent-A-Car to fix all recalled vehicles on their lot before they rent them out to customers. This comes three months after Enterprise admitted liability in a California case that they rented out a recalled Chrysler PT Cruiser that caught on fire and crashed killing two young women. The family of the sisters was awarded $15 million.

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Enterprise, the nation's largest car rental company, which also owns Alamo and National car rental agencies, said in a statement released this past June, "If and when manufacturers recommend that vehicle owners park or ground their vehicles, we promptly do so. However, we also believe there are times when recalled vehicles need to be grounded regardless." Their current practice is to ground vehicles that have with a recall involving risk of sudden loss of control, air bag failures, or fire hazards. Enterprise had grounded Toyota vehicles earlier this year when they were recalled for the sticky pedals and floor mat problems.

In the case of the PT Cruiser accident, the cars had been recalled because power steering fluid could leak and cause a fire in the engine compartment. That recall covered about 438,000 PT Cruisers from the 2001-2005 model years. However, neither Chrysler nor the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recommended consumers stop driving the vehicles. (Chrysler was named in the lawsuit, but their responsibility was dismissed when the automaker entered bankruptcy in 2009.)

In the petition, the consumer groups point out that it wasn't uncommon for vehicles with recalls to be rented out. While Enterprise has a system in place to flag vehicles with a recall, there is nothing in place that keeps them from being rented especially when overbooking occurs so often. An investigation by ABC News found that Avis and Hertz also have a similar policy on recalls and assess each recall risk on a case-by-case basis.


FULL story at link.