Press Release October 16, 1998	Contact: 202/462-6262 Frank Torres, torrfr@consumer.org Kathleen McShea, mcshka@consumer.org Consumers Union Washington, DC Office

Sen. Lott's Deal-making for Used Car Dealer Lobby Hurts Consumers

WASHINGTON - Efforts to engineer a last minute deal for the used car lobby by Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-La., will hinder a state's power to penalize unscrupulous used car dealers who market dangerous rebuilt wrecks to the motoring public, according to Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine.

"These sneaky moves at the close of Congress at the behest of the used car dealer lobby are bad for consumers, and we're urging lawmakers to assure it is out of the budget bill before they leave town," said Frank Torres, legislative counsel for Consumers Union. "It is irresponsible to fail to preserve states' rights to adopt strong consumer protection laws and penalties to protect the public from shady used car dealers. We're concerned that safety protections some consumers now enjoy in the states would disappear overnight if this bad bill becomes law."

At issue is a provision consumer groups fear was sneaked into the omnibus appropriations bill by Sen. Trent Lott, R-La., which consumer groups have dubbed the "rebuilt wrecks" bill. The Senate version of this bill contained language crafted by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., to preserve states rights while the House version had no such protection. Consumer groups fear the House version has landed in the omnibus appropriations bill.

Nationwide, about 2.5 million cars are involved in traffic accidents each year. Many of these cars end up in the used car market as "rebuilt wrecks" and return to the highways with new owners who sometimes have no clue about the car's history. Surveys in Pennsylvania and Michigan indicate that as many as 70 percent of cars that are properly classified as "totaled" end up resold and back on the road with a new owner, instead of staying in the junkyard.

A rebuilt wreck could fetch a much higher price if the consumer is left in the dark about whether it was in a major car accident, and more ominously, these used cars can pose significant safety hazards. These salvage vehicles can be unsafe to operate and dangerous in even minor collisions, due to bent frames which can cause them to pull sharply to one side, defective brakes, steering problems or other deficiencies. In other cases, the rebuilt wrecks are 'chop jobs' where two different wrecked cars - one damaged in the front and the other damaged in the rear - are cut in half and welded together.

The undisclosed sale of rebuilt wrecks costs consumers and automobile dealers more than $4 billion a year.