A Fresno, California man says he may have died after buying a used 2009 Dodge RAM with an open recall on it. The vehicle had undergone a 125 point inspection, but after owning it for approximately four months, the drive shaft separated from the rear axle while he was driving on Highway 41. According to the general sales manager of the dealership, the missed recall was a case of human error, but an Action News investigation shows that the problem is wide spread with dealerships across the Valley.

Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS) have been pushing for new state laws that will prevent dealers from selling vehicles with unfixed recalls. The Car Buyers Protection Act will:

• Make it illegal for car dealers to sell, rent, lease, or loan used vehicles that are under a federal safety recall, unless the safety recall repairs have been performed.
• Improve protections for car buyers who are victims of ID theft at auto dealerships.
• Prohibit dealers from hiring people convicted of ID theft, forgery, or other fraud, for positions where they would have access to car buyers’ personal financial information.
• Prohibit dealers from engaging in “bait and switch” financing (also known as yo-yo financing).
• Prohibit dealer markups – hidden extra charges that raise the cost of financing car purchases and cost California car buyers over $2.6 billion in a single year.
• Require all dealers to provide at least a 30 day / 1,000 mile warranty (currently, only “buy here pay here” dealers are required to provide minimum warranties, so many other dealers continue to sell faulty vehicles “AS IS”).
• Eliminate the New Motor Vehicle Board’s authority to overrule the DMV when the agency disciplines an auto dealer or manufacturer for violating consumer protection laws.

Statewide polling shows that voters overwhelmingly support improving protections for new and used car buyers.