Consumer Law

Today's Incredibly Weak Car Bumpers

Posted on October 20, 2008
Car bumpers in most new cars are incredibly weak. The Insurance Institute of America testers bumpers of 17 cars by crashing them into a barrier at a mere 6 mph resulting in an average cost to repair of $4,500! Luxury cars were the worst offenders; an Infiniti G35 had more than $5,200 in front end damage...

Judge Orders Wrecked & Stolen Car Database Made Public

Posted on September 24, 2008
Sixteen years ago, Congress enacted a statute requiring the federal government to implement the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS), a single database that would provide public access to vehicle-history information gathered from states, insurance companies, and junk and salvage yards...

Digital Odometers Make it Easy to Cheat Car Buyers

Posted on September 10, 2008
High-tech digital odometers are making it easy to chat unsuspecting used car buyers according to a USA Today article. Unscrupulous sellers can obtain the software or services from the Internet to reset the odometers. Old style mechanical odometers could be reset, but it was fairly easy to detect that the tampering had taken place...

Honda Sues Dealer Selling Discount Extended Warranties

Posted on August 05, 2008
Savvy car buyers know that they may save money by buying an extended warranty (service contract) backed by a manufacturer from any authorized dealer. A NY Times article published August 2, 2008, on the subject of extended warranties features a Rhode Island Honda dealer, Saccucci Auto Group, that has made a business of selling discounted Honda Care service contracts over the Internet (www...

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Honda Trying to Halt Sales of Discounted Service Contracts

Posted on August 05, 2008
Savvy car buyers know that they may save money by buying an extended warranty (service contract) backed by a manufacturer from any authorized dealer. A NY Times article published August 2, 2008, on the subject of extended warranties features a Rhode Island Honda dealer, Saccucci Auto Group, that has made a business of selling discounted Honda Care service contracts over the Internet (www...

BMW's Mini Sales Soar, but Quality Stumbles

Posted on July 06, 2008
Automotive News reports that BMW's Mini brand sales were up 52.8% in May 2008 from a year ago, but that J.D. Power reports that Mini owners reported 163 defects per 100 vehicles in the first 90 days of ownership. That figure was only topped only by the Jeep brand with 167 defects in the first 90 days.

Aged Tires Being Sold New Are Dangerous

Posted on June 22, 2008
An ABC news report reveals that aged tires--some as old as 12 years--are being sold as new at leading retailersl After about 6 years of sitting on the shelf, tires dry out and lose their elasticity. The tread will peel off these tires when put in use causing the car to swerve out of control and crash...

Car Dealer Fee Bill Dies in the California Legislature

Posted on June 18, 2008
California law allows cars dealers to add a so-called document fee of $55 to each auto purchase contract. There is no good reason the law should allow dealers to add this fee because document preparation is just part of the cost of doing business. Not satisfied with the $55 fee, this year, the car dealers sponsored a bill in the California Legislature to raise the fees to $65, which we estimate would cost California car buyers an additional $40 million per year...

Checkbook Rates Bay Area Auto Repair Shops

Posted on June 08, 2008
Bay Area Checkbook has published a survey of 495 auto repair shops in the San Francisco Bay Area. It found plenty of good and bad shops--195 shops were rated superior for overall performance by 90% or more of their customers while 54 shops were rated inferior, the lowest rating, by at least 1/4 of their customers...

No Lemon, But this Car Has No Reverse

Posted on May 24, 2008
Nissan has a new concept car with no reverse. Plus, it is electric. Check it out.http://http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2008/05/23/nzekwu.uk.rotating.car.itn

RV Makers in Tight Squeeze

Posted on May 13, 2008
RV manufacturers are experiencing drastic declines in sales and revenue. Buyers are scarce due to high gasoline prices and a poor housing market. RV manufacturer National RV went out of business in November 2007. Just in the last two months, Alfa Leisure, Western RV (Alpine), and Travel Supreme closed down...

Crash Ratings from the Insurance Institute

Posted on April 26, 2008
To select a safe car or truck, buyers should review the Insurance Institute for Highway Institute reports. The Institute website makes its findings on cars, trucks and baby seats easily accessible. In April 2008, the Institute released its side impact crash results on midsize cars...

Smart ForTwo Car Has Safety and Mechanical Issues

Posted on April 26, 2008
The Smart ForTwo car is now being sold in by Mercedes-Benz dealers. The tiny car has met with mixed reviews. After the driver's door opened during a side-impact test, the U.S. federal safety agency opened an investigation. The investigation followed a New York Times blog post that includes a video of a Smart car hitting a barrier at 70 mph...

Michelin Abandons Its Pax Run-Flat Tire System

Posted on February 29, 2008
This is an update on the class actions this and other law firms have filed against Michelin and Honda concerning the "PAX" run-flat tires on the 2005-2007 Honda Odyssey Touring minivans and certain Acura RL models. The cases involve Michelin's "PAX" run-flat tire system consisting of a special tire, support ring, wheel and tire presssure monitoring system...

Federal Safety Agency Withholds Safety Information from the Public

Posted on February 29, 2008
The National Highway Safety Administration ("NHTSA") is the agency that is supposed to regulate auto manufacturers to improve highway safety. For many years, however, the agency has done little or nothing to ensure highway safety; its actions are more in tune with protecting the auto industry than the public...

Car Dealers Are Taking Away Your Right to Sue

Posted on February 19, 2008
Car dealers in California increasingly have arbitration clauses buried in their sales contracts that preclude buyers from going to court. Under these clauses, any disputes are channeled to arbitration forums, principally the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) and the arbitrator's findings are binding...

Flaws in the Car Buyers Bill of Rights

Posted on November 29, 2007
California's Car Buyers Bill of Rights gives used car buyers the right to return the vehicle for any reason within two days, but only if the buyer agrees to pay a fee ranging from $75 to $400 depending on the price of the vehicle. The first problem is that many dealers are persuading buyers to waive this protection...

Let?s Make a Deal ? What the Deal Jacket Reveals

Posted on November 12, 2007
Car sales and leases are not sealed with a handshake these days. After hours of haggling, you?ll be told: ?Sign here. And here. And here. And here.? Of course, you should get an exact copy of every document signed or initialed at the dealership before taking delivery of the vehicle...

Using Internet Forums to Research Defects

Posted on October 26, 2007
Years ago, manufacturers and their dealers were forever telling owners with problem vehicles this "we've never seen this before" or "the car meets manufacturer's specifications" when the truth was that the manufacturer knew that the problem of which the owner was complaining was both real and to be found in other vehicles of the model...

Best Web Sites on Green Cars & Fuel Economy

Posted on October 24, 2007
The New York Times has selected the best websites that provide accurate information on green cars--hybrid and electric. The sites are treehugger.com that provides a survey of the green car landscape, priuschat.com that covers the Prius, pluginamerica...

Good News: California to Join U.S. Car Titling System; Consumers and Law Enforcement to Benefit

Posted on September 17, 2007
In good news for consumers, the California DMV announced that it would join the National Motor Vehicle Titling Information System (NMVTIS) in 2008. Being part of the system allows the state to instantly verify the validity of out-of-state ownership documents, including the VIN, odometer, and any damage history before issuing a California title...

Lemon Law Extended to Military Personnel Stationed in California

Posted on July 30, 2007
In July 2007, the California Legislature approved and the Governor signed a bill to extend the protection of the California Lemon Law to members of the Armed Forces stationed in California regardless of where they bought their lemon car or truck. California is the only state that has extended its lemon law to military personnel who bought their vehicle outside of the state in which they are stationed...

The Honda Hybrid Civic that Cannot Make it Up a Hill

Posted on July 10, 2007
One of our clients has a 2006 Honda Civic hybrid that cannot always make it up the hill to her house! Even when she floors the accelerator, the car just stops. Turns out the problem is that when the battery to the electric booster engine on the car is low, the tiny gasoline engine just does not have the power to move the car up the rather steep hill going to her house...

Auto Leasing Class Action Settlement with Wells Fargo Bank - Gutierrez v AutoWest, et al.

Posted on July 06, 2007
In an auto lease class action, the San Francisco Superior Court recently granted preliminary approval of a class action settlement that plaintiffs reached with Wells Fargo Bank. The case is entitled Gutierrez v AutoWest et al. The Settlement Class Notice was mailed on or about June 20, 2007...

KABOB Files Class Action Alleging BMW Has an Illegal Secret Warranty on the Run Flat Tires on the 2006 and 2007 3 Series Cars

Posted on June 10, 2007
On May 31, 2007, KABOB filed a class action against BMW alleging that BMW has an illegal secret warranty on the run-flat tires on its 2006 and 2007 BMW 3 Series cars. The suit also states that the run-flat tires are defective and not fit for their ordinary purposes--the tires often wear out with less than 10,000 miles of use! The 3 Series cars come equipped with Bridgestone run-flat tires, which are designed to enable drivers to continue driving a limited number of miles with a punctured tire...

Dangers of Co-Signing An Auto Loan

Posted on June 05, 2007
Co-signing a car loan always seems like a good thing at the time. Often, the arrangement is based on optimism and affection. A friend or family member?s credit simply comes up a little short. The bank wants a second name on the signature line. So, Dad might co-sign on a teenager?s first car, an aunt might help a temporarily unemployed nephew who needs wheels, or a girlfriend might use her good credit to help out her new flame...

Pontiac GTO Oversized Tires Class Action Filed

Posted on May 10, 2007
GM sold its 2004 and 2005 Pontiac GTO cars with 17" wheels and 245 mm tires. Unfortunately, the tires are too wide causing them to sometimes graze the front struts which causes premature and uneven tire wear and even tire failure. On May 10, 2007, KABOB filed a class action seeking a court order forcing GM to notify GTO owners of this problem and compensation for the cost of new, narrower tires...

Prior Daily Rental Cars: Rip-Off on Resale

Posted on April 26, 2007
Hertz, Avis, Budget, Thrifty, Dollar and Enterprise are all household names for daily rental cars. The ease and convenience of pay-per-day driving is a blessing to the traveler, whether on business or for pleasure. On the other hand, we've all returned from a trip saying, "Nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there...

Bigger Cars with Stability Control Are Safest

Posted on April 26, 2007
A new report of driver deaths in auto accidents shows that bigger cars and those with stability control are safer. A new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety published April 19, 2007, shows that the vehicles associated with the lowest death rates are the Chevrolet Astr, Infiniti G35, BMW 7 series, Toyota 4 Runner, Audi A4, Mercedes E & M class, and other larger vehicles...

Hybrid Cars ? Green Lemons Waiting to Ripen?

Posted on April 24, 2007
Full disclosure here: A hybrid just might be my next car. The local parking lot?s ?green preferred? spot is nearly always filled with a Prius; my octogenarian aunt just bought a Honda hybrid; and my trendsetting friend Cathy tools around in a Lexus RX...

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