Rental car companies agree to new recall plan

Four of the largest rental car companies–Hertz Corp., Avis Budget Group Inc., Enterprise Holdings Inc. and Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. – agreed to the request from senators Barbara Boxer and Charles Schumer  that they not rent or sell recalled cars until they repair safety defects that triggered the recalls.  The senators are pushing for legislation that would require new recall rules for car rental companies and put the companies under federal oversight on recalls for the first time.   The lawmakers are hoping the Senate will pass the bill later this year.

An article published in the San Francisco Chronicle here outlines each of the four rental company’s responses to Boxer’s request that they pledge to the recall plan.   Though pleased the companies are stepping up to the plate, there are still issues as “Boxer lambasted them for what she described as legal evasions and exceptions, such as sales of unrepaired recalled vehicles.”

Support from these rental companies is important, since these four “control 93 percent of the U.S. rental car market, Boxer said. Enterprise/National/Alamo has 52 percent, Hertz/Advantage has 18 percent, Avis/Budget 16 percent and Dollar/Thrifty 7 percent.”

The legislation is called the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Rental Car Safety Act.  Raechel and Jacqueline Houck were killed while driving a Chrysler PT Cruiser they had rented from Enterprise in 2004 that had been recalled, but not repaired at the time that they rented the vehicle.  Cally Houck, the girls’ mother, “said she and her former husband, Chuck Houck, refused throughout a five-year legal battle to settle privately with Enterprise, ultimately winning a $15 million verdict from an Alameda County jury in June 2010 after the company admitted guilt.”

More information is also available on the Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (C.A.R.S.) website at http://www.carconsumers.org/.