2015 Jeep Cherokee Under Investigation by Federal Government

The 2015 Jeep Cherokee is under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ("NHTSA") after a California consumer’s 2015 Jeep Cherokee was allegedly engulfed in 20 foot high flames within seconds of being parked.  

According to a complaint filed by the consumer with NHTSA on January 13, 2015, the California consumer was driving her 2015 Jeep Cherokee when he noticed an oily smell.  The consumer alleges that she parked the vehicle at home, and within seconds the entire vehicle was engulfed in fire with flames up to 20 feet high.  The consumer also alleges that burning oil or fuel ran down the street from the

vehicle over 50 yards. Incredibly, no one was hurt in the incident.  To watch the two videos of the fire apparently captured by two San Diego television stations click here and here.

According to NHTSA, the investigation involves about 50,000 2015 Jeep Cherokees.

Surprisingly, the California fire is not an isolated incident.  A separate complaint was filed with NHTSA by another 2015 Jeep Cherokee owner on January 5, 2015, stating that the vehicle was traveling at 60 miles per hour when the driver noticed smoke under the hood. The vehicle reportedly only had 45 miles on it. 

To read more about the defect investigation, and the consumer complaints submitted to NHTSA, click here and here.

Do you own a 2015 Jeep Cherokee?  Has your vehicle had an oil or fuel odor, an oil or fuel leak, or smoke or flames coming from the engine compartment?  Or, has your Jeep Cherokee been in the shop repeatedly for repairs but the problems are still not fixed?  You may have a lemon!

Take the Ohio Lemon Law Test at www.OhioLemonLaw.com, or in Kentucky at www.KentuckyLemonLaw.com to see if you are entitled to get a new truck or your money back.  If so, call us on our Toll Free Hotline at 1-888-331-6471.  And, if you are thinking about getting a new 2015 Jeep Cherokee, then you may want to hold off until Chrysler figures out how to fix the current models under investigation.

Beth Wells

www.BurdgeLaw.com

www.OhioLemonLaw.com

www.KentuckyLemonLaw.com

Helping Consumers Get Rid of Lemons, 10 Years Running

General Motors LLC Recalls Police Patrol Vehicles with Safety Defect

General Motors LLC (“GM”) has recalled 7,598 model year 2011-2013 Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicles which were manufactured between March 24, 2011 and December 6, 2013.  

According to GM, the vehicles are equipped with a specific transmission selector lever that contains two pins.  These pins can become displaced and, if they do, the driver may be able to shift the vehicle from “Park” without depressing the brake pedal or remove the ignition key without the transmission being in “Park”.  GM admits that either of these malfunctions could cause an accident and/or increase the risk of injury to occupants and bystanders.

According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration ("NHTSA"), GM will notify vehicle owners directly, and its authorized dealers will replace the shift lever roll pin, replace the base pivot pin, and attach a break transmission shift interlock retention enhancement clip, all free of charge.  Owners may also contact Chevrolet direct at 1-800-222-1020. Owners may also contact the NHTSA Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safecar.gov.

The company has now reportedly recalled approximately 30,011,650 vehicles in North America this year, after promising to take react more quickly to problems in light of its failure to recall 2.6 million cars with an ignition switch problem for about 11 years.

To read more about the recall, and to read additional recall documentation, click here.

If your police department has a 2011-2013 Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle, check to see if it is included in the recall and make sure to get it into a GM authorized dealer right away.  To find a dealer near you, click here.

Beth Wells

www.BurdgeLaw.com

www.OhioLemonLaw.com

www.KentuckyLemonLaw.com

Helping Consumers Get Rid of Lemons, 10 Years Running

A Car Dealer Sold You A Wrecked Car...What Now?

It's illegal for a car dealer to sell you a wrecked car without disclosing the vehicle's true condition to you, but some do.  The car dealer may lie to a consumer about the vehicle's condition, purposefully ignore obvious signs of the vehicle's true condition, keep the vehicle's true condition a secret from the consumer, or just simply not know of the vehicle's checkered past either.

If you discover that your vehicle was in a wreck and suspect the car dealer that sold you the vehicle knew about its wrecked condition, then 

Get a Vehicle History Report
A vehicle history report can tell you if the vehicle has been in any reported accidents.  However, it is important to note that if the accident was not reported, then it will not appear on a vehicle history report.  There are three main sources of vehicle history reports online: Carfax, AutoCheck, and NMVTIS.

Carfax is probably the best known and most trusted of the three. You can get a Carfax vehicle history report online for $39.99. According to Carfax, their vehicle history reports check for a long list of problems, including: prior accidents, mileage rollbacks or rollovers, multiple owners, structural damage, lease, taxi, or police use, salvage, rebuilt salvage, other vehicle brands, flood damage, total loss history, airbag deployment, hail damage, recall information, service and maintenance history, warranty information, and more. Carfax claims to have the most extensive vehicle history database in North America, with over 6 billion records. And, according to Carfax, they receive data from over 34,000 different sources. Vehicle history reports can be viewed on your computer, tablet, or smart phone, and CarFax also offers a 100% money back guarantee. To request a Carfax vehicle history report, click here.

AutoCheck is a slightly less well known, but widely used, competitor. You can get an

AutoCheck vehicle history report online for $29.99. According to AutoCheck, their database is built and maintained by Experian, who has exclusive data sharing relationships with many industry sources who provide Experian with access to exclusive data to available to AutoCheck's competitors. AutoCheck also reports that industry leaders such as NADA guides, CarMax, eBay Motors, Kelly Blue Book, and Edmunds.com have chosen to provide AutoCheck vehicle history reports to their customers. AutoCheck recommends that you obtain and AutoCheck vehicle history report in conjunction with other reports to "fill in the gaps" in other vehicle history reports for issues that other providers do not cover. To request an AutoCheck vehicle history report, click here. 

NMVTIS, or the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System, was developed by the federal government. A vehicle history report from NMVTIS will cost you anywhere from $0.25 to $4.95. NMVTIS is operated and managed by the US Department of Justice. According to NMVTIS, their database provides records relating to current and previous state of title data, title issue dates, latest odometer data, theft history (if any), any title brands, salvage history, and total loss history. To request a NMVTIS vehicle history report for just 25 cents, click here.

Go to a Body Shop you Trust
Take the vehicle to a body shop you trust to determine if your vehicle was in an accident and to get an estimate for accident repairs.  You should also ask the body shop if the accident damage is something that the car dealer you purchased the vehicle from should have seen or known about if they conducted a pre-delivery inspection of the vehicle.  Make sure to get the estimate in writing in case you need it later on.

Contact your State Attorney General
Most states have a consumer protection agency, which is usually headed by the state’s attorney general.  Contact your Attorney General to see if you can work it out with the car dealer with the Attorney General’s help.  The Attorney General may file a lawsuit against a dealer if the Attorney General finds that the dealer has repeatedly violated consumer protection laws in your state.  However, the Attorney General will not file a lawsuit on your behalf.  That means that if you cannot get the issues resolved with the dealer through the Attorney General, then you will need to contact a private attorney file a lawsuit in order to recover your money.

Contact an Auto Fraud Attorney in your State
If you cannot work things out with the dealer, then you should contact an attorney in your state who practices auto fraud or consumer law.  Attorneys who specialize in that area of law will know car dealers common tricks and scams, and will know what your rights are under your state law.  Many state laws require the dealership to pay your attorney fees, so often attorneys who practice auto fraud or consumer law will review your case for free.  To find an attorney in your state, click here.

Beth Wells

www.BurdgeLaw.com
www.CarSalesFraud.com

Helping Consumers Get Rid of Lemons, 10 Years Running

Educating Yourself Before Your Trip to the Dealer with Your Problem Car

Educate Yourself Before Taking Your Car or Truck to the Dealer for Repair
If you have a problem vehicle and need to take it to the dealer for repair, educate yourself beforehand by going online to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) website.  Knowing that there is a trend of consumer complaints for the same problem that you are having with your vehicle, or that there is a known problem with your particular year, make, and model of vehicle, can help make your repair visit to the dealer more effective. 

Find You Car or Truck on the NHTSA Website
To find complaints, recalls, service bulletins, or defect investigations for your year, make, and model of vehicle, go online to the NHTSA website, www.NHTSA.gov, and click on the “Search for Recalls” tab.  Then enter the year, make, and model of your vehicle.  It’s that easy!  

Search for Complaints, Recalls, Service Bulletins, and Defect Investigations
Once you have enter the year, make, and model of your vehicle, and clicked submit, a tab across the top of the screen will list four items for your vehicle, in the following order: Recalls, Investigations, Complaints, and Service Bulletins.  Each of the four tabs will list a number next to them, identifying the total number of recalls, defect investigations, complaints, and service bulletins for your year, make, and model of vehicle.  Simply click on a tab to read each specific entry.  Often times, there will also be documents associated with the events, such as recalls, which you can view.  Search through the recalls, defect investigations, complaints, and service bulletins, and print out anything that you think may be related to the problem that you are having with your problem vehicle.

Sign Up For Email Notifications of New Recalls
You may also want to sign up for email notifications or alerts, so that you know when new recalls are issued.  You can do this from the main page listing your vehicle’s recalls, defect investigations, complaints, and service bulletins by clicking on the link “Sign-Up for Email Alerts” to the left.  You can get alerts for all makes and models of vehicles, or just your particular year, make and model of vehicle.  This email notification will warn you when new recalls are issued. 

Make Your Own Complaint on the NHTSA Website
To make your own complaint on the NHTSA website, go to www.NHTSA.gov and click on the "File a Complaint" tab.  You will be asked to enter the year, make, and model of your vehicle, and the vehicle's Vin number, to describe the problems you are having with the vehicle, and to enter your name and address.  The information that you provide will be entered into the NHTSA consumer complaint database. Your complaint, with the personal identifiers removed, will be listed on the NHTSA database online with other consumer complaints for the same year, make and model of vehicle.  It is important to report the problems that you are having with your vehicle to NHTSA, because these consumer complaints help NHTSA and motor vehicle manufacturers to determine if a safety recall is warranted, and also provide other motorists with valuable information about potential safety problems currently under review.

Take You Vehicle to the Dealer for Repair
Now that you are armed with recall, defect investigation, complaint, and service bulletin information for your year, make, and model of vehicle, and have all relevant recalls, defect investigations, complaints, and service bulletins printed out, take them to the dealer with you when you drop your vehicle off for repair.  Make sure that they note the information on the repair order and that they list all of the complaints that you present the vehicle for, and list them accurately.  If they don’t, then refuse to sign the repair invoice.  Chances are that when you do that, they will revise the repair invoice to accurately describe the problems that you are having with the vehicle.

If the Manufacturer Fails to Live Up to Its Warranty, Contact a Lemon Law Attorney
If the manufacturer fails to live up to its warranty to you by failing to repair the vehicle within a reasonable number of tries or a reasonable amount of time, contact a Lemon Law attorney in your state.  To find a consumer law attorney in your state, you can go to www.USLemonLawyers.com.  But act quickly because for every legal right you have, there is a limited amount of time to file a lawsuit in court before your rights expire. 

Beth Wells

www.OhioLemonLaw.com

www.KentuckyLemonLaw.com

www.BurdgeLaw.com

Helping Consumers Get Rid of Lemons, 10 Years Running

American Idol for Car Dealers

Have you ever purchased a new or used vehicle and ended up with "extras" that you do not need or want such as "personal assistant", "environmental package", "etch", "key care", "pro-pack", or "credit life"?  If you don't pay close attention, you could be paying thousands of dollars for these "soft add ons" that you simply don't need.  

Unfortunately, this is the direction that a lot of car dealers are going in to make money.  In fact, a car dealer magazine now sponsors F&Idol, a competition between car dealer finance managers nationwide to see who is the best and brightest at selling products for leasing, vehicle service contracts, tire and wheel, key replacement and more.  The competition is scored based on the following categories: (1) transition statements and overall flow, (2) customer rapport and engagement, (3) product disclosures, (4) product knowledge, (5) personal stories and testimonials, and (6) objection handling.  

Car dealer finance managers must submit a video of themselves selling a “soft add on” product before the August 20, 2014 deadline to be considered.  Then, winners will be chosen for each category, awarded $1,000, airfare, and a 2 night stay at Paris Las Vegas.

Category winners will professionally re-shoot their winning entries and the videos will be posted online, where magazine readers can cast their vote on the overall winner. The winner will be announced in the November 2014 magazine issue, and will receive a $2,500 cash prize, along with the coveted industry title "F&Idol".

If you paid good money for “soft add ons” that you had no idea that you were even purchasing until you walked out of the dealership, and need help, contact an attorney who practices in Consumer Law or Auto Fraud in your state.  If you need help in Ohio or Kentucky, click here and let me know about it.  We fight car dealers in Ohio and Kentucky every day and will get right to work fighting that car dealer for you.

Beth Wells

www.OhioLemonLaw.com

www.KentuckyLemonLaw.com

www.BurdgeLaw.com

Helping Consumers Get Rid of Lemons, 10 Years Running

Volkswagen of America, Inc. Recalls 150,000 Vehicles Due to Stalling Defect

Volkswagen of America, Inc. has recalled over 150,000 model year 2009-2014 Tiguan vehicles manufactured July 2007 to June 2014.

According to Volkswagen of America, Inc., when using winterized fuel in certain conditions, bubbles may form in the fuel system which could result in the vehicle stalling and increase the risk of a crash.

To see the two (2) documents associated with this recall, click here and scroll down to the accessible PDF files.

According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration ("NHTSA"), Volkswagen of America, Inc. will notify vehicle owners directly, and its authorized dealers will update the vehicle’s software to increase the fuel pump pressure free of charge.  Owners may also contact Volkswagen of America, Inc. direct at 1-888-327-4236.  

Do you have a 2009-2014 Tiguan that stalled while driving,

has been to an authorized Volkswagen of America, Inc. dealer for repairs under the Volkswagen of America, Inc. warranty, but is still not fixed?  If the vehicle was purchased or repaired in Ohio or Kentucky, then you can call Burdge Law Office on our Toll Free Hotline, 1.888.331.6422, to see if we can help you out of your "lemon" vehicle.

Beth Wells

www.OhioLemonLaw.com

www.KentuckyLemonLaw.com

www.BurdgeLaw.com

Helping Consumers Get Rid of Lemons, 10 Years Running

ARBITRATION ALERT!: The New Car Dealer Trick that Could Leave Consumers Without Any Remedies

In my practice, I see a good number of arbitration clauses between car dealers and consumers cross my desk.  Until recently, most dealers went out of their way in their arbitration clauses to limit the arbitration costs for the consumer in order to sure that their arbitration clause could stand up in court.  On March 1, 2013, the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) took a step to make sure that arbitrator was affordable to consumers, and changed the Consumer Rules fee schedule to limit a consumer's AAA out of pocket arbitration costs and fees to $200, with the remainder to be paid by the car dealer.  

Well, car dealers must have realized that arbitration can be expensive, too.  Because, in response, I am seeing more an more arbitration clauses where the car dealer attempts to: 
(1) apply the AAA commercial rules to avoid application of the AAA Consumer Rules and the $200 limit;
(2) require multiple arbitrators to avoid application of the AAA Consumer Rules, make arbitration even more expensive, and avoid the $200 limit; and/or 
(3) require the consumer to pay the AAA fees and costs and the dealer’s own fees and costs if they do not win the arbitration.

If an arbitration clause is clearly worded, and the consumer is limited to $200 out of pocket with the AAA, I have no problem advising my clients to proceed with arbitration.  While there are disadvantages to arbitration, there are many advantages, too.  And, I have had a lot of success arbitrating car dealer cases.  The serious problem I have with arbitration clauses, however, is when they make arbitration cost prohibitive to a consumer.  This is because when arbitration is cost prohibitive to a consumer, they effectively have no remedy at all.

Car dealers may think that they are saving money by changing the arbitration costs provisions in their arbitration clauses.  But, I suspect the net result will be just the opposite.  Because, I suspect that more and more consumers will be fighting these arbitration clauses in court, instead of agreeing to arbitrate at the onset.

With even the best case, nothing is ever a 100% guarantee, and when there is a risk that a consumer will be liable for tens of thousands of dollars in arbitration fees and costs and attorneys fees, the doors to both arbitration and court are effectively closed.

So, if you are in the market for a motor vehicle, watch out for an arbitration clause hidden within the sales paperwork.  And, if you see one, tell them you want them to cross it out.  A car dealer isn't going to risk losing a car sale, and 9 times out of 10 the dealer will agree to cross it out.  And, if they won't, consider if the car dealer is one that you really want to be doing business with.

Beth Wells

www.OhioLemonLaw.com

www.KentuckyLemonLaw.com

www.BurdgeLaw.com

Helping Consumers Get Rid of Lemons, 10 Years Running