A.G. Schneiderman Announces Settlements With 104 Auto Dealerships To Provide Notice Of Dangerous Safety Defects

Investigation By AG’s Office Found Hundreds Of Vehicles Had Been Sold With Serious Safety Recall Issues, Including Unintended Acceleration, Airbag Problems, Vehicle Fires, Steering And Brake Loss, And More

AG’s Settlement Requires Dealers To Provide Consumers With Notice Of Vehicles’ Safety Defects Prior To Purchase

  Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced today that he reached settlements with 104 auto dealerships that sold vehicles to New Yorkers without disclosing that the vehicles were under recall for dangerous unrepaired safety issues such as unintended acceleration, airbag problems, vehicle fires, steering and brake loss, and more. The settlement requires the auto dealers to provide consumers with advance notice of any existing and unrepaired recall, among other measures.

An investigation by the AG’s office found that while many prospective car buyers reasonably assume that any known and existing safety issues have been repaired or disclosed by the dealer, that is often not the reality of car buying in New York. As part of its investigation, the Attorney General’s office surveyed advertisements, monitored vehicles covered by safety recalls, and identified auto dealers that advertised vehicles with unrepaired safety recalls.

As part of the settlements, the participating auto dealers are required to adhere to a set of guidelines in order to alert consumers that their vehicles may have unrepaired recalls, including the following:  

• Dealers that advertise used vehicles online must include information that enables consumers to check the recall status of advertised vehicles; that information includes the SaferCar.gov website operated by NHTSA.
• Dealers who advertise in print or other media must also disclose in the advertisement that the vehicle is subject to a safety recall.  
• Dealers must place a decal notice in the window of used cars that include information that allows consumers to check the recall status of the vehicles, including the SaferCar.gov website and mobile application operated by NHTSA.
• Two days prior to any sale, dealers must provide consumers with a copy of the NHTSA recall status report for a vehicle with an unrepaired safety recall, and obtain a written acknowledgment from the consumer.
• Dealers must send notices to customers who have purchased vehicles with unrepaired safety recalls that are still unrepaired, from January 2016 to present. Manufacturers’ franchise dealers must also cover up to five days of a loaner car for consumers if their vehicle requires repairs that will take longer than one day.
• Each auto dealer will also pay a fine of $1,000 to New York State.

“The safety recalls we uncovered were serious — and potentially deadly," said Attorney General Schneiderman. “Consumers deserve to know of any unresolved safety issues before buying a car for themselves or their family. I am pleased that thanks to our investigation and today's settlement, more New Yorkers will finally receive the critical safety information they need to make an informed decision. I encourage all auto-dealerships across the state to follow our guidelines to ensure that they too uphold the highest standards of consumer safety. This is an important first step towards making all cars on New York’s roads safer.”

Under Federal Law, used car dealers, as well as new car dealers who sell used cars from unrelated auto makers, are required to either have a manufacturer authorized repair person on their premises or transport the vehicle to a dealer related to the vehicle’s maker to have the recall work done.

The Attorney General’s office investigation is ongoing.

Consumers who purchased vehicles after January 1, 2016 who believe they have possibly unrepaired safety recalls should contact the Attorney General’s office at 1-800-771-7755 or via web form at https://ag.NY.gov/complaint-forms.

Consumers can check the recall status of your vehicle by entering its Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) on the NHTSA website https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls.

The list of 104 dealerships is as follows, broken down by the OAG regional offices that reached the settlements.

BINGHAMTON REGIONAL OFFICE – 15

1. Butler Auto Sales
   304 State Highway 7, Sidney, NY

2. Chambers & O’Hara Truck Center, Inc.
   268 State Highway 7, Sidney, NY

3. North Norwich Motors & Trailer Sales, LLC
   7044 State Highway 12, North Norwich, NY

4. SHB Associates LLC (Serafini Nissan Volvo)
   3103 Vestal Parkway East, Vestal, NY

5. VanDervort Service Center, Inc.
   1694 State Route 26, Vestal, NY

6. Ridge Road Imports, LLC
   2025 East Shore Dr., Lansing, NY

7. Milller Motor Car Corp (2 Dealerships)
   4477 Vestal Parkway East, Vestal, NY

8. Royal Ford Motors, Inc./Royal Chrysler Motors, Inc. (2 Dealerships)
   3964 Waverly Rd, Owego, NY

9. Gault Auto Mall, Inc. (3 Dealerships)
   North St., Endicott, NY

10. Gene Balmer’s Auto Sales
    400 South Walnut St., Elmira, NY

11. Jeff Kies Auto Sales, Inc.
    8768 Route 434, Apalachin, NY

BROOKLYN REGIONAL OFFICE – 2

1. Compass Luxor
2. Hamilton Avenue Auto Sales

BUFFALO REGIONAL OFFICE - 12

1. Basil Ford, Inc
2. SCGA Holdings, LLC DBA Castilone Chrysler Dodge Jeep & Ram
3. CrazyCheapCars, Inc
4. Northtown Automotive Companies, Inc
5. Landmark Chevrolet, Inc
6. Olean Class Cars, Inc
7. Ontario Sales, Inc
8. Pellegrino Auto Sales, LLC
9. Riverfront Auto Sales, Inc
10. Shults Management Group, Inc
11. Superior Auto Sales, Inc
12. V&A Enterprises, Inc DBA Buffalo Auto Group

HARLEM REGIONAL OFFICE – 4

1. Best Auto Group
   4053 Boston Rd, Bronx, NY

2. Boston Road Best Motors
   4064 Boston Road, Bronx, NY

3. New York Motors Group Solutions
   2803 A Boston Road Bronx, NY 10469

4. Manhattan Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram
   678 Eleventh Avenue New York, NY 10019

NASSAU REGIONAL OFFICE – 1

1. LA Auto Sales

POUGHKEEPSIE REGIONAL OFFICE – 5

1. Hudson Valley Auto Sales
2. Ruge’s Automotive, Inc. (2 Dealerships)
3. Autos by Joseph, Inc.
4. Frank Siena Auto Sales, Inc.

ROCHESTER REGIONAL OFFICE – 16

1. Auction Direct USA, L.P.
2. Best Value Auto
3. Cavallaro Neubauer Chevrolet Buick:
4. Doan Buick, Inc.
5. Doan Chevrolet, LLC
6. Doan Kia
7. Good Buy Auto
8. J & J Auto, Inc"
9. Pioneer Truck Sales, Inc.
10. Pool Auto Sales, Inc.
11. Ralph Honda
12. Santa Motors, Inc
13. Stone Road Auto Inc
14. Tiffany Transportation Services, Ltd
15. Websmart Auto, Inc.
16. Websmart Imports

SYRACUSE REGIONAL OFFICE – 25

1. Bill Rapp, Inc (2 Dealerships)
2. Bridgeland Auto Brokers
3. Cortland Used Cars
4. Liverpool World Car, LLC
5. Par-K Enterprises
6. TDK Property Company of Oneida, LLC
7. TDK Property Co. LLC
8. TRK-2 Operating Company, LLC (3 Dealerships)
9. Tecforce Automotive, LLC
10. Drivers Village, Inc. (13 Dealerships)

WATERTOWN REGIONAL OFFICE – (15)

1. FX Caprara Dealerships (14 Dealerships)
2. Waite Motor Sales, Inc.

WESTCHESTER REGIONAL OFFICE (8)

1. JC Lopez Auto Sales Corp.
   305 Willet Avenue, Port Chester, NY 10573

2. Croton Auto Park
   1 Municipal Place, Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520

3. New Rochelle Chevrolet, Inc.
   291 Main Street, New Rochelle, NY 10801

4. The Rivera Auto Group, Inc. d/b/a Rivera Toyota
   325 N. Bedford Road, Mt. Kisco, NY 10549

5. Rockland Motors, Inc.
   85 Route 303 North, West Nyack, NY 10994

6. Rye Subaru
   1175 Boston Post Road, Rye, NY 10580

7. Saw Mill Auto Sales
   12 Worth Street, Yonkers, NY 10701

8. Westchester Auto Exchange Inc.
   2311 Crompond Road, Cortlandt Manor, NY 10523

OVERALL TOTAL – 104