When it comes to automotive recalls, the federal safety regulations state that auto dealers are not allowed to sell a new vehicle if there is a recall on it. In the car rental world, there are no rules when it comes to recalled vehicles. In 2004 when Raechel and Jacquelin Houck rented a PT Cruiser from Enterprise Car Rentals, they were unaware that the vehicles had a recall on it. The fiery crash that claimed the life of the two sisters was later determined to be caused by the recalled part. Since then, the parents of the girls, Cally and Chuck Houck, have been working to change the rules that allow rental companies to rent out recalled vehicles.
Increased pressure from the federal government and concerned groups want the laws changed so that rental companies must stop renting a vehicle until the recall has been fixed. The rental car companies insist they do a good job of fixing recalled vehicles, and are asking regulators to implement a two tier system. According to Bob Barton, the president of the car rental association, the word “recall” covers a wide range of problems. Rental car companies, fleet operators and even consumers, need more information from the manufacturers about how quickly a recall should be fixed. “We simply want the manufacturers to instruct us when a vehicle needs to be grounded and we will absolutely comply.”
Consumer groups feel this would be a setback in automotive safety. According to Karen Aldana, a spokeswoman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the extent of the problem is not fully known, but the administration takes the position that “all recalls are a serious safety matter that should not be ignored.”
