Car Buyers Aquire New Rights (cont'd)


David Conant, president of Conant Auto Retail Group, which has nine dealerships including five in Los Angeles County, said the law was a marked improvement over last year's version, which placed onerous burdens on dealers.

Under last year's bill, "someone could buy a car, drive it to Las Vegas, come back and want their money back, and we would have been legally obligated to undo the deal," Conant said. "The bill as it was written last year just didn't work. This year it's crafted well. It'll be good for dealers and the consumers for sure."

More than 3 million used cars are sold in California each year, and new-car dealerships alone made more than $95 million last year. Many of the abusive practices are attributed to small dealerships and sellerssometimes called "pot lots" that serve poor neighborhoods, but some big chains have been accused of gouging customers. There are more than 10,000 licensed dealers in California.

Ryan Coen, a 21-year-old from San Jose who purchased a "certified" BMW that turned out to have been damaged in an accident, praised the law.

Coen said the dealer who sold him the car refused to take it back even though steering problems developed the day after he bought it.

"I believe it will be a real good thing," he said of the new law. "It takes a lot of the risk out of buying a car."

"People aren't asking for too much nowadays," he added. "They're just asking not to be lied to."

Times staff writer Dan Morain contributed to this report.

New Rights for Car Buyers

The Car Buyer's Bill of Rights, signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, creates new rules for car dealers. Starting July 1, 2006, dealers must:

• Allow used-car buyers to pay extra for the option of returning the car within two days for a refund minus restocking fees. This option applies only to cars purchased for less than $40,000 and driven no more than 250 miles after purchase.

• Tell customers what their credit score is.

• Itemize the cost of additional products and services included in the cost of the automobile.

• Limit the amount they earn from selling a car loan to 2.5% for a loan up to 60 months and 2% for longer loans.

• Never label a car as "certified" if the odometer has been altered or the car has been returned through a warranty or had major damage repairs.

Source: California Legislature
Los Angeles Times