New Jersey legislators received campaign funds from a political action committee backed by used car dealers prior to sponsoring a bill that consumer advocates say would give used car buyers little recourse if they purchase a vehicle with an open recall, according to a News12 New Jersey investigation. 

SB 3309 and AB 4380 would require used car dealers to notify buyers about open recalls during the purchase of a vehicle. 

New Jersey Advocates for Auto and Highway Safety (Advocates) have lobbied against the bill saying it would leave consumers with no recourse after purchasing a vehicle with a possibly dangerous recall. 

In a letter sent to legislators, advocates said used car dealers should not be allowed to sell a vehicle with an open safety recall at all. 

“Families who cannot afford to purchase a new vehicle or who seek the value of purchasing a used auto deserve the same protections against safety defects afforded to new car buyers,” the letter says. “Buying a secondhand vehicle should not mean that consumers should be subject to second-rate safety protections.”

Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety told News12 that if lawmakers wanted to protect car buyers, they would require used car dealers to fix any recalls. 

“It makes it easier for car dealers to get away with selling unsafe vehicles that have potentially lethal safety recall defects,” Rosemary Shahan, Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety president told News12. “Why should a dealer be able to sell a car that has bad brakes or a steering wheel that could come off into your hands?”

News12 says used car dealers in the state have opposed being forced to fix recalls. It says the industry has spent $329,000 in campaign contributions through a political action committee called Car-Pac. 

“Some of the biggest recipients of that funding are sponsoring the legislation, including state Sen. Joe Pennacchio (R-Montville), state Assembly Members John DiMaio (R-Hackettstown) and Lou Greenwald (D-Voorhees), and state Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D-Clark),” News12 says. 

DiMaio told the news station that if used car dealerships had to fix recalls, they would refuse to accept cars with recalls as trade-ins. He also told News12 that the $12,000 he received from Car-Pac doesn’t influence what legislation he supports. 

An opinion editorial from NJ.com says the bills are authored by Automotive Trade Association Executives, an auto dealership lobbyist group. 

The editorial says the bill has multiple aims. 

“The first is to move clogged inventory, because no dealer wants to watch their products depreciate as they sit in the lot,” the editorial says. “That is why so many dealers don’t share information about cars under recall until after the deal is sealed if they disclose it at all.

“But the bigger goal is to dodge accountability: The bill stipulates that if there is an active recall on the vehicle, the dealer must inform the buyer with “a printed copy of the recall information” — which they should be doing anyway — and then it becomes the buyer’s responsibility to follow through on the repair. We saw nothing in the bill that says the buyer must also receive a verbal heads-up.” 

The editorial says New Jersey law already requires that used car dealers fix vehicles with recalls; however, many don’t follow the law. 

In 2022, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced a multi-state settlement with CarMax Auto Superstores for selling vehicles with open recalls. CarMax was required to pay $1 million to 35 states. New Jersey received $27,294 of the settlement funds, a press release says. 

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