A number of local car dealerships are accused of selling cars in the Hudson Valley with known “potentially deadly” safety defects.

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman reached settlements with 104 auto dealerships across New York State that sold vehicles to New Yorkers without telling the buyers that the cars were under recall for dangerous unrepaired safety issues.

According to the Attorney General ‘s office, hundreds of vehicles were sold with serious recall issues including unintended acceleration, airbag problems, vehicle fires, steering and brake loss, and more.

“The safety recalls we uncovered were serious — and potentially deadly," Attorney General Schneiderman said. “Consumers deserve to know of any unresolved safety issues before buying a car for themselves or their family. This is an important first step towards making all cars on New York’s roads safer.”

Poughkeepsie  5

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

Westchester 8

  • JC Lopez Auto Sales Corp.
    305 Willet Avenue, Port Chester, NY 10573
  • Croton Auto Park
    1 Municipal Place, Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520
  • New Rochelle Chevrolet, Inc.
    291 Main Street, New Rochelle, NY 10801
  • The Rivera Auto Group, Inc. d/b/a Rivera Toyota
    325 N. Bedford Road, Mt. Kisco, NY 10549
  • Rockland Motors, Inc.
    85 Route 303 North, West Nyack, NY 10994
  • Rye Subaru
    1175 Boston Post Road, Rye, NY 10580
  • Saw Mill Auto Sales
    12 Worth Street, Yonkers, NY 10701
  • Westchester Auto Exchange Inc.
    2311 Crompond Road, Cortlandt Manor, NY 10523

The settlement requires the auto dealers to provide consumers with advance notice of any existing and unrepaired recall, among other measures including:

  • Dealers that advertise used vehicles online must include information that enables consumers to check the recall status of advertised vehicles; that information includes thegov 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 thegov 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 Attorney General’s office investigation is ongoing.

Awful grades for local hospitals, tragedies, and a police standoff tops this week in Hudson Valley news.

 

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