LAST AUTO NEWS – REPORT: ENTERPRISE SOLD CARS WITHOUT DISCLOSING LACK OF AIRBAGS
Last Auto News –
Surely, by now, you’ve heard a continued account of affidavit not to buy a acclimated car from a car rental company. The account history can be spotty, the paperwork inconsistent, and of course, renters tend to amusement rental cars in means they’d never amusement their own property. But, if a new address is to be believed, a far added adverse achievability needs to be added to the list.
The Kansas City Star reports, “Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the nation’s better clandestine client of new cars and agent of acclimated ones, chose to ‘delete’ a accepted assurance affection from bags of Chevrolet Impala agile vehicles, extenuative millions of dollars.” Aback Enterprise buys cars in such huge numbers, General Motors allegedly adjourned with the aggregation to adapt the vehicles’ accepted agreeable list. In this case, admitting ancillary head-curtain airbags are included on every Chevy Impala behindhand of price, GM agreed to body a agile of Impalas for Enterprise after the head-curtain airbags, and agreed to lower the amount of the cars accordingly.
The Star reports, “After Enterprise busy out those 2006-2008 vehicles, Enterprise and endless dealers civic offered them for bargain on the accessible bazaar – bare the side-curtain airbags that accept been apparent to badly abate artery deaths.”
Side head-curtain airbags aerate central the ancillary windows of a car in an accident, acceptation that occupants’ active generally appulse the airbag rather than the glass, or an article alfresco the car, in side-impact crashes. A affection accepted alone to affluence cars just a decade ago, they are now accepted accessories on a lot of cars awash in America – and abounding assurance experts accept the technology has played an important role in abundantly abbreviation the amount of artery deaths in contempo years admitting the almanac amount of cars on the road.
The Insurance Institute for Artery Assurance awarded the 2006-2008 Chevrolet Impala its accomplished account of “Good” in side-impact blast testing. The Institute’s test, however, acclimated the ancillary head-curtain airbags, aback the affection is declared to be accepted accessories on the Impala.
According to CBS News, almost 66,000 Impalas endemic by Enterprise accept been awash on the acclimated car bazaar with the ancillary head-curtain airbags removed – and in at atomic some cases, buyers weren’t told of the change to basal assurance equipment. Up to 5,000 Chevrolet Cobalt and Buick Lacrosse sedans may aswell be affected. Enterprise “admitted to affairs 745 Impalas after the airbags that were bought admitting online advertisements adage the cars included the assurance feature,” CBS reports. In added cases, acclimated car dealerships purchased Enterprise agile Impalas at bargain and awash them to clandestine buyers. The advanced administration of the cars makes it about absurd to clue how abounding dealers appear to buyers that the cars lacked accepted assurance appearance – or for that matter, how abounding dealers were even acquainted of the problem.
CBS notes, “Enterprise said it would acquaintance all 745 drivers and action to buy the cars aback for $750 added than the Kelley Blue Book price. That’s added than four times the $175 the aggregation adored by acclimation the cars with the airbags removed.”
An Enterprise agent told the Star, “We’ll accomplish it appropriate with our customers. None of this is intentional.”
Autoblog notes, “Although the airbags came as accepted accessories on the Impala, as able-bodied as the Cobalt and LaCrosse, federal assurance regulations did not authorization their inclusion, accordingly Enterprise bankrupt no law in removing them.” It isn’t bright how boundless the convenance of deleting accepted accessories from agile cars ability be. But in the awful aggressive rental car market, Autoblog notes, “the everyman amount is generally the free agency for abounding customers. By removing the airbags from the Impalas, Enterprise was said to accept adored $11.5 million.”
If you’re in the bazaar for a acclimated car, analysis out bags of new listings with U.S. News, as able-bodied as this month’s best acclimated car deals.
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