Released: July 05, 2006

Politics deflated California’s ‘Car Buyer’s Bill of Rights’

Source: By David Lazarus, San Francisco Chronicle

California’s “Car Buyer’s Bill of Rights” is now in effect, giving people shopping for new and used cars some protections they didn’t have before. But consumers didn’t get as many safeguards as the original bill intended, and they have to pay for the most important new provision - the ability to return a used vehicle after a two-day “cooling off” period.

The bill of rights, which took effect Saturday, also defines what constitutes a “certified” used car, mandates disclosure of all add-ons for new and used vehicles and caps the amount dealers can charge for financing.

“This law is a modest but meaningful step forward,” said Joe Rideout, a spokesman for Consumer Action in San Francisco. “But it’s not the same as what consumer advocates originally put forward.”

The reason? Politics, of course. People involved in both sides of the negotiations for the Car Buyer’s Bill of Rights acknowledge that the lobbying was fierce, and that much of the deal-making occurred during a marathon bargaining session orchestrated by Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles.

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