Recall bill cruises in Calif., but will it help?

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California lawmakers are fast-tracking a bill to tighten a loophole in the way U.S. auto safety law treats recalls of used cars, even though consumer groups and other key stakeholders aren't on board.

Safety advocates decry the bill as a dangerous half-measure, while rental-car agencies and automakers want the matter resolved at the federal level. That leaves California's car dealers as lone champions of the initiative.

"At this point, there's a general but no army," Brian Maas, president of the California New Car Dealers Association, said in an interview at the group's office here.

The conflict spotlights a question that could shape many of the efforts to change U.S. laws on safety recalls in the aftermath of the General Motors and Takata crises: Is warning a customer good enough?

Federal law requires dealers to perform any pending recall repairs before selling a new vehicle, but it places no such obligation for used or rented cars. The California bill -- which dealers see as a potential defense against lawsuits -- would require used-car dealers and rental companies to notify their customers of any outstanding recalls, though they wouldn't have to undertake any repairs. (One exception: Franchised new-car dealers would be required to repair used cars of their own brand.) 

Until a few years ago, it was relatively difficult for used-car lots to find out whether they had a vehicle with a defective part. But dealers have faced new liability risk since the creation of an Internet database that allows a customer or dealer to check for recalls by entering a vehicle identification number. 

Under the California bill, dealers could fulfill their legal obligation by checking that database and disclosing any recalls that weren't performed. 

"The regulation of recalls on used cars in the United States is zero," said Maas. In that context, he said, "doing something is way better than where we are today." 

The bill sailed through two state Assembly committees on unanimous votes last month, attesting to the influence of dealers in Sacramento. Unless Gov. Jerry Brown and other Democratic leaders block it, experts say, the bill appears headed for easy passage. 

Automakers aren't happy about that. The Association of Global Automakers, which counts Honda, Nissan and Hyundai among its members, says the legislation wouldn't go far enough to solve what they and federal regulators see as the central challenge with the recall system: ensuring that recalled cars get repaired. They also would prefer one federal law over a patchwork of state laws. 

Consumer groups, which have lobbied unsuccessfully for years to pass state and federal laws banning the sale of recalled used cars, argue that the dealers' bill would in fact discourage lawmakers from solving the underlying problem. 

"Our feeling is that a half-measure is worse than nothing," said Elisa Odabashian, who leads the San Francisco office of Consumers Union, the advocacy arm of Consumer Reports. "It means you can't go back and try to get a bill that tries to actually protect people. The legislators would say: 'We already did that. We fixed it.'"

She added: "This bill could become a model, but I sure hope it doesn't."