Pub. 15 2016-2017 Issue 1

N E W J E R S E Y C O A L I T I O N O F A U T O M O T I V E R E T A I L E R S I S S U E N O . 2 , 2 0 1 6 8 new jersey auto retailer NADA Director’s MESSAGE | BY MARCY H. MAGUIRE To Drive or Not to Drive: On Recalls, That is the Only Question — and Only Because of Parts Much has been said and written recently about our nation's vehicle recall policy. And while it's regrettable that a great deal of the conversation has been overly negative, the silver lining is that the discussion has prompted an increase in consumer aware- ness of the issue, which is desperately needed to increase the recall completion rate. But at the same time, many have lost sight of the core issue at hand, which is what to do with recalled vehicles while consumers and dealers are awaiting replacement parts from the manufacturers. Because when we're talking about recalls, parts are everything. Let's take a step back and consider what the world would look like if all needed repair parts were immediately and readily available for every vehicle recall. If parts were available, then everyone – deal- ers, manufacturers, regulatory agencies— would be in lockstep, stressing the urgency of having consumers bring their vehicles into local dealerships for repairs as soon as pos- sible. Everyonewould beworking together to improve consumer outreach and awareness, because consumer apathy would be the only obstacle in the way of achieving our shared goal of a 100-percent recall completion rate. Unfortunately, that's not the world in which we live. Parts are not always available. And manufacturer delays in providing repair parts have become the core problem in recall policy. These delays prevent timely repairs of vehicles. And delays between the time a manufacturer announces a recall and parts are available are responsible for driving consumer apathy toward recalls. Consum- ers simply become numb to all the notices they receive. But the biggest consequence is that manufac- turer delays force us all – dealers, regulators, safety advocates and consumers alike – to consider what to do with recalled vehicles from the time the recall is announced to when the repair can be completed. Which leads to the question every consumer wants answered: Should I continue to drive my recalled vehicle in the interim? This is a vitally important question. Fortunately, there are federal agencies responsible for providing those answers- the Department of Transpor- tation (DOT), and the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration (NHTSA). Congress has entrusted NHTSA with re- viewing all manufacturer-identified defects in order to determine how severe each is in terms of risk to the driving public. And for every vehicle recall that is issued, NHTSA – working with the vehicle manufacturer – makes such an assessment. • Does NHTSA have full authority to determine which defects pose such an immediate and severe risk to drivers and passengers that affected vehicles should not be operated until repairs can be made? Yes. Transportation SecretaryAnthony Foxx has acknowledged that NHTSA “may require a manufacturer to advise