NJ CAR is preparing a legislative initiative that would amend the New Jersey Franchise Practices Act and hopes to have it introduced in the New Jersey Legislature in 2024. Unlike most legislation NJ CAR monitors, this bill (which traces its origins back to a year-long discussion with NJ CAR leadership) will be introduced at the Coalition’s request.

Legislators will want us to tell them why this initiative is important to our industry. Support from members through participation in our NJ CARPOOL grassroots platform and legislator visits will be invaluable to help encourage legislators to join us in supporting the bill. We encourage dealers and their employees to step up to voice their support when NJ CAR calls on everyone to contact their elected officials.

The current draft of the legislation amends the New Jersey Franchise Practices Act to benefit consumers and dealers by protecting both from potential manufacturer overreach. Specifically, it provides clarity in dealership reimbursements for warranty and repair work and promotes greater highway safety by creating a consumer notification system to encourage warranty and repair services.

The amendments NJ CAR has prepared will address a variety of issues important to dealers and consumers. Some of the provisions that NJ CAR is seeking to include relate to the following:

• Prohibiting the sale of unsafe used vehicles under a “stop sale” or “do not drive” recall.
• Requiring all used car dealers to check the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website (safercar.gov) for open recalls on a vehicle before it is sold.
• Codifying the existing requirement for dealers to disclose whether a vehicle is subject to any open recall at the time of sale.
• Providing a “safe harbor” defense to any consumer fraud claim, as long as the dealer checked the NHTSA website and found no recall on the vehicle before it was sold. The amendment also makes clear the dealer is not liable for any errors or omissions on the safercar.gov website and has no obligation to continue checking the website after the sale.
• Requiring automakers to provide the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (NJMVC) with a list of all New Jersey-registered vehicles under recall for six (6) months or more (that have yet to be repaired) and, in cooperation with the NJMVC, to send notice to those registered vehicle owners with unresolved recalls.
• Requiring automakers to compensate their franchisees for specified costs associated with a “stop sale” or “do not drive” order.
• Defining the dealers’ recall costs more clearly and requiring automakers to compensate dealers 1.75% per month of the book value of any used vehicle subject to a “stop sale” recall.
• Clarifying provisions in existing law, which require an automaker to pay dealers a fair retail rate of reimbursement on parts and labor to repair vehicles under recall.
• Protecting auto retailers from being subject to financial or other penalties levied by an automaker in the event they bring a claim for reimbursement of recall costs.
• Prohibiting manufacturers from recovering their cost of compliance with state law and requiring retail reimbursement to the dealer for parts and service provided for warranty and safety recalls.
• Prohibiting manufactures from arbitrarily and unilaterally reducing the retail price of parts required for warranty and safety recall services immediately preceding or during a recall campaign to avoid paying dealers fair compensation for warranty and safety recall work.

As of the time of this publication, the bill has not yet been introduced. This is a perfect time for our members to prepare themselves for the work we will need to do together. Assess your readiness and availability for hosting dealership visits by legislators (or for you to visit your legislators’ offices) and ensure all of your employees are included in our NJ CARPOOL grassroots email list.

NJ CARPOOL is our grassroots team that sends emails to state legislators to voice their support for our industry. Most NJ CARPOOL members are dealership employees. Please take steps today to ensure that your dealership is in NJ CARPOOL (membership requires the approval of a dealership principal). Confirming your NJ CARPOOL membership now will be important before we engage with the new Legislature elected in November 2023.

2023 Election Results in Many New Faces In Trenton

Following the November 2023 election results, the Democrats retained control in both houses and gained seats in the Assembly. In the 80-seat Assembly, Democrats grew their lead 52 to 28; in the 40-seat Senate, Democrats retained their lead 25 to 15.

When the 221st New Jersey Legislature was sworn in on January 9th, beginning the new legislative session, 25% (30 of the 120 legislators) were new faces. That means our bill will be considered by many people who do not know us or have any previous state legislative experience.

For NJ CAR members, that means we want to continue our relationships with the remaining 90 experienced legislators while introducing ourselves and our priorities to the new 30. Below is a brief listing of the legislative districts (LDs) in which the new legislators are located:

3 New Senators without prior state legislative experience

• • LD 8 — Senator Latham Tiver (R)
  • LD 9 — Senator Carmen Amato (R)
  • LD 12 — Senator Owen Henry (R)

27 New Assemblymembers without prior state legislative experience

• • LD 3 — Assemblywoman Heather Simmons (D) and Assemblyman Dave Bailey, Jr. (D)
  • LD 4 — Assemblyman Dan Hutchison (D) and Assemblyman Cody Miller (D)
  • LD 8 — Assemblywoman Andrea Katz (D)
  • LD 9 — Assemblyman Gregory Myhre (R)
  • LD 10 — Assemblyman Paul Kanitra (R)
  • LD 11 — Assemblywoman Margie Donlon (D) and Assemblywoman Luanne Peterpaul (D)
  • LD 14 — Assemblywoman Tennille McCoy (D)
  • LD 16 — Assemblywoman Mitchelle Drulis (D)
  • LD 17 — Assemblyman Kevin Egan (D)
  • LD 24 — Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia (R) and Assemblyman Michael Inganamort (R)
  • LD 27 — Assemblywoman Rosy Bagolie (D) and Assemblywoman Alixon Collazos-Gill (D)
  • LD 28 — Assemblywoman Garnet Hall (D)
  • LD 30 — Assemblyman Avi Schnall (D)
  • LD 31 — Assemblywoman Barbara McCann Stamato (D)
  • LD 32 — Assemblywoman Jessica Ramirez (D) and Assemblyman John Allen (D)
  • LD 33 — Assemblyman Gabriel Rodriguez (D) and Assemblyman Julio Marenco (D)
  • LD 34 — Assemblyman Michael Venezia (D) and Assemblywoman Carmen Morales (D)
  • LD 39 — Assemblyman John Azzariti (R)
  • LD 40 — Assemblyman Al Barlas (R)

Fortunately, some new Senators (who were previously Assemblymembers) already know about the tremendous value New Jersey’s neighborhood new car and truck dealerships bring to the State’s economy. These new Senators are:

6 New Senators with Prior Legislative Experience

• • LD 3 — Senator John Burzichelli (D)
  • LD 24 — Senator Parker Space (R)
  • LD 27 — Senator John McKeon (D)
  • LD 31 — Senator Angela McKnight (D)
  • LD 32 — Senator Raj Mukherji (D)
  • LD 34 — Senator Britnee Timberlake (D)

Equally beneficial for NJ CAR dealership members is that the Democrat leadership — which maintains control — has been supportive of our $40 billion industry. Ultimately, since this will be OUR initiative, we will need to be very active in educating the legislative members about the benefits of supporting our bill and encouraging passage in 2024.

Please contact me if you are interested in setting up legislator visits (either at your dealerships or in their offices). Also, please contact NJ CAR Member Liaison Anne Smith (asmith@njcar.org) about participating in NJ CARPOOL, in order to help the Coalition with grassroots outreach to legislators.