Most rental car companies balk at recall legislation

June 25, 2012

The Philadelphia Inquirer (6/24, Gelles) ranked Hertz as the only car rental company to take up Sen. Barbara Boxer’s call for the industry “not to rent or sell any vehicles under safety recall until the defect has been remedied.” Rosemary Shahan, president of California’s Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, pegs Enterprise and Avis Budget Group among the rental car companies seeking to water down legislation sponsored by Sens. Boxer and Charles Schumer. The report continues, “One change would allow them the wiggle room to make repairs ‘as soon as practicable’ rather than before further rentals. Another would allow them to decide that notice to a customer at a car-rental counter would be adequate to justify renting an unrepaired car.”