For most low-income families, a car is their only way to get to work, medical offices, school, and daycare. And as most low-income families don’t own a home, a car is likely to be their largest asset.
Strong protections against the sale of unsafe cars protect the buyer, passengers, and other drivers on the road. Unreliable cars keep workers from their jobs, seniors from medical care, and students from school. When a car breaks down shortly after it is sold, it increases the likelihood that the consumer will default in making the car payments.
States have the primary role in protecting consumers from unsafe or unreliable cars. Dealers are in the best position to identify unsafe or unsound cars before they are sold. The key is to impose upon the dealer an enforceable obligation to ensure that any used car it sells meets at least a basic standard of safety and reliability. Several ways to frame such a duty, and interim steps that would move a state closer to this standard, are listed below.
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