Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, continued his efforts against the retail sale of vehicles with open recalls by taking aim at CarMax on Monday, urging the Federal Trade Commission to “take immediate action to halt CarMax’s dangerously deceptive marketing of used cars with lethal safety defects.”

Blumenthal says he took these steps  in light of a recent investigation by the Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS) Foundation and M&R Strategic Services, which claims to have found 74 vehicles for sale by CarMax dealerships in Hartford and East Haven within two 24-hour periods in July, both in the senator’s home state of Connecticut, that reportedly have open safety related recalls.

According to Blumenthal, these vehicles were advertised as “CarMax Quality Certified” via the company’s 125-point inspection but “had not taken even basic measures to get known safety recalls repaired,” according to the senator’s release.

“CarMax’s practices endanger the lives of their customers, their customers’ families, and everyone who shares the roads,” Blumenthal said. “CarMax advertises that all its vehicles must pass a rigorous ‘125-point inspection,’ but no inspection that routinely ignores outstanding safety recalls can be called ‘rigorous.’ Regardless of whether they are buying a new or used car, all consumers deserve to know they are buying a safe car.”

In what she described as “playing recalled roulette with its customers’ lives,” Rosemary Shahan, president of the CARS Foundation, agreed that the sale of vehicles with open recalls, “is also putting their families, other passengers, and everyone who shares the roads at risk.”

Blumenthal continues to sponsor legislation that would make it a federal violation, enforceable by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, for dealers to sell or lease a used vehicle with outstanding safety recalls. The current iteration to make this a federal law is currently titled the Used Car Safety Recall Repair Act.

CarMax also issued a statement on Monday, outlining its “commitment to recall transparency,” stating that it provides consumers with information about open recalls prior to sale, as currently required by law.

According to CarMax, it provides every customer with VIN-specific recall information in the following ways, as it listed in a statement:

• Every online listing of a vehicle on the CarMax website includes a link to the NHTSA VIN lookup website.
• In store, before any customer purchases a used-vehicle, a CarMax associate reviews the vehicle’s NHTSA VIN-specific recall report with the customer prior to sale, with the latter signing a form acknowledging the receipt of the recall report.  

CarMax also pointed out that, under the current law, independent used-auto retailers, like CarMax, are not authorized to complete recall repairs and close out recalls.

“Our experience shows us customers are in the best position to act on recall information directly with a manufacturer-authorized dealer,” the CarMax statement said. “We have found that dealers are often more likely to provide timely recall repair to customers rather than to a competitor, like CarMax, so we encourage customers to have recalls repaired at a manufacturer-authorized facility.”

For a video on how CarMax notifies customers about recalls, click here. For an infographic, click here.