Call Kurtis Investigates: CarMax Under Fire For Selling Recalled Cars

ROSEVILLE (CBS13) —  Angela Davidson says she was sold when the CarMax sales associate told her the 2010 Dodge Ram she was looking to buy passed the company's 125+ point inspection. Days later, when she called Dodge for help pairing her cellphone to the truck, she was surprised to learn it had an unfixed recall over a rear axle issue.

"Had they said to me there's an open recall on it, there's no way I would've purchased that car, she said.

CBS13 went undercover to see what would happen at the CarMax in Roseville after spotting another Dodge Ram with the same recall.

Undercover Producer: "You said this car is safe?"

CarMax Associate: "Oh, absolutely...Anything that's on the lot here has already gone through a huge inspection... A recall or anything that needs to be fixed on it has already been taken care of."

CBS13 knows that's not true after looking up the truck's Vehicle Identification Number through the National Highway Traffic Safety's new lookup page.
According to the information supplied by Dodge, the recall repair is "incomplete."

It was the same story for a 2005 Jeep Liberty also on the lot, with a defect that could cause a fuel leak or fire.

The CarMax associate told us, "You won't have to worry about a thing."

Consumer advocate Rosemary Shahan says that's not true. We played our undercover video to Shahan who runs Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety.

"These should be fixed, because they can kill people," she said.

Protesting outside the CarMax in Roseville, Shahan and Davidson say it should be illegal for used car dealers to sell vehicles with open recalls. They think CarMax misleads customers to believe they've passed a rigorous inspection, but does not check for recalls.

In a statement, CarMax tells CBS13 it doesn't have the authority to complete recall repairs.

"Our experience shows us customers are in the best position to act on recall information directly with a manufacturer-authorized dealer. Dealers are often more likely to provide timely recall repair to customers rather than to a competitor, like CarMax, so we will continue to strongly encourage customers to have recalls repaired at a manufacturer-authorized facility.

CarMax also sent CBS13 a form it has customers sign before buying vehicles, where it encourages customers to check on their own for recalls. The form reads, "CarMax assumes no responsibility to investigate, disclose or implement recalls".

So why did that sales associate tell our undercover producer recalls are fixed before cars are sold?

CarMax says, "We train associates on CarMax's recall policy. Any statement provided that is not consistent with this policy is not accurate. We will continue to provide guidance to our associates to ensure the policy is represented accurately."

Angela Davidson has this advice for anyone thinking of buying a used car.

"Don't believe everything the sales person is telling you."