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Regardless of whether you are a Toyota dealer, if you have any of the recalled vehicles in your sale inventory, IL-IADA urges you not to sell them until we are able to provide further guidance. The Federal Law does not specifically prohibit the sale of Used vehicles subject to a recall as it does for new vehicles. However, sale of a vehicle with the knowledge that it was subject to a recall could expose you to significant liability. If the vehicle is involved in a collision, you could be sued for negligence for selling a vehicle that you knew, or should have known, was subject to recall.
The question of whether you can sell the vehicle if you disclose the recall to the customer sets up a Catch-22. The Illinois Consumer Fraud and Detection Business Practices Act prohibits the use of any deception, fraud, false promise, or misrepresentation in the conduct of trade or commerce, including vehicle sales, and specifically prohibits the intentional concealment, suppression, or omission of any material fact. If you know that a vehicle was recalled and fail to disclose that fact to the customer, then you are in violation of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act and could be subject to a significant fine. However, if you do not disclose the recall to the customer, the disclosure could be used against you in a negligence lawsuit to prove that you knew about its condition and sold it anyway's.
Similarly, you may not sell any accelerator pedal replacement parts that are subject to the recall notice.
If you have any questions about this notice, please contact you attorney.
Thanks,
Bruce Eklund
Executive Director
Illinois Independent Automobile Dealers Association
(800)987-6627
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