Autos: DMV says vehicles were passed off to unwitting consumers in Northern California. The company disputes the findings.
"A California state agency has accused Chrysler of reselling 'lemons' to unsuspecting buyers without telling them it had repurchased the cars from previous owners because of defects.
The CARS Foundation, a Sacramento consumer organization, argues that cars with serious mechanical defects should be sold for scrap only. The nature of the defects involved in the Chrysler case couldn't be learned Wednesday. Consumer advocates said that in general, auto makers repurchase cars only if problems are serious and beyond repair.
'Usually the ones they buy back are the worst ones – the ones they can't repair. But if the manufacturer can't fix it, how can anyone else fix it?' asked Rosemary Shahan, president of the CARS Foundation.
The DMV made the allegations against Chrysler on August 17 in an administrative filing. It did not become public until Wednesday, when the CARS Foundation obtained a copy [and alerted the press]."
– Los Angeles Times, September 1, 1994
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