Recalled Ford Focus Pulled From Avis Budget’s Rental Fleet

Posted on April 6, 2012

When a recall gets issued, people are likely to only pay attention if they are the owners of the vehicle.  But what happens if someone has to rent a vehicle but the rental company isn’t keeping tabs on recalls?

In a bid to protect consumers that may need to rent a car, the Avis Budget Group has announced that they will be pulling around 10,000 recalled Ford Focus sedans of the 2012 model year from their fleet of more than 300,000 vehicles.  Because these sedans are a relatively small part of their overall fleet, Avis Budget is not expecting there to be a rental shortfall.

The removal comes after the manufacturer sent Avis Budget a recall notice.  The problem has to do with a defect in the motors of the Focus’s windshield wipers.

Removing the vehicles reportedly means putting them into what’s called a hard hold.  This essentially prevents a consumer from renting the recalled vehicle.  Avis Budget says they were able to identify affected vehicles via their VIN.

Concerned consumers that have the automobiles rented out right now can return them to the nearest Avis or Budget rental outlet.

As a personal injury lawyer in Long Beach, I think the renting of recalled cars is an issue that gets short shrift in the media.  It’s my hope that other rental companies follow suit whenever a recall gets issued.  Being a Long Beach car accident lawyer, I don’t think anything is more important than safety.

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