Senator challenges rental car companies on recalled autos

— -- California Sen. Barbara Boxer is challenging three big auto rental companies to agree to not rent or sell vehicles that are under safety recall before they're fixed.

Boxer, D-Calif., sent letters Monday to Avis Budget, Dollar Thrifty and Enterprise, which also owns the Alamo and National brands.

The letters ask the companies to pledge that they are "making a permanent commitment" to not renting or selling recalled vehicles "until the defect has been remedied."

A letter was also sent to Hertz, thanking the company for its "efforts to improve rental car safety" and asking it to reaffirm its policies pertaining to vehicle recalls by making the pledge.

Hertz immediately made the pledge.

"Hertz does not rent or sell recalled cars until they've been repaired," said company spokeswoman Paula Rivera. "We do and will continue to comply with the voluntary policy articulated by Sen. Boxer."

In February, Hertz struck an agreement with safety advocates to put recall oversight of the rental car industry under the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

NHTSA has been investigating the auto rental industry for more than a year after the industry was accused by safety advocates of renting and selling vehicles that were recalled by automakers but not repaired.

Boxer set a 30-days deadline for the companies to agree to the pledge. She says she'll announce "which companies have agreed to make this pledge and which companies have instead chosen to continue putting their customers' lives at risk."

Rosemary Shahan, president of the Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, supports Boxer's initiatives.

Boxer says she plans to introduce legislation — based on a joint proposal by Shahan's group and Hertz — to prohibit rentals or sales of vehicles until they are fixed.

Previously, Boxer and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., introduced a bill that would prohibit auto rental companies from renting recalled vehicles that haven't been fixed.

Enterprise, which also owns the Alamo and National brands, did not comment about Boxer's challenge. But Enterprise spokeswoman Laura Bryant told USA TODAY in February that the company has made significant changes and improvements in its inspection and repair of recalled vehicles in recent years.

Avis Budget and Dollar Thrifty also didn't comment on the challenge. In February, Avis Budget spokesman John Barrows said rental car companies would unfairly be singled out by legislation forcing them to ground recalled vehicles until they are repaired and leave taxi and limousine companies untouched.