BMW RECALLS VEHICLES FOR CHILD SEAT RISK >> May Increase Risk of Injury
BMW OF NORTH AMERICA LLC is recalling certain model year 2011-17 X3 sDrive28i, X3 xDrive28i and X3 xDrive35i vehicles manufactured July 2, 2010 to April 14; 2015-17 X3 xDrive28d vehicles manufactured March 10, 2014 to March 31; and 2015-17 x4 xDrive28i, X4 xDrive35i and X4 xDriveM40i vehicles manufactured March 3, 2014 to April 15. The affected vehicles have lower anchor bars for securing child restraint seats that may become damaged when using the EuropeanISOFIX-type, rigid-style connector, child restraint system. Damaged lower anchor bars may increase the child’s risk of injury in the event of a crash. BMW will notify owners, and dealers will weld a reinforcing bracket to the lower anchor bars and the vehicle body, free of charge.
www.iadac.org
DEALER PERSPECTIVE / BY MIKE MACAULAY, WEST COAST DEALER EDITOR/CHAIR
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SAFETY WATCH /
EDITORIAL COMMENT >> Renewing My Dealer’s License
I AM WRITING THESE PERSONAL comments eight days before my California dealer’s license expires. The renewal form was sent from DMV over 30 days ago. I sent the completed OL 45G form, my current original Continuing Education Certificate of Completion, and my check for the total fees the very next day from receipt. It was getting close to my expiration date and I decided to contact the DMV Occupational License division. They agreed to check the status of my application and contacted me the following day stating it was never received. The OL rep told me I should go to the nearest OL office and apply for a temporary operating permit. Now I have to spend half a day waiting in line, re-produce the documents, and write another check to get a temporary permit. It just doesn’t seem right. Over the last 10 years I have received that same answer from DMV three times! They finally found my application and renewed my license only days before it expired. Several auto auctions put me on notice that they considered me out of business. I attended three auto auctions this week and was warned three times I was not welcome to do business with their auction until my “license problem” was cleared up. California Department of Motor Vehicles
Occupational License Division has been aware of the problem with renewing dealer licenses for several years now. The new head of DMV Occupational License gave a speech at a recent IADAC meeting and addressed this problem. He said it would be fixed to our industry’s satisfaction. No help yet. There has to be a better way to do this. Perhaps an Internet-based system like smog checks, change of addresses, or release of liabilities would help. We dealers deserve better service! I suggest we dealers do a few things to protect our business: • Make copies of everything you send to DMV, including your check. • Send the completed package to DMV via return receipt mail, to have an official record. • Follow up with DMV Occupational License a couple weeks before expiration. DMV has many divisions and has been underfunded and understaffed the last several years. We auto dealers depend on DMV to do their job. Please make sure to use the above suggestions so you don’t have a problem renewing your license.
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 / WEST COAST DEALER 23