look_ma

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald...al/8140166.htm


Mar. 9--NEWARK, N.J. - Is a manufacturer legally obligated to tell its customers that its product has become a hot target for thieves?

Yes, New Jersey authorities say.

In a suit filed Monday in Somerset County, the state accused Nissan North America Inc. of failing to warn customers that the super-bright xenon headlights on its Maximas were a favorite among thieves. In addition, it did not tell customers that a kit was available to make the lights more secure, even as it was alerting its dealers about the kit.

Because of the design, experienced thieves could remove both lights from a vehicle in as little as 1 minute, said Attorney General Peter Harvey, who filed the suit with Reni Erdos, director of the Division of Consumer Affairs.

They said the Gardena, Calif.-based automaker's inaction, when it knew of the problem, was an "unconscionable commercial practice," and a violation of the Consumer Fraud Act.

Companies have a responsibility under state law to act fairly and honestly, to disclose material facts, Erdos said.

"We allege the company sold cars with these fancy lights, but kept consumers in the dark about how attractive the headlamps were to thieves," Erdos said. "Nissan's actions, or lack thereof, rendered consumers vulnerable to the criminals who targeted their vehicles." Nissan declined to comment on the lawsuit, but said in a statement that no manufacturer has done more to reduce xenon headlight theft.

"While nothing can completely eliminate the thefts of parts from vehicles, we believe the proactive steps taken by Nissan will help deter criminals from stealing headlights from our customers' Maximas," the statement said.

Nissan said theft is a problem "in major metropolitan areas of New York and New Jersey." It said it began an anti-theft initiative last fall by sending letters to consumers in the Northeast, telling them they could bring their cars to a dealer to have a bracket installed, free of charge, to make the headlights more difficult to steal.

That was too little, too late, the state said.

"Nissan knew [of the problem] since at least September 2002," Harvey said. However, it wasn't until more than a year later that Nissan finally began notifying 2002 and 2003 Maxima owners of the risk of theft. About 46,000 letters were sent.

"Meanwhile, numerous victims were hit with huge repair bills," Harvey said. In addition, motorists faced getting stranded at night, unable to drive their cars. "This was a public safety issue," he said.

Victims had to pay about $1,800 for reinstallation of the headlamps, although the final cost was often $4,000 or more because of other damage thieves did in removing the moon-blue lights. The lights would sell on the street for about $200, Harvey said.

The state is seeking restitution to consumers, plus civil penalties that could top more than $15 million. Police departments in 19 New Jersey municipalities, including four in Bergen County, reported 756 thefts or attempted thefts from 2002 or 2003 Maximas. Under the Consumer Fraud Act, violators face penalties of up to $10,000 for the first occurrence and up to $20,000 for each subsequent one.

Newark led with 277 cases, followed by Bloomfield with 135, Jersey City with 108, and Hillside and Butler with 50 each. There were also 17 in Elmwood Park, 12 each in Edgewater and Englewood Cliffs, and two in Lodi.

-----

To see more of The Record, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.NorthJersey.com.

© 2004, The Record, Hackensack, N.J. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. NSANY, 7201,

__________________

Leebo

Funny thing is... that "Bracket" isn't anything. It's stupid little dots with serial numbers so the cops can track the lights sold on the aftermarket. At least that's what we've been told.

I hope mine don't get jacke.d

__________________
oHai!

chrissy

I dunno, a little mixed on this.

When is stupidity going to stop? I mean, I bought blah blah, and it's a popular item, it's really cool and all. two days later, it's stolen. It's not my fault but it's someones because it has to be someones. Not the thief, can't be his, it has to be the person I bought it from for not telling me it was a popular item to be stolen!

So, what about the Civics? Or used cars that are popular theft items? Heck what about Yu-Gi-Oh cards??? When will this stupidity end??

bachviet

This is a stupid lawsuit.

__________________
Dell Dimension 9200 | Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (2.4GHz) | 4x1GB DDR2 | 256MB nVidia GeForce 8800GT

Dell Studio 17 | Intel Core i7-720QM (1.6GHz) | 2x2GB DDR3 1066MHz | 1GHz ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650

Intel P4-C 3.0GHz | ECS 865PE-A | 3x512MB PC3200 | 128MB PNY GeForce 6600GT

gwilks98

I would agree that it's dumb except for the comment about the public safety issue. I'm going out on a limb here, but I believe the courts have established that in matters of public safety, if a manufacturer is negligent in taking steps to alleviate the problem, they're liable to the incidents it causes. Imagine how many lawsuits there'd be if a gun manufacturer stopped putting safeties on their rifles...
I'm not saying I think it's right, but I can at least understand the courts decision.

__________________
"I know the pieces fit, cause I watched them fall away."

"Cold silence has
A tendancy to
Atrophy any
Sense of compassion."

MJK

djradam

hahaha. seriously those people are dumb ...

so they get ripped off and pay 2 grand for new headlights? buy them on the street, they're only about $200

speedracer120

So I guess I should go out and pay some bastard $200 bucks because they know what an iPod is and stole one just like mine?

Or better yet, why don't we buy cars straight from car-jackers. No financing, though probably more haggling.

__________________
Off in La La Land

kimchicowboy

i'm sure djradam didn't mean it in that way.

djradam

ok, i meant the people with the lawsuit is dumb. i should add [sarcastic] to my comment. my bad. these might be the same people who got fat from mcdonalds, and think mcdonalds should pay. do people realize that ANYTHING can get stolen? see, i'm not dumb. i'm not gonna ride in the hood, blasting my system on gold 20" rims. i'm sure those headlamps are cool, cool things get stolen.

speedracer120

Eh, I didn't intend it come out that way. I'm just bitter about the loss of my iPod and having to get it replaced. And it just pisses me off to have all my accesories and crap, but not the all important player.