THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 3, 1994 TAG: 9411030365
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
A commission charged with reforming state government has backed off a proposal that would have allowed automobile dealerships to all but regulate themselves.
Instead, Gov. George F. Allen's Blue Ribbon Strike Force recommended some milder changes Tuesday in the way auto dealers are policed. But just what those reforms entail puzzles consumer advocates, who say they don't know what to expect.
``Apparently it's not the complete overhaul that was in the original proposal,'' said Jean Ann Fox, president of the Virginia Citizens Consumer Council. ``It looks like they've narrowed it down considerably.
``But I still would like to see clearly what the ramifications are,'' Fox said.
The commission has recommended that the Department of Motor Vehicles no longer enforce ``stifling'' regulations limiting showroom hours, requiring a certain number of bathrooms at dealerships and mandating the distance between dealerships.
``The commission found this to be excessive,'' said Thomas J. Towberman, executive director of the strike force.
However, the meatier areas - like licensing dealers, investigating dealer abuses and controlling a fund that reimburses people defrauded by dealers - should remain under the DMV, said Al Carpenter, a staff member of the strike force's Transportation Committee.
Fights between dealerships over advertising and franchise territory often end up at the DMV. If the strike force's recommendations hold, that may change.
``We're talking about moving dispute resolution out of state government,'' Carpenter said. ``We found that these are onerous regulations that hinder the free market.''
Carpenter's committee had proposed that a board made up of auto dealers, state officials and consumer advocates monitor these areas. That idea, however, was voted down by the full commission on Tuesday.
``This doesn't pass the so-what test,'' said commission member Michael P. Farris.
Although technically gone, the idea for a board dominated by dealers has not completely disappeared. It might come up again before the entire recommendations are presented to the state legislature.
``We want to move administration of these (regulations) out of government, and it may be through a board,'' Carpenter said.
Vague language in the original proposal had alarmed consumer officials who thought that the commission intended to allow auto dealerships widespread self-regulating authority.
The commission's intentions are still unclear, said Fox, of the consumer's group. She said her organization will follow the recommendations closely.
``You haven't tried to do something unless you go against auto dealers,'' Fox said. ``They and banks are the most powerful lobbyists.''
Fox and other consumer advocates believe Virginia's automobile dealers shouldn't be given too much self-regulatory powers, though the advocates aren't entirely enthused with the DMV's performance.
But Ron Nowland, chief executive of the Virginia Automobile Dealers Association, disagrees. He believes dealers would do a better job of regulating themselves because they want to weed out their industry's bad apples.
``We'd like to correct it and we intend to correct it,'' he said. ``Sometimes, we get tired of hearing we're No. 1 in complaints.'' MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this report.
by CNB