New York lawmaker wants to give communities power over problematic auto shops
A lawmaker inspired by a recent CBS News New York investigation wants to give New Yorkers more power over problematic auto repair shops, but some mechanics are not on board with his bill.
The investigation showed how customers say a garage held their cars hostage.
Community should have input in repair shop license approvals, renewals, lawmaker says
Assemblymember George Alvarez, of the Bronx, has been trying to pass a bill since 2023 to require input from local community boards before the DMV approves, renews or transfers a repair shop license in New York City.
"Because DMV, they may have records what happened before, but they don't know the detail. They don't know everything about that repair shop in the community. The community does," Alvarez said.
Inspired by CBS News New York's recent reports, Alvarez revised his bill to specify that the DMV must consider any history of a shop's "refusal to release a vehicle to its rightful owner despite having already received payment in full."
But the Service Station Dealers of Greater New York trade association says the DMV regulates garages enough already.
"It's gonna be more opinionated because it's gonna be somebody that's not happy with somebody's work that they did for whatever reason is, the cost or something like that," said Louis Lanicci, with the Service Station Dealers of Greater New York.
Brooklyn auto repair shop held cars hostage, customers say
Sara-Lee Ramsawak didn't think she'd ever see her car again. She says it was damaged in an accident back in May and towed to State to State Automotive in Brooklyn, where it stayed for 10 months.
"Every time I inquired about getting my car back, I was told that I would have to pay exorbitant storage fee prices," she said. "And the only reason I received the car back was because of this story, I believe, being aired on CBS and your investigation."
That investigation also helped another person, Louis Denory, get his car back after a year and a half.
Both Denory and Ramsawak say their insurance had already paid for repairs, but State to State demanded storage fees, which the shop denies.
CBS News New York cameras, however, caught a shop worker telling Denory, "You're not getting the car back, then," when Denory said he wouldn't pay the storage fee.
When Denory's car was towed to the shop in 2023, the garage, called A9's Automotive at the time, had already been telling its Instagram followers to "follow our new business page" called State to State Automotive.
State regulators say A9's had a history of violations, including operating without a license and poor repairs.
But about two months after Denory's accident, the state's Department of Motor Vehicles approved a repair shop license for a new LLC under the name State to State.
"I think it's crazy that the DMV could approve a license for this shop," Ramsawak said. "I think there needs to be better checks and balances."
Over the phone, a shop employee apologized for the situation but told CBS News New York the new LLC has nothing to do with the old one.
Yet CBS News New York's investigation found that three relatives with the same last name – Quiles – have helped create or manage State to State, A9's, and another troubled LLC that operated at the same garage before that.
Four Better Business Bureau complaints also say A9's kept cars for months and other customers have since reached out to CBS News New York with similar concerns.
DMV investigating Brooklyn auto repair shop
State to State has repeatedly refused on-camera interview requests, but an employee told CBS News New York over the phone that the shop fixed everything Ramsawak's insurance paid them for.
He said the shop did a wheel alignment, test drove it to make sure it was good to go and, a week after CBS News New York's story aired, they returned it to Ramsawak.
But she says she brought the car to another mechanic, who is still working on it.
"They noticed that first of all, a wheel alignment had not been completed and it seemed like the car was not test driven before it was returned to me," she said. "It's just really frustrating, to be honest."
Denory also has his car back, but he says the license plates were gone and he had to jump-start the vehicle to drive it home from State to State's storage lot. He says he's still trying to get State to State to pay for the thousands of dollars in parking tickets he got after his car was towed to that garage.
State to State is being investigated right now by the DMV and, for that reason, the DMV said they can't do an interview.
CBS News New York requested the DMV's files on all of the repair shop LLCs that have operated at that address, but they haven't provided those at this time. In fact, they recently sent CBS News New York a $2,200 invoice for "search fees" and "page fees" for those public records.
