By Tim Talley
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Five years after she launched her one-woman campaign to improve consumer protections for car and truck buyers, Angie Gallant is just one vote away from wrapping up one of Oklahoma's greatest civics lessons.
This week, the Oklahoma House will consider final passage of legislation that strengthens the so-called Lemon Law, providing new guidelines for how manufacturers work with consumers who buy defective vehicles that put the consumer on a more equal footing when negotiating with a manufacturer.
Gallant gained firsthand experience with the problems Oklahomans face under the state's Lemon Law after her Chevrolet Malibu started having problems just three weeks after she bought it in 2004, the same year her husband, Army Reserve Capt. Jeff Gallant, was mobilized and away from home.
Since 2005, the 38-year-old part-time teacher from Broken Arrow has made dozens of visits to the state Capitol to urge lawmakers to support car and truck buyers by strengthening the law.
"It was really frustrating in the early days," Gallant said. "But I have to say that I have met legislators on both sides of the aisle who really do care and would say, 'This is the way it should be. A citizen concerned about something coming up here and trying to get a bill through.' They were really encouraging about that."
Finally overcoming skeptics and powerful lobbyists, Gallant and her supporters in the House and Senate developed compromise legislation that gives consumers new rights and takes ambiguity out of the way manufacturers deal with Oklahomans who purchase defective vehicles. The bill passed the Senate last week.
"One of the major provisions is establishing stronger protection for consumers," said Sen. Gary Stanislawski, R-Tulsa, who played a key role in hammering out a compromise in the Senate, where the Lemon Law bill has died in past years.
"I'm not sure why the big fight," Stanislawski said. "I want to make sure that we are consistent and fair in the law for all parties."
Rep. Rex Duncan, R-Sand Springs, the bill's principal sponsor, said credit for its final passage will go to Gallant.
"One person with persistence and a willingness to work smartly and work hard can make a difference," Duncan said.
Gallant's journey began when the family purchased the Malibu in January 2004 shortly before Jeff Gallant was called to active duty. Three weeks later, the car wouldn't start.
Over the next six weeks, Angie Gallant repeatedly took the car to the dealer where it underwent extensive repairs, including a new starter relay and other components. But the problem was never solved.
In March, Gallant asked GM for a new car of the same make and model. The manufacturer refused. She made the same request the next month, and GM refused again.
The company finally agreed to replace the car but charged a $1,530 usage fee for miles driven on the defective one.
Gallant said she had to borrow money from her parents to pay the fee. "I didn't have it," she said.
"Part of what this was always a personal mission based on what happened to me," Gallant said.
But it was also a valuable civics lesson that Gallant shared with her daughter, Genevieve, 7, who frequently accompanied her on trips to the Capitol to learn how government works.
"It's just been educational for both of us," Gallant said. "I want her to understand that when something isn't right you just don't sit there and complain. You do something about it."
Following early successes in which the Lemon Law bill sailed through the House and Senate by wide margins, Gallant said she was swarmed by what seemed to be armies of lobbyists for car manufacturers and dealers who bottled the bill up and stopped it from going to Gov. Brad Henry's desk to be signed into law.
"I think lobbyists have a lot of influence," Gallant said. "There were times when I felt overwhelmed by the kind of power that they have."
The bill got back on track this year after the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers in Washington, D.C., which includes such automakers as Chrysler, Ford, GM, Toyota and Volkswagen, dropped its opposition and took a neutral stance.
"That was the key," Stanislawski said. "It helped turn the tide."
The legislation makes a variety of changes that supporters say dramatically improves Oklahoma's Lemon Law. The Center for Auto Safety, a consumer advocacy group, ranked Oklahoma 42nd in the nation in 2002 in the level of protection the Lemon Law gives consumers.
Currently, the law allows for a "reasonable usage fee" for a consumer who buys a lemon but does not provide a formula for how it is calculated. The new Lemon Law creates a formula similar to what is already done in other states.
The current law is ambiguous as to whether reasonable use fees apply when a consumer gets a replacement car. The Better Business Bureau, which runs dispute resolution programs that most manufacturers use to resolve conflicts, says the fee appears not to apply in Oklahoma although GM applied the fee in Gallant's case.
The new law clarifies that reasonable use fees do not apply when a consumer gets a replacement car.
The measure directs the Attorney General's Office to prepare a written statement explaining a buyer's rights under the law. Manufacturers must provide a copy to each new car buyer at the point of purchase.
