The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "car repair" ...
-
NC Auto Inspection's-Failing the Test
Every year, North Carolina auto owners must take vehicles to private garages for state-mandated safety and emissions testing meant to prevent traffic crashes and curb pollution. Drivers cannot put a car on the road legally unless it passes inspection. A review inspection data showed the program is undermined by unscrupulous garages who do a volume business, passing unsafe cars, and by other who take bribes or cheat customers with uncessary repairs.
Tags: auto owners; emissions testing; unsafe cars
-
2008 Auto Issue
Two groundbreaking stories in Consumer Reports' annual auto issue used sophisticated survey techniques to help people cut through the hype of spending money on their automobile. The first story, "What that car really costs," looked at new owner cost estimates that help consumers asses how much they are going to spend. The second story used owners' actual experiences with buying and using extended warranties to show that they are usually a bad deal.
Tags: car costs; consumers; automobiles; auto maintenance; auto repair; cost estimates; buying cars
-
Auto Disrepair
The authors investigated the auto repair industry and possible means for remedies when consumers are unhappy with repairs done on their cars. There is little regulation in the industry; that leaves both consumers and merchants vulnerable.
Tags: mechanics; Florida; auto repair; consumer complaints; industry regulation; FOIA
-
KC Federal Housing Series
A follow-up to an Oct. 2004 series, this investigation uncovers misspent federal housing dollars intended to benefit lower income families. Among their findings was a sale in which a local developer made a $156,000 profit by flipping the property the same day; a home-repair program which took advantage of home owners; and sweet heart loans to local politicians and business owners.
Tags: housing; real estate; property taxes; property assessment; HUD; restoration; CAR
-
Fatal Assumption
Expert auto repair surgeons lure customers into thinking they have a safe car by creating dummy airbags covers, but the bags are not inside. The tape exposes the case of a 50-year-old woman who was in a car accident and her air bag never deployed. The airbag had been cut out by the dealer who sold her the car. Dealers save thousands of dollars and that could cost lives. Many other cases like these are investigated by the news team. The tape shows how to tell a fake from a real air bag. It also holds a few of the liars accountable for making buyers think the cars have air bags.
Tags: TAPE; airbag; car; automobile; auto; auto dealer; car dealer; car accident; accident; fake airbag; Washington State Patrol Fatal Incident Report; Department of Licensing; collision; car crash; missing airbag.
-
Taken for a Ride
When your car breaks down, how do you know whom to trust? How can you tell if a mechanic is being honest? The news team went to 50 auto repair shops across the Valley in Phoenix to find honest mechanics and the ones who want to take you for a ride. This turned out to be the largest consumer investigation in the market. They used a 2002 Toyota Corolla as a test car and went to all the shops to have it checked to make sure it did not need any repairs. The car had three cameras hidden under the hood and beneath the car to show the engine and other areas that would be inspected. The researcher wore a hidden camera and as she visited big name chains and small independent shops. Shops recommended unnecessary repairs ranging from $30 to $800. After the three-month investigation, some shops corrected their mistakes when confronted, other just would not offer explanations and some did not correct their mistakes.
Tags: TAPE; car; car repair; car repair shop; mechanic; certified mechanic; dishonest mechanic; auto repair shop; vehicle inspection; scam; hidden camera; undercover; auto repair industry; consumer; consumer investigation; auto dealer.
-
N.J. does little about car repair crooks
The Record reports that "New Jersey drivers have little protection from auto-repair rip-offs," and that the state's office of consumer protection -- despite an announced shake-up -- remains "lackluster and ineffective."
Tags: fraud; complaints; better business; consumer protection
-
Deadly Driving: Safety Agency Puts Motorists at Risk
In an eight-month investigation, The Detroit News examined the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and found "the federal agency created 35 years ago to make vehicles safer is failing consumers, leading to at least 3,100 deaths and 18,000 injuries each year." The agency also fails to find defects in cars and trucks and fails to force recalls for repairs.
Tags: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; federal agencies; NHTSA; auto safety; automobile recalls; vehicle defects; auto-safety issues
-
2002 IRE National Conference Show and Tell Tape #3
1) Valeri Williams (WFAA-Dallas/Fort Worth) WFAA-TV follows up its 2000 IRE Awards entry with this return investigation into Fort Worth's John Peter Smith Hospital. Reporter Williams and producer Schucker continued their investigation, focusing on Dr. Lydia Grotti and her connection to suspicious and overlooked deaths in the emergency room. As a result of WFAA-TV's investigation the Texas Department of Health began conducting its own investigation and discovered additional deaths that took place in the ER. The county district attorney's office called in a special prosecutor to examine a total of eight suspicious deaths in connection with Dr. Grotti at the hospital. 2) Robb Leer (KSTP-Minnesota) An investigation reveals that state adoption laws have loopholes that allow mothers of out of wedlock children to give the babies up for adoption without the father ever knowing. 3) Larry Posner (Inside Edition) An investigation reveals that a Florida man claiming to suffer from a rare conversion disorder that makes him act like a child is actually defrauding the state. 4) Jim Strickland (WSB-Atlanta) An area smoke detector salesman plays off the fears of senior citizens and sells them alarms at an inflated cost. 5) Larry Posner (Inside Edition) An investigation reveals that insurance companies can sell nearly-destroyed cars as though they weren't damaged. The cars are then repaired and end up in the hands of drivers who don't know they're driving dangerous vehicles. 6) Laure Quinlivan (WCPO-Cincinnati) A clip from the hour-long Visions of Vine street documentary on Cincinnati's deteriorating urban core. WCPO-TV tells the story of "Vine Street, the crumbling centerpiece of a neighborhood called Over the Rhine, ground zero for the April race riots that attracted national media attention." 7) (WTTG-District of Columbia) The city's DMV routinely charges two drivers for the same parking ticket or issues illegitimate tickets. The system is so bad that one lawyer spends all his time fighting parking tickets. 8) Vic Lee (KRON-San Francisco) An investigation reveals its not hard for employees at the San Francisco airport to sneak in knives. 9) (CBS 11-Dallas) Workers at a U.S. Post Office in Dallas are shown stealing from the mail. 10) (CBS 11-Dallas) Coverage of a fony charity called Kid Wish USA. The scam took money from donors who thought they were giving to dying children.
Tags: TAPE; San Francisco; conference; no transcripts; IRE
-
Painting over Danger: How the government fails to protect children from lead poisoning
A Post-Standard investigation reveals that in Syracuse, at least 48 children since 1995 were poisoned by lead in homes that government inspectors previously had declared safe. "In each case, a child has been poisoned earlier in the home, the landlord made repairs, the county declared the property safe, tenants returned and second child was poisoned," Perez reports. Small children and pregnant women are the two risk groups most vulnerable to lead poisoning.
Tags: safety; FOI requests; Onondaga county; housing; HUD; landlords; property records; EPA; environment; Center for Disease Control; construction; CAR; database mapping project