Senate Bill sb1206c1

    Florida Senate - 2007                           CS for SB 1206

    By the Committee on Commerce; and Senator Atwater





    577-2472-07

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to warranty responsibility for

  3         motor vehicle dealers; amending s. 320.696,

  4         F.S.; providing that reasonable compensation

  5         for work, including labor and parts, is the

  6         same under warranty as under other

  7         circumstances unless the motor vehicle

  8         manufacturer, distributor, or importer

  9         demonstrates that the charges are proper;

10         prohibiting a motor vehicle manufacturer,

11         distributor, or importer from imposing a charge

12         on a motor vehicle dealer for warranty work and

13         certain products; providing an effective date.

14  

15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

16  

17         Section 1.  Section 320.696, Florida Statutes, is

18  amended to read:

19         320.696  Warranty responsibility.--The licensee shall

20  reasonably and timely compensate any authorized motor vehicle

21  dealer who performs work, including labor and parts, to

22  rectify the licensee's product or warranty defects or fulfills

23  delivery and preparation obligations.  In the determination of

24  what constitutes reasonable compensation under this section,

25  the factors to be given consideration shall include, among

26  others, the compensation being paid by other licensees to

27  their dealers, the prevailing wage rate being paid by the

28  dealers, and the prevailing labor rate being charged by the

29  dealers, in the city or community in which the dealer is doing

30  business. For the purpose of this section, reasonable

31  compensation for work, including labor and parts, by a motor

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2007                           CS for SB 1206
    577-2472-07




 1  vehicle dealer for warranty repairs or service, including

 2  labor and parts, on behalf of a licensee shall not be

 3  determined to be equal to less than the amount charged by the

 4  dealer for like work to retail customers for nonwarranty

 5  repairs and service, including labor and parts, unless the

 6  licensee has demonstrated can demonstrate and established

 7  establish in a proceeding before the department that the

 8  dealer's retail charges for labor and parts are improper in

 9  light of all economic circumstances. Compensation not paid

10  within 30 days after of receipt or notice of billing is shall

11  be presumed untimely. A licensee may not otherwise recover, or

12  seek to recover, any of its costs for compensating a motor

13  vehicle dealer for warranty work, including labor and parts,

14  by imposing on a motor vehicle dealer any charge or surcharge

15  to the wholesale price paid by a motor vehicle dealer to the

16  licensee for any product, including motor vehicles and parts.

17         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2007.

18  

19          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
20                         Senate Bill 1206

21                                 

22  The committee substitute specifies that the amount for
    warranty work, parts, and labor, charged back to the
23  manufacturer by the motor vehicle dealer shall be equal to,
    rather than not less than, what the dealer charges its retail
24  customers for non-warranty work.

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.