ORS 650.161: Compensation for repairs to vehicles subject to recall; claims for compensation; prohibited practices; exclusivity of remedy.

(1) As used in this section: (a) “Do not drive order” means a notice in which a manufacturer advises owners of a vehicle not to drive the vehicle until the owner has obtained a repair for a safety defect in the vehicle. (b) “Stop sale order” means a notice in which a manufacturer prohibits a franchisee from leasing or selling at wholesale or retail a vehicle in the franchisee’s inventory because of a federal recall for a safety defect or a failure to comply with a federal safety standard or a federal emissions standard. (c) “Valuation” means the average trade-in value shown in an independent third-party guide for the year, make and model of a vehicle. (2) A manufacturer shall compensate the manufacturer’s franchisees for all labor and parts the manufacturer requires the franchisees to use to perform repairs on vehicles that are subject to a recall. The manufacturer shall compensate franchisees in accordance with the standards and process for compensation set forth in ORS 650.158. (3)(a) Subject to the conditions set forth in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this subsection, a manufacturer shall compensate a dealer at a prorated rate of least 1.5 percent of the valuation of a vehicle that is subject to a recall during each month in which the dealer holds the vehicle for sale while awaiting parts or a remedy that is necessary to repair or service the vehicle. (b) The manufacturer shall pay the compensation described in paragraph (a) of this subsection: (A) If the vehicle is subject to a federal recall for a safety defect or a failure to comply with a federal safety standard or a federal emissions standard; (B) If the manufacturer issued a do not drive order or stop sale order for the vehicle; (C) If the manufacturer has authorized the dealer to sell and service new vehicles of the same line-make as the vehicle that is subject to the recall; (D) If the dealer had the vehicle in the dealer’s inventory at the time the manufacturer issued the do not drive order or stop sale order or if the dealer received the vehicle as a trade-in as part of a consumer’s purchase of another vehicle after the manufacturer issued the do not drive order or stop sale order; (E) If a part or remedy necessary to repair or service the vehicle is not reasonably available within 30 days after the manufacturer issued an initial recall notice; and (F) For a period that begins 30 days after the date on which the manufacturer issued the do not drive order or stop sale order and that ends on the earlier of the following dates: (i) The date on which the manufacturer makes available to the dealer a part or remedy that is necessary to repair the vehicle that is subject to the recall; or (ii) The date on which the dealer sells, trades or otherwise disposes of the vehicle that is subject to the recall. (c) A manufacturer may direct the manner and method by which a dealer must demonstrate that the dealer had a vehicle that was subject to a recall in the dealer’s inventory as required under paragraph (b)(D) of this subsection. The manufacturer may not require a demonstration that is unreasonable or unduly burdensome or require information that is unreasonably or unduly burdensome for the dealer to provide. (d) This subsection does not require a manufacturer to provide total compensation to a dealer that exceeds the valuation of a vehicle that is subject to a recall. (4) A claim for compensation that a franchisee makes under subsection (2) of this section or that a dealer makes under subsection (3) of this section is subject to the same requirements and limitations to which a claim for compensation under ORS 650.158 is subject unless: (a) The manufacturer compensates the franchisee or the dealer under a national program that provides compensation for recall service or repairs that is equal to or greater than the compensation the manufacturer would provide under subsection (3) of this section; or (b) The manufacturer and franchisee or dealer agree to different compensation. (5)(a) A manufacturer may not reduce compensation that the manufacturer owes to a franchisee by means of a chargeback, reducing the amount the manufacturer owes a franchisee under or removing a franchisee from an incentive program or any other means solely because the franchisee submitted a claim for or received compensation under this section. (b) This subsection does not prohibit a manufacturer from modifying or discontinuing an incentive program or other program prospectively or from making ordinary business decisions. (c) A franchisee may contest the amount of compensation a manufacturer provides under this section in accordance with the procedures set forth in ORS 650.158. (6) A remedy that a dealer obtains under this section is exclusive and may not be combined with other compensation or remedies that are available under state or federal law or state or federal compensation programs. [2017 c.363 §2; 2025 c.50 §6]