Texas made a targeted amendment to one of its key products liability statutes governing the rental and leasing of motor vehicles. The Texas Legislature recently amended Section 82.009 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code—a statute that significantly limits the exposure of vehicle lessors and rental companies in failure-to-retrofit claims. The statute helps protect commercial vehicle lessors from being required to adopt the newest technology time and time again.
Application of Sec. 82.009
Section 82.009 shields vehicle lessors and rental companies from civil liability arising out of a failure to retrofit their vehicles. Subsection (c) provides that a seller who rents or leases a qualifying motor vehicle is not liable—whether under negligence, gross negligence, or strict liability—for failing to retrofit that vehicle with component parts or equipment that were not required by applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards at the time the vehicle was manufactured or sold.
At its core, the statute reflects a straightforward but commercially significant principle: a rental or leasing company’s liability is measured against what the law required at the time the vehicle was built—not against whatever safety innovations or technological advancements may have emerged in the years since. A lessor is not required to continuously upgrade its fleet to incorporate the latest available safety features or equipment enhancements that go beyond what federal standards mandated at the time of manufacture. So long as a vehicle met applicable federal safety standards when it left the factory, the lessor is not exposed to liability simply because newer or arguably safer equipment has since become available.
The statute operates alongside the federal Graves Amendment, 49 U.S.C. § 30106, which provides rental companies with federal-level protection in negligence actions arising from the use of their vehicles. Section 82.009 supplements those protections by addressing failure-to-retrofit claims specifically under Texas state law.
Scope of Sec. 82.009
The statute covers only motor vehicles that: (1) have a gross vehicle weight rating or gross vehicle weight of at least 6,000 pounds; (2) are governed by the Graves Amendment; and (3) are not manufactured primarily for the transportation of ten or fewer individuals (meaning vehicles whose primary design purpose is to carry passengers—such as standard consumer cars—fall outside the statute, while vehicles designed primarily to haul goods or cargo fall within it, even if they incidentally seat a driver or small crew). In practical terms, this means the statute is aimed squarely at large commercial rental vehicles such as cargo trucks, large vans, and similar equipment, rather than standard consumer passenger cars.
The Key Exception
The shield is not unconditional. Under subsection (d), a lessor loses the protection if they fail to comply with a law or regulation issued after the vehicle was manufactured or sold and that required a mandatory recall or retrofit. This exception is narrow by design. It is triggered only by a mandatory recall or retrofit obligation— not by the mere existence of newer or more advanced equipment on the market.
The 2025 Amendment: “Collision” vs. “Accident”
The 2025 amendment makes one targeted change: in subsection (a)(2)(B), the word “accident” is replaced with “collision.” This change was made to mirror the language used in the Insurance Code.
By substituting “collision,” the Texas Legislature appears to have narrowed the category of damage events whose resulting repairs fall outside the retrofit definition. Whether a particular incident qualifies as a “collision” under the amended statute will likely be a fact-specific inquiry in cases where the cause of damage is disputed.
Takeaway
Section 82.009 embodies a deliberate legislative choice: lessors should be held to the safety standards that governed their vehicles at the time of manufacture, not to a constantly moving target defined by whatever equipment or technology is newest at the time of litigation.