What You Should Know About Auto Recalls

After purchasing a new car, your information is automatically sent to the automotive manufacturer. They store your name and mailing address, so that they can notify you in case a recall is ordered on your car's specific make and model. If you move or sell your car, you may not be receiving these important notices. If you have bought your car used, chances are high that you never sent in a change of ownership card to the automotive manufacturer. If this is true, you may be at risk.

Even if your information is current, when an automotive manufacturer must issue a recall notice, it can take up to three months for all recall notices to be printed and mailed to car owners. By this point, the defect may have seriously damaged or totaled your vehicle.

During yearly vehicle inspections, many states require a check of automotive recalls to be performed before a car can pass inspection. This prevents dangerous breakdowns from occurring if you have not received a recall notice.

The government keeps an extensive website on vehicle recalls, defects, and consumer complaints. All car and truck owners should keep this website bookmarked!

The National Highway Traffic Safety Association not only lists recalls, but they include a lengthy session on complaints that have been reported by consumers. These complaints have been small. However, a percentage of vehicle owners feel that other owners deserve to know that the situation may happen to their vehicle. Knowing this information in advance helps arm other vehicle owners with the information they need to battle with the dealer if necessary.

Vehicle owners can also look up automotive technician warnings. These warnings alert the technicians at dealerships as to problems with a car that may need attention, but that have not yet been declared an actual recall. If a vehicle owner comes into the dealer with a complaint, the warning allows a technician to repair the item at the manufacturer's cost, but only if the problem has already occurred. A technician warning is not used as a precautionary measure to prevent a certain situation from occurring.

The government's website is simple to use. You need to know the vehicle's make, model, and year. Once this information has been selected from drop-down bars, the website searches its database for any recall or other complaints on your specified vehicle. The information is in an easily printed format so that you can take it to your dealer for servicing if necessary.

Additionally, you can fill out forms if you have had a troublesome issue with your vehicle that has been repaired. This alerts other car owners to similar problems with the same vehicle and model year. This information is often used to create recalls if the percentage of affected cars is high enough.

Once you have checked the NHTSA's website, if you find anything requiring attention, print the information out and make an appointment with your nearest dealer. If the information is a recall, they are required to repair the worn or defective equipment free of charge.