grant901•10h agoTop Commenter

Just saw a report that 1 in 4 cars on the road right now has an overdue safety recall

I was looking at some data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last week, and the number they gave for open recalls really got me. They said about 25% of vehicles out there have an unfixed safety recall. That means for every four cars you work on, one probably has a known safety issue the owner hasn't dealt with. I started checking the VINs on every car that comes into my bay in Cincinnati now, and sure enough, I've flagged three this month alone. One was for a faulty airbag sensor, another for a fuel line that could leak. It's wild to think people are driving around with these problems, maybe because they never got the notice or just put it off. It makes me wonder if we should be doing more to check and tell customers when we see it. Do you guys have a standard way you handle finding open recalls during a service?

2 comments

2 Comments

lee.casey5h ago

I read that Toyota had a huge recall for fuel pumps last year, and @jana_hill27 has a point that not all recalls feel urgent to drivers.

jana_hill279h ago

Honestly, that stat gets thrown around a lot but how many of those recalls are for something truly dangerous? Like a software update for a screen glitch gets counted the same as a bad brake line. Most people probably ignore the minor stuff because it's a hassle for a problem they've never even noticed. Dealership visits take forever and sometimes the fix isn't even ready when you go in. It feels like they call everything a "safety" recall now to get people in the door. Sure, check the VIN, but maybe don't scare the customer over a potential issue with their rearview camera display.