What to Do If Your Car Is Recalled

2014 is turning out to be a record year for recalls. Millions of cars already have been recalled this year, most of them from the General Motors. Fresh data released by Carfax confirms that as many as 36% of all recalled cars on American roads are not repaired.

In fact, last year, the auto industry recalled more cars than it sold. In 2013, recalls were up by approximately 25%, which is the highest increase on record since 2004. One of General Motors largest recalls this year, involving more than 2.6 million vehicles, was for a defective ignition switch that has already been linked to 13 fatalities. Clearly, car recalls are not always linked to defects that are inconveniences to customers, but possibly serious defects that could actually cause car accidents involving injuries and death.

Who is to blame for this poor response to recalls? According to Carfax, there are currently at least 36 million recalled cars being operated by motorists in the United States. In many cases, people are completely unaware of the recalls, while in the remaining cases, the people have been informed of the recall, but chose not to respond anyway.

One major reason for such a poor response rate is the fact that people are understandably fatigued by all the recall alerts that are being posted in the media. Many Atlanta residents actually discard recall notices that they get sent in the mail. In other cases, an owner may not really believe that his vehicle will give him any trouble, since he’s never had trouble with it before. Therefore, he may not take the car to the dealer to get the problem fixed.

When you get a recall notice from your auto manufacturer, it will mention on the envelope that it is a Safety Recall Notice. This is not junk mail. This is an important notice, and will contain information from your manufacturer about the defect and recall, and also instructions about what to do next.

In most cases, the dealership will schedule free repairs or replacement of the defective parts in your car. All you have to do is contact your dealer and schedule a date when you can bring in your car for repairs.

In rare cases, defects may be so dangerous that a serious risk of injury exists.In such cases, the recall notice will tell you to stop operating your car immediately.

If you’re not satisfied with the answers provided by your dealer, simply contact the manufacturer at their toll-free number. Many manufacturers are trying to increase response rates, and will be more than happy to answer your questions.

The most important thing to do when you learn about a recall to one of your automobiles is don’t ignore it.Fixing that faulty ignition switch or other defect could be the difference between remaining safe and a very tragic event.