Recalls 101: What You Need To Know To Stay Safe

Car Recalls Quick Facts

Any defect affecting a vehicle’s safety can trigger a recall.
A car manufacturer must notify owners of vehicles affected by a recall within 60 days of notifying NHTSA.
Car manufacturers must fix defects from recalls for free if the vehicle is less than 16 years old.
Unless the recall notice includes a “Do Not Drive” order, you can probably continue to drive a recalled car when necessary.

If your car did not get caught up in the recalls involving the millions of vehicles with faulty airbags a few years ago, you should consider yourself lucky. Many of your family, friends, and neighbors didn’t escape it. Regardless, that airbag pandemic gave us all a crash course in car recalls. People suddenly discussed car recalls at the dinner table.

The airbag situation taught us that a recall isn’t something that just happens to other people. It dragged recalls out of the abstract into the actual. The odds are good that if you haven’t experienced a car recall yet, you probably will at some point in your car-owning life. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported it administered nearly 340 safety recalls affecting nearly 25 million vehicles and other equipment in 2022.

Although a car recall may involve a serious safety issue, there is little reason to panic because the government and car manufacturers have a process in place to address recalls. It’s the responsibility of the carmaker to notify owners of a recall and to make needed fixes. However, taking action to remedy the recall issue falls to the owner.

Here, we will arm you with what you need to know to stay current with your car’s recall status, how to proceed if the manufacturer recalls your vehicle, and how to handle such a notice.

What Is a Car Recall?
Recalls for My Car: What Do I Do?
How to Respond to a Car Recall Notice
Can I Drive a Recalled Car?
Electric Car Recalls
Can I Check for Car Recalls Online?

What Is a Car Recall?

A car recall is a repeal issued by a vehicle manufacturer to address a safety defect or problem identified with their vehicles. Recalls can come from an automaker or the federal government, through its National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), when they’ve determined a specific vehicle doesn’t meet minimum safety standards. The defect in question could affect nearly any part, component, or system that, if not addressed, reduces the car’s safety. When a vehicle is the subject of a recall, the carmaker must take the necessary action to satisfy the issue. That action might be simply fixing the defect or, in extreme cases, repurchasing the vehicle.

In 2022, NHTSA reported that Ford had 68 recalls potentially affecting nearly 9 million vehicles. A total of 47 recalls by Volkswagen potentially involved nearly 1.1 million vehicles.

How to Check for a Car Recall

Automakers typically issue recall notices via mail to the owner of the vehicle. To check for any outstanding recalls, enter your VIN or license plate into KBB’s recall finder.

Why Are There Recalls on Cars?

Any defect present in a car that impacts its safety can trigger a recall. Here are a few examples of recall-worthy defects reported by NHTSA recently:

Rollaway– Ford recalled 2.9 million cars in 2022 because a transmission bushing could degrade over time, causing it to snap and allowing the vehicle to roll away when parked.

Rear-seat fire risk – Kia recalled 27,000 Niro hybrid electric vehicles because a power relay could cause increased electrical resistance, overheating the rear seats and potentially causing a fire.

Recalls for My Car: What Do I Do?

So, you’ve received a recall notice from a carmaker. Now what? Typically, when you receive a recall notice, it tells you exactly what you should (and shouldn’t) do. Such a notice will originate with your car’s manufacturer. In other words, Ford sends out its recall notices, Subaru sends out Subaru notices, and so forth. By law, your recall notice will arrive within 60 days of the carmaker filing the recall with NHTSA.

What Is in a Car Recall Notice?

Every car recall notice must include certain information. For example:

A description of the defect.
Any warnings, risks, or problems arising if the defect is unresolved. Such warnings could include “Do Not Drive” or “Do Not Park Inside.” For example, in 2022, several Takata airbag recalls were upgraded to “Do Not Drive” warnings.
A summary of the manufacturer’s proposed action to address the defect.
A timeline for repairing the defect.
Instructions on what you should do to initiate the process.
Contact information for the manufacturer should you have any questions.

How To Respond to a Car Recall Notice?

Upon receiving a recall notice (or hearing about one), you can check Kelley Blue Book Car Recalls site to see if your vehicle is affected. This is also the procedure you should follow to periodically check for outstanding recalls on your vehicle. You will need your 17-character (numbers and letters) vehicle VIN. This vehicle identification number is etched on a steel plate at the bottom of the windshield on the driver’s side. If your vehicle is indeed under a recall order, it will come up after inputting your VIN.

Once you’ve determined your car is under a recall order, follow the instructions in the notice. It usually includes contacting a nearby franchised dealership to arrange the needed repairs. The dealership is required by law to complete the repairs in a timely manner. However, in the case of a major recall, the availability of parts may dictate the schedule.

What Are the Possible Outcomes of a Car Recall Notice?

The most common outcome of a recall notice is the repair or replacement of the defect. However, in more extreme cases, there are two other remedies. If, for some reason, the manufacturer can’t make the repair, it may choose to replace the recalled vehicle with a comparable model. In other cases, the manufacturer may choose to refund the original sale price of the vehicle minus any depreciation.

Recalled Cars: How Much Will the Repairs Cost?

For cars less than 16 years old, the manufacturer should make the specified repairs for free. In other words, there is no charge for parts and labor required to make the recall repair. If a franchised dealer balks at making a recall repair for free for a vehicle less than 16 years old, you should immediately contact the manufacturer.

Covering any expense or providing service beyond the recall repair is left to the discretion of the car dealer. Recalls don’t mandate free loaner cars or transportation from the dealer to your job. However, some dealers may provide extras as part of their normal service routine.

What If I Paid for a Recall Repair?

You do have rights if you receive a recall for a repair you already made to the vehicle. Those rights will be outlined in the recall notice. You must present a receipt or other documentation for the repair and immediately file for reimbursem*nt. The timetable for filing for reimbursem*nt can be as short as 10 days following receipt of the recall notice, so check with the manufacturer.

According to Ford’s website, “You may be eligible for a refund if you paid to correct the concern addressed by a recall before the owner notification letter was mailed.” They say Ford dealers review and approve funds.

Can I Drive a Recalled Car?

Yes, in many cases, you can continue to drive a car with an outstanding recall order. Although a safety issue is the source for virtually every recall, often the issue isn’t life-threatening. Therefore, you can continue to drive the vehicle for necessary errands until the recall repair is completed. However, some recalls involve much more dangerous issues that make driving your car unsafe. The recall notification will also include a “Do Not Drive” notice in such cases. In other words, it’s not advisable to drive the car to the dealership for repair. Moreover, if the issue could cause a fire, the recall may order you not to park the vehicle within a structure (garage, carport, and so on).

What Happens if I Rent My Car on Turo and There’s a Recall?

If you own a vehicle and rent it to individuals through Turo, it could be kicked off the platform until the recall item gets fixed. Turo says on its website that it will remove the “restriction and allow guests to book” when the car’s recall gets fixed.

Used Car Recalls

If you bought your car used, you may need to be more proactive in keeping track of recalls. The manufacturers work hand in hand with the Department of Transportation of all the states to keep track of the current addresses of vehicle owners by VIN. Consequently, when you register a used car with your current address, there is a trail the manufacturer can follow in issuing a recall notice.

The big however here, though, is your vehicle registration must reflect your current address. Even if you purchased your car new and then relocated, if you don’t change the address on your registration, the manufacturer may be unable to find you.

To ensure you are aware of any recall notices applying to your vehicle, you should do a VIN check with either the KBB tool listed above or you can check on the NHTSA site. This is particularly important if you aren’t the original owner.

Electric Car Recalls

Currently, electric vehicles (EVs) have generated more than their fair share of attention where recalls are concerned, considering there are far fewer of them on roads today than gasoline-powered vehicles. Many experts attribute EVs’ higher-than-normal rate of recalls to all of the new technology they feature.

Check out these examples of electric car and plug-in hybrid recalls:

GMC Hummer EV Pickup — GM Recalled almost 800 GMC Hummer EV Pickup 2022-2023 models for seal issues with the battery pack, potentially allowing moisture to seep into the battery.

Jeep Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid — Chrysler recalled nearly 14,000 Wrangler 4xe PHEV models from 2022-2023 to replace fuse fasteners in the battery pack assembly that could cause a fire.

Rivian R1T and R1S — Rivian recalled more than 12,200 of its 2022 R1T and R1S vehicles for a loose steering knuckle fastener that could cause loss of control, resulting in a crash.

Lucid Air — Lucid recalled nearly 600 Lucid Air models for a detached front tow eye bracket that could separate the vehicle from a tow truck, causing a crash.

Cadillac Lyriq — GM recalled 186 Lyriq 2023 models for a potentially faulty display module that can go blank, failing to display vehicle speed and other critical information.

BMW 745e —BMW recalled 16 units of its 2022 745e plug-in hybrid for a potential short-circuit in the battery cell that could cause a fire.

Ford Mustang Mach-E — Ford recalled nearly 49,000 Mustang Mach-E 2021-2022 models for an overheated high-voltage battery contactor that could cause the vehicle to lose drive power.

Tesla Recalls

Because Tesla has been producing and marketing EVs longer than other EV manufacturers, it has a wider customer base, and a deeper history of electric vehicle recalls than other EV makers. In 2022, Tesla initiated more than 20 recalls involving a total of nearly 3.8 million vehicles. Some of those models got caught up in more than one recall. Tesla addressed some recalls with over-the-air (OTA) software fixes. Here are a few examples of its more recent recalls:

Self-driving software – In February 2023, Tesla recalled about 362,760 vehicles equipped with “Full Self-Driving Capability” software after NHTSA warned that it was unsafe.

Airbags – More than 29,300 Model X SUVs from 2021-2023 for possible faulty front-passenger airbags that might not deploy as intended.

Taillights – Over 321,600 2023 Model 3 and 2020-2023 Model Y vehicles for potentially faulty taillights that may fail to illuminate.

Outboard mirrors– More than 50 units of the 2021 Model S for outboard mirrors that don’t comply with federal standards, causing drivers to misjudge the distance of other vehicles.

Electronic power assist steering system– At least 40,100 units of the 2017-2021 Model S and Model X vehicles for the potential for the electronic power assist steering system to fail, causing the loss of power steering assist when driving over rough surfaces.

Seat belt anchors – More than 24,000 units of the 2017-2022 Model 3 for potentially incorrectly assembled rear-seat seat belt anchors.

Can I Check for Car Recalls Online?

Yes. All you need to check for a recall on your car is your VIN and internet access. Kelley Blue Book provides a tool for checking your car’s VIN for outstanding recall orders, as does NHTSA. You can find your car’s VIN on its registration or locate it at the bottom of the windshield on the driver’s side of your car. It’s a 17-character series of numbers and letters.

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Recalls 101: What You Need To Know To Stay Safe - Kelley Blue Book (2024)