DETROIT — It’s a case of buyer beware, with potentially dangerous consequences. More than 46 million cars and trucks on the road in the U.S. — about one-fifth the total — were recalled because of safety defects but never repaired, according to a study by Carfax, a company that sells vehicle history reports. Some of those defects have the potential to cause a crash, injury, even death.
Last year, about 5 million of those cars were sold to new owners.
That’s because there is no legal requirement for dealers or individual sellers to get the repairs done before a used car is sold. They are not even obligated to tell buyers if a car is subject to a recall.
“It’s a very major public-safety problem,” says Chris Basso, a used-car specialist for Carfax, which analyzed state registration data to determine that one-fifth of the 238 million cars on the nation’s roads have an unrepaired problem that was the subject of a recall. “When those recalled cars go unfixed, they compound over the years, and it increases the chance of those parts failing.”
Federal regulators are pushing for legislation that requires dealers to fix recalled used cars. Independent dealers oppose such a measure but say they might go along with a requirement to disclose recalls to buyers because a new government database makes it easier to tell if a car on their lot has been recalled.
The number of unfixed cars is certain to rise because automakers recalled nearly 64 million vehicles nationwide last year, double the old record, set in 2004. Government data show that 25 percent of car owners never get recall repairs done.
No one is sure how many crashes or injuries happen because of unheeded recalls. But buying an unrepaired car cost Carlos Solis his life. The 35-year-old father of two died Jan. 18 when shrapnel from the driver’s air bag in his 2002 Honda Accord tore into his neck after a minor accident near Houston.
Solis’ Accord had been recalled in 2011 to fix a faulty air bag inflator made by Takata Corp. that can explode with too much force. But neither the two previous owners nor the independent dealer in Houston who sold Solis the car in April had the repair done.
Solis had no other injuries, says Rob Ammons, an attorney representing his family in a lawsuit against Takata, Honda and the dealer. “You fix the defective air bag and he doesn’t die,” Ammons says.
Federal law requires car companies to notify owners of a recall within 60 days of finding a safety defect, which Honda did in 2011. But there’s no legal requirement that companies contact the new owner if a car changes hands.
State cars with unrepaired recalls
Carfax, a company that sells vehicle history reports to dealers and car buyers, searched recalls and state registration databases and found that more than 46 million cars on U.S. roads have recalled parts that have yet to be repaired. Here is a state-by-state breakdown of cars with unfixed recalls in 2014:
Top five
1. California 4,923,308
2. Texas 4,102,575
3. Florida 2,778,369
4. New York 2,116,136
5. Pennsylvania 1,997,334
…………………………………………………………………………….
22. Colorado 817,869
Bottom five
47. Alaska 119,581
48. North Dakota 117,246
49. Wyoming 114,133
50. Vermont 100,904
51. District of Columbia 52,398
Source: Study of 2014 state registration data by Carfax.
Recalled car?
About 5 million used cars under recall were sold last year before the recalled parts were fixed.
A study by Carfax, which sells vehicle history reports, showed that overall there are more than 46 million cars and trucks on U.S. roads with unrepaired safety recalls.
Some of the recalls involve serious safety problems, such as leaky brake lines or air bags that can inflate with too much force, sending shrapnel into drivers or passengers. But others are relatively minor, such as brake master cylinder caps with pictures rather than words.
No matter the problem, if you’re shopping for a used car, you want to make sure a recalled part has been repaired.
Here’s how to protect yourself:
Find out if there’s a recall: Get the 17-digit vehicle identification number from the seller, or copy it down from the left side of the dashboard near the windshield. Go to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s VIN lookup site at and key in the number. The site will tell you if there are any open recalls.
Get a vehicle history report: You can pay a third party such as Carfax or Experian’s AutoCheck for a vehicle history check. It will show the car’s ownership history, if it has been in a crash and if there are open recalls. Complete reports cost around $20 to $40 for a single vehicle. Go to and .
Ask the dealer: Many dealers will check used cars for open recalls. Ask them to do it while you’re watching. Many have policies of repairing recalls before selling cars, and others will give you a vehicle history report at no charge.
Consider a certified pre-owned vehicle: Manufacturers’ certified pre-owned cars often cost more, but all major manufacturers say they check for recalls and fix the cars before selling them.
The Associated Press
