Open recalls explained for used-car buyers

An open recall is one of the few things about a used car you can verify for free, in a minute, and get fixed for free. This guide explains what recalls are, what they mean when you are the buyer, and how to make sure the repair is actually done.

What a recall is

A safety recall happens when a manufacturer or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration decides that a vehicle, or a piece of equipment on it, has a defect that affects safety or fails to meet a federal safety standard. The manufacturer must notify registered owners, and must fix the defect free of charge at any of its franchised dealers. That obligation follows the car, not the owner: a recall issued when the car was new is still free to repair on its third owner a decade later.

Recalls range from trivial to serious. A software update for a rear camera and a fuel pump that can stop the engine at highway speed are both "recalls". The component, the summary and the remedy tell you which kind you are looking at.

Open, completed, and "remedy not yet available"

• Open. Issued, but the repair has not been recorded for this specific vehicle.
• Completed. The dealer performed the fix and reported it to the manufacturer.
• Remedy not yet available. The recall has been announced but parts or a procedure do not exist yet. The manufacturer will tell owners when they do. Some of these come with interim advice, such as parking outside.

Which recalls mean "do not drive"

NHTSA and manufacturers sometimes attach a "do not drive" or "park outside" warning. Airbag inflators that can rupture, fuel systems that can leak and start a fire, brake or steering components that can fail without warning, and battery packs that can ignite while charging have all carried these labels in recent years. If a car you are considering has one of these open, do not test-drive it and do not take delivery until a dealer has done the repair and given you the paperwork.

How to check a car for recalls

You need the 17-character VIN from the windshield, the door-jamb sticker or the listing. Then:

1. Run the free CarHenry recall check, which lists every NHTSA campaign for the make, model and model year with the component, date, summary and remedy.
2. For the completion status on this exact car, call any franchised dealer for that brand with the VIN. They can see in the manufacturer's system which campaigns have been performed and will usually print it for you.
3. NHTSA also offers a lookup on nhtsa.gov that shows unrepaired recalls reported by the manufacturer for a specific VIN.

What to do as the buyer

Ask the seller to have open recalls repaired before you buy. It costs them nothing but a trip to the dealer, and it is a reasonable condition. Get the dealer's repair order as proof.

If the seller won't, decide whether you will. For a minor recall you can book the repair yourself after purchase, still free. For a "do not drive" recall, the answer is no: you cannot safely get the car home, and you may not be able to insure it in some states until it is fixed.

Do not accept money instead of a repair. A discount does not make an unsafe component safe, and the repair is free anyway.

Check that the recall actually applies. Recalls are issued by make, model and year, sometimes narrowed by production date or plant. The dealer's VIN lookup resolves that.

Recalls and price

An open recall with an available remedy is not, by itself, a reason to pay less: the fix is free. It is a reason to insist the work is done before money changes hands. A recall with no remedy available yet is different, because you would be buying a known problem with no date for the fix. In that case a lower price, or waiting, is fair.

What recalls do not tell you

Recalls cover safety defects the manufacturer has accepted responsibility for. They do not cover ordinary wear, accident damage, flood exposure or how the previous owner treated the car. For those you need the rest of the report and an inspection: see the inspection checklist and title brands explained.