Health & Fitness
The Car World’s Dirty Little Word
One car business 'four letter word' is RECALL- but really these are generally small tweeks to well performing systems. Do you know how to check for recalls? And who should perform them?
Recalls. There I said it. Recall- ha, I said it again! Many in the car sales business cover their ears and hum loudly when that term arises. And the logic is sound- no one wants to think about these precious new cars having a problem. More specifically, the sales process can be long and expensive and no one wants to imagine spending more time at the shop than they have to. Yes, we are a fantastic and fun place to hang out, but we also understand that your family and job may be more important than our waiting room. We have free popcorn! Oh, that doesn’t suit your fancy? Coffee? Wifi? Okay, okay- I agree, recalls are no fun. However, they serve a purpose and your dealer really does have your best interest in mind in completing these upgrades to your vehicle.
The most serious recalls are burned in our brains, mostly due to media coverage. Toyota’s infamous brake issue from 2009 lowered blue book values of pre-owned Toyota’s by three percent! In 2000 Bridgestone/Firestone recalled 6.5 million tires as 271 people died and hundreds were injured due to tires losing tread and rolling over in their Ford Explorers causing Ford Motor Company to spend $3 billion dollars the following year recalling another 13 million questionable tires. (If you question the importance of tire tread- please read my previous blog title “An Ode to the Tire”.)
Many recalls are minor ‘tweeks’ to vastly improved vehicles the auto manufacturers spent years and millions of dollars designing and testing. Many issues arise as vehicles age that cannot be predicted in development. Many recalls don’t even involve fixing or replacing a part, just an update to your vehicle’s computer system. Think of it as a flu shot- a little boost or adjustment to an otherwise well performing system.
Find out what's happening in Petersfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Your auto manufacturer – not dealer- is required by federal law to notify you by mail of a recall on your vehicle. Another great reason to keep your address updated! If you use a dealer for service, it benefits you to use one of the same manufacturer you drive. Kia’s to a Kia dealer, Chevy’s to Chevy, Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge to us –preferable of course. The reasons being 1- Brand specific technicians will know your vehicle better than a jack of all trades 2- You will need Certified Technician to do any and all warranty work to keep your factory warranty valid 3- the dealer will automatically check for recalls out on your vehicles.
There are great resources out there to check for outstanding recalls on your vehicle. You may have missed or ignored (no one is judging) a letter from the manufacturer about a recall- any to be quite honest, the letters do look like junk mail. I am personally guilty of tossing one in the garbage. I used this website: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/recalls/ to check my own vehicle while writing this. Yes, you would think working at a dealership I would know, but I don’t. This website also has child safety seat recalls and tire recalls – both important things to check. So I imputed my vehicle- 2010 Chrysler Town & Country- see that there was a recall on the ignition. I walked back to my favorite Chrysler Technician and asked him to run my VIN number through the computer to check for recalls. He looks it up- the recall did affect my vehicle, and they completed it while changing the oil last year. Fantastic. I understand most people have to travel a little farther to get this information but it is easy to obtain. I’m sure I have a copy of a service record somewhere saying they completed the recall, but knowing that the dealer has that information makes me feel better.
Find out what's happening in Petersfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
So recalls can be a scary word- especially if the media has a slow day and needs some filler between election stories and football. In reality they are generally minor but definitely worth your time. Your dealer is happy to help you keep your vehicle well maintained.
Further reading and resources:
