Troubling news when it comes to recalls. In a new report, CARFAX says despite years of heightened warnings about car safety recalls, its data shows that more than 50 million vehicles on U.S. roads today are being driven with a known issue that should be repaired. Data shows that in 2022, the vehicles most likely to be on the roads with unfixed recalls are sedans and SUVs.In terms of location, CARFAX says its data found that open-recall rates are highest in California, Texas and Florida.
Does your vehicle have an open recall? Search the NHTSA recall website here
Here are the Top 10 states with the most vehicles with open recalls, according to CARFAX:
- California: 5.6 million
- Texas: 5.1 million
- Florida: 3.1 million
- New York: 1.9 million
- Pennsylvania: 1.8 million
- Ohio: 1.8 million
- Georgia: 1.7 million
- North Carolina: 1.6 million
- Illinois: 1.6 million
- Michigan: 1.4 million
On the positive side, CARFAX says the number of vehicles with open recalls is down almost 6% from 2001.
"We are heading in the right direction when it comes to the number of open recalls on the road, but the numbers remain incredibly high" said Faisal Hasan, General Manager of Data at CARFAX. "We still have a long way to go but free recall monitoring services, such as CARFAX Car Care, are making a difference." In California, for example, there was a dramatic double-digit percent drop – 12% - in the number of open recalls. California drivers also have the highest number of registered vehicles in the CARFAX Car Care app with nearly 4 million Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) registered. Every Car Care user is notified when a new recall has been issued for any of their registered vehicles.
FYI, you can sign up at NHTSA.gov/Alerts to be notified by email if your vehicle is affected by a future recall.
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In its press release, CARFAX says there has also been a growing effort from Departments of Motor Vehicles around the country, partnering with CARFAX and the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, to provide free supplemental recall notifications to consumers, including during a consumer's registration, renewal, or inspection processes.
It typically just takes an hour or two to complete recall repairs and federal law requires that all recall work be completed free, at no charge to consumers.
Takata Airbag Recall
While we're on the topic of recalls, here are how things stand with the largest automotive recall in history, involving defective Takata Airbags. As of May 6, 2022, 78% percent of airbags have been repaired (replaced) with 22% to go.
Don't miss our Takata Airbag Guide here.
Photo: Carfax logo. (PRNewsFoto/Carfax)