By Diane Lee (WSPA)
Your car may be under recall and you don’t even know it. Last year, alone, there were tens of millions of recalls. And if you bought your car used, that increases your chances of not knowing.
Michael Foster has precious cargo in her 1996 Nissan Pathfinder. She says she’s taken it to the shop to try to figure out what’s causing this:
“I’ll be turning this way, my car can go that way,” she explained.
So we looked to see if it might be under recall at SafeCar.gov. All you need is the Vehicle Identification Number.
We found her exact car listed in red as “Recall Incomplete.” It says rust can cause the “strut housing to crack” and “this may lead to grinding noises, increased steering effort and possibly the steering column to break.”
She said “My car doing that right now! My steering wheel, it won’t stop.”
Michael Morrison, the owner of Cottman Transmission in Spartanburg says you’d be surprised how many people are driving around with a car that is under a serious safety recall.
“For every 10 cars we see, approximately 2 maybe 3 of them will have a recall that the customer will not know about.”
He says, when he sees a recall warning, he tells customers to take it to the dealership because they will repair it at no cost to you. The manufacturer foots the bill.
Before you buy a used car, get it checked out. There is no specific Federal law that prohibits dealers from selling those cars under recall.
Foster bought her car used. She says she was never told until we looked it up and found her recall could “result in a crash.”
“Thanks for telling me. I’m going to go get it checked out, I really am,” she said.
A simple search online can save lives, as long as you check.
