Having an outstanding safety recall could leave innocent drivers facing upto £2500 in fines, for no fault of their own

 

According to the Driver & Vehicles Standards Agency “DVSA” found that 8% of cars checked last year had an outstanding manufacturer safety recalls.

You Could be Fined £2500 Just for Driving Your Car

What Is A Safety Recall

Manufacturers that become aware of a vehicle defect will often issue a recall that should find its way to the vehicle owner.

Some recall notifications go missing and some are ignored by the vehicle owner.

Most recalls issued relate to faults that could make the vehicle unsafe to drive, vehicles that are subject of the recall should be returned to the main dealer for the recall to be completed.

What Happens If I Ignore A Safety Recall

It depends on what the recall is for, but if it is considered a potential safety issue you could face fines of upto £2500 and 3 points on your licence if you choose to ignore them.

* Non-safety related recalls are a matter of choice.

What Happens If I Didn’t Know

It is possible that your safety recall has slipped through the net for a variety of reasons, however ignorance is No Excuse in the eyes of the law.

DVSA Have Launched A New Online Checker

As you might appreciate knowing about safety recalls on your vehicle might be near impossible to establish, fortunately DVSA have now made online checker available – Check if your vehicle has an outstanding safety recall – Click Here

DSVA figures suggest that 87,000 of the 1.14 million vehicles checked through its system last year (2017) had an unresolved manufacturers safety recall.

According to the DVSA, drivers who continue to use an unsafe vehicle even if they didn’t know about it could face fines of up to £2500.

Now existing owners/keepers of second-hand vehicles can easily check to see if their car/van has an unresolved safety recall notice issued by the manufacturer. 

Check if your vehicle has an outstanding safety recall – Click Here

According to the latest industry figures, out of more than eight million used cars bought last year over 650,000 of them could have an outstanding safety related recall.

Safety First

Apart from the potential of a hefty fine and points on your licence, failure to make sure your vehicle is upto date with any safety recalls could put you, your family and other road users in serious danger.

Free and Quick

Safety recalls issued by manufacturers are carried out free and usually as a priority by franchised dealers in your area.

DVSA Updates

Vehicle manufacturers must disclose to the DVSA, the number of recalls it has carried out every 3 months and recall notices will remain open indefinitely until recall has been completed.

New Car Recalls Easy to Do

Recalls are new cars are much easier to complete, due to the fact that generally speaking newer cars are still owned by the first keeper and easier to track.

Once older vehicles are sold on to new owners they are less likely to have the recall carried out due to ability to contact new owners, and it seems that many of these vehicles are slipping though the net.

Car Dealers Legal Obligation on Safety Recalls

Despite it being a legal requirement for car dealers and online sellers, to effect any recalls before a vehicle is sold on to a new customer, many still slip through.

Private Sellers

Vehicles sold privately are not covered by the same legal requirement, which could explain why some haven't had a safety recall carried out.

Check if your vehicle has an outstanding safety recall – Click Here

Top Ten Recalls In History

General Motors 1971: 7 million vehicles affected

In 1971 General Motors were forced to issue a recall due to sudden acceleration problems caused by faulty engine mounts and the solution was to put in a restraining bolt to keep the engine in place.

This recall affected many different models originally built during the 1960’s

Ford 1980 - 21 million vehicles affected

In 1980 Ford recalled 21 million vehicles due to an issue making vehicles shift out of park mode and run away. Ford tried to get away with issuing each owner with a special warning sticker until they were eventually convinced to issue a recall.

General Motors 1981: 5.8 million vehicles affected

In 1981 General Motors recalled 5.8 million vehicles due to a suspension bolt issue.

The vehicles affected were models that had been produced since 1978.

Ford 1996: 7.9 million cars affected

In 1996 Ford issued a recall for a faulty ignition switch which was causing fires in vehicles.

Ford 1999 – 15 million cars affected.

In 1999 Ford were again forced to issue a recall on 15 million cars, due to a potentially faulty cruise control switch that had caught fire in some cars.

Toyota 2009/2010: 9 million cars affected

In 2009/2010 Toyota was forced to recall 9 million cars because of a sudden acceleration issue with faulty accelerator pedals.

It took two separate recalls because the fault was initially incorrectly diagnosed, which meant a second recall had to be issued after a small number of cars crashed because of the misdiagnosed fault.

Toyota 2012: 7.4 million cars affected

In 2012 Toyota issued another recall on 7.4 million cars because of faulty electric windows.

Although not a life-threatening issue it still cost Toyota a substantial amount of money and credibility, although Toyota were tight lipped about the overall cost.

General Motors 2014: 5.8 million vehicles affected

In 2014 General Motors issued their latest recall affecting 5.8 million vehicles

The fault this time was an ignition switch issue which had a habit of cutting off the engine while driving and stopped the airbag from inflating in some cars.

Some industry observers suggest the total recall cost was just over $4 billion.

Honda 2014: 5.4 million vehicles affected

In 2014 Honda had to recall 5.4 million cars due to an airbag issue. The recall affected approx. 20 different models.

Because the airbags did not inflate properly it made the issue potentially life threatening in the event of an accident.

Volkswagen 2016: 8.5 million vehicles affected

In 2016 VAG Group vehicles including brand marques Audi, VW, Skoda, Seat were recalled due to the emission test defeat software installed on the cars, and broke EU emission rules.

This recall alone is expected to cost the company more than £12 billion to resolve.

But that’s not the end of it, with 1000’s of owners reporting various issues including performance, fuel economy, DPF regeneration, EGR valves and Injector faults.

Although the dealers are rejecting claims of recall related faults, many 1000’s of owners are sharing their post recall issues on various forums and social media platforms.

If you have been affected by the VAG Group emissions recall see here for further details and solutions - Click Here

 

 

 

 

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