Looking at used cars on line and looking at the CarFax report. Some seem to have open recalls at least several years old. Do the dealers usually fix the problem for free even if the recall was four or five years ago?

 

If the car is serviced at a dealership, they run the VIN and perform all recall and TSB's. They will usually check the VIN for you to see when and where the recall repair was made. Now if the recall was ignored for several years, there may be an EOL for the recall, but I doubt it.

 

Thanks. If the service record in Carfax doesn't show it being fixed I'm guessing it never was. Looking for an edge to bargain a dealer down but don't want to by a car with an open recall that is going to cost boocoo to fix. The ones I have been looking at were things that might spontaneously combust or cause you to loose control on the road. If I could get them fixed for free after buying fine but if not I won't even consider buying.

 

I suspect that you have never heard of a dealer hauling away someone's car in the middle of the night for a recall. I know that I haven't. Point being, and I'm just kidding, not trying to an a$$, that recalls are issued, at which point that it's up to the current owner to take the necessary action. So, given that individuals need to act, I suspect that there are probably one heck of a large number of vehicles running the roads with open recalls. I think anyway you would find that one of the key factors is "current owner", and you nor I are responsible for the actions of someone who previously owned the vehicle, so I would assume that the recalls do not expire after a certain time, but are closed once the prescribed corrective active action has been taken, or if the vehicle has been scrapped. The best thing would be to check with an appropriate dealer, and, if in doubt about any recalls that may have been issued on a particular vehicle, you will need the VIN, but I believe that you can check the NTSB website.

 

I took my 2004 Suzuki in for a recall/TSB just last year. Had to drive 45 miles one way to the nearest dealer that could handle it. Suzuki has been out of the US market for about 8 yrs but there are still service dealers.

When I scheduled with the service writer he took all my info and called me back the next day to say there were 2 other outstanding and he would call back to schedule when he had the required parts/software. I was very impressed, but don't expect that everywhere.

 

Thanks all. .

 

emisson and safty recalls are for the life of the vehicle. there are a few other types that only extend the miles and date of how long they will do it for free. thoses are normally 100k-10 years.

 

That info from a auto tech about safety recalls makes me feel better. I don't mind taking it in after I buy but I won't tell the salesman that. Might get a bit knocked off.Could you give an example or two.

Thank you,
Ray

 

they are called voluntary recalls. for these you have to have symptoms that make you go to a repair shop to even hear about them(unless you do what you did with carfax) they wont send out mailers. one example would be the crank senors on a Nissan altima, i believe they had a 80k ,8 year most of the time they cant fix unless it acts up. (no start/hard start). some other recalls have part numbers of known bad parts and can replace with out symptoms.

 

I had a 93 Ford F150 with dual fuel tanks. There was a problem with the switching between the tanks. If you used the front tank first, the back tank would pump into the front tank until it puked out the filler neck. Ford issued a recall. BUT, your truck had to fall within certain VIN numbers to be repaired. I took mine in. NOPE, not on the list. I had fuel puking out the filler neck in their shop. They still wouldn't fix it under recall. Even begging with the NTSB did no good. I had to pay for the repair.

 

Thanks. Doing better than expected with the other driver's insurance company so it's look like I'll be able to afford $3000 rather than $2000 for my new vehicle. That gives me more choices so I can avoid considering vehicles with recalls.

 

I am on a forum for a specific Chevy . There is a GM customer service person on the list that volunteers to help people with warranty problems . If you have a question on a Chevy , I can try to put you in touch with that person ?

God bless
Wyr

 

There is no time or mileage limit on a recall.
There are time and mileage limits on campaigns. Campaigns are essentially a voluntary PR recall.
Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs) are just information bulletins circulated to dealers. Some may be of interest to the consumer; others are of interest only to the dealer and involve things such as labor times, labor processes, changes made in the way something is diagnosed or serviced, etc, etc.

There is often confusion among the above so make sure you're clear on what constitutes a legitimate recall. Legit recalls are generally about something directly related to safety; seat belts, suspension, lighting, fire hazard, and so on.

 

Thanks. .