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Recalls and Used-car dealer responsibility?

This is in the USA.

A family member recently bought a used Toyota, and I asked whether she had received a recall notice relating to the Takata airbag problem. She said she had not, but when I plugged their VIN into the NHTSA Web site it showed that there was a not-done recall for that vehicle -- but the recall notice had been issued in 2015, so would have been received by the previous owner, who had not had it taken care of. Should the used-car dealer have checked for recalls and had outstanding recalls taken car of before reselling the car?

Perce

Reply to
Percival P. Cassidy
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My particular used Toyota (2013 Corolla) didn't get the evil airbags, or at least they haven't been discovered to have gotten them. Yet. I too plugged the VIN into the NHTSA site and signed up for future notifications. The Carfax report might have mentioned 'no recalls' , but I'm too lazy to go look.

Reply to
The Real Bev

Nope. They could have been nice and run the VIN and told the buyer that it had an outstanding recall but they have no obligation to do that. Recalls are really a PIA in the way they are handled. A NEW car that has never been sold can be repaired under recall on the original dealers lot. BUT once the vehicle is sold the problem falls on the registered owner to bring it in. Best thing to do is bring it to a dealer and have them verify that it's an open recall, they will enter it in the system and schedule a repair time.

Reply to
Steve W.

I've had 2 used Chevys where I got recall notices from GM. One was '97 Lumina which at minimum was sold privately at least once before I bought it privately. The second was my 2003 Impala which I bought used at a Chevy dealer. The Lumina recall notice makes me believe that GM has access to Illinois state registration records. Only way they could find the car. Probably the same with the Impala, since I could have sold it.

Reply to
Vic Smith

Tuesday I took our 2003 Corolla in for SRS controller replacement under recall. Already had the air bag and nozzle replaced after a couple of inspections. Came home, got mail and had a "Safety Recall Notice (Interim Notice) that the 2010 Corolla will be recalled to replace or repair the passenger side Takata airbag/propellant. I will be notified when parts are available but am cautioned not to allow a passenger to ride in the car's passenger side front seat. Deja Vu..

Reply to
Mr.E

Yep, They have access to all of the states registration info when it comes to recalls. The basics are that they send out a notice with a VIN range for a particular vehicle and they run a search on the database to see if they get hits.

Most states also sell a redacted version of the registration database to third party advertisers as well. That is how a LOT of spam mail gets addressed.

Reply to
Steve W.

Wait, you're expecting a used car dealer to not ONLY be honest, but also to be thorough?

I'd settle just for honest. Or even the appearance of honesty.

The used car dealer is under no legal obligation to do anything, not even to certify that the odometer hasn't been tampered with.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

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