Vehicles With Open Recalls In U.S. Down 8%, Now 52 Million

Carfax Attributes Findings to Greater Consumer Awareness, Use of Vehicle Monitoring Services

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Apr 03, 2019, 14:16 ET

CENTREVILLE, Va., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The open recall problem in the U.S. is improving, but millions of drivers and car buyers are still at risk. Annual research findings from Carfax show there's more than 52 million recalled vehicles on the road that haven't been fixed. That means roughly one out of every five registered vehicles has open recalls. The states where this problem is most glaring are all in the South: Mississippi (24.7%), Texas (24.6%), Louisiana (23.7%), Alabama (22.2%), New Mexico (22.1%) and Arkansas (21.6%).

Additional findings reveal that California (6.3 million), Texas (5.5 million), Florida (3.2 million), Pennsylvania (2.2 million) and New York (2.1 million) have the most vehicles with open recalls.

The good news for consumers: open recalls have declined over the last two years, down from 63 million in 2017 and 57 million in 2018, according to Carfax. Two particular efforts have helped – increased use of free recall monitoring services like myCarfax and checks for open recalls during state vehicle inspections.

"Our research indicates that using Carfax to send and receive vehicle-specific recall information is one of the most effective ways of getting more recalls fixed," said Dick Raines, president of Carfax. "We are encouraged by this year's results, but there's still a long way to go. Open recalls are a critical safety issue that can impact everyone on the road. It's imperative that car buyers, sellers and especially owners stay informed about recalls and take action on them to maintain the safety of their vehicles and our roads."

Thirteen million people now are registered with myCarfax, a free service that continuously monitors multiple vehicles for open recalls after entering the license plate or VIN. The free myCarfax app sends recall alerts to the user through their mobile device.

For the second year in a row, light trucks and minivans are the vehicles most likely to have unfixed recalls. Taking any vehicle off the road to be fixed can be an inconvenience. However, recall repairs are often completed in only an hour or two, and most take less than a day.

Consumers worried about buying a vehicle with unfixed recalls can shop with confidence at carfax.com. Every vehicle listed for sale there comes with a free Carfax Report, which includes open recall information reported to Carfax.

About Carfax

Carfax, a unit of IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO), helps millions of people every day confidently shop, buy, own and sell used cars with innovative solutions powered by Carfax vehicle history information. The expert in vehicle history since 1984, Carfax provides exclusive services like Carfax Used Car Listings, myCarfax, Carfax History-Based Value and the flagship Carfax® Vehicle History Report™ to consumers and the automotive industry. Carfax owns the world's largest vehicle history database and is a nationally recognized top workplace by The Washington Post and Glassdoor.com. Shop, Buy, Own, Sell – Show me the Carfax™. Based in London, IHS Markit is a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions.

SOURCE Carfax