Against a backdrop of increasing automotive recalls, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has gone live with its online VIN-based recall search tool at SaferCar.gov/vinlookup.
Under a recent NHTSA mandate, all major light vehicle and motorcycle manufacturers are required to provide VIN search capability for uncompleted recalls on their own websites, with the data updated weekly. NHTSA’s new VIN look-up tool relies on this information from those sites.
“Safety is our highest priority, and an informed consumer is one of our strongest allies in ensuring recalled vehicles are repaired," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx when the service was announced in August. “Starting today car owners, shoppers, and renters can find out if a specific vehicle has a safety defect that needs to be fixed – using our free online tool."
There are some limitations to the database. According to a NHTSA spokesperson, the tool does not provide look-ups for all cars. "Only vehicle manufacturers that produce 25,000 or more light vehicles annually and manufacturers that produce 5,000 or more motorcycles annually are required to support the tool, although any vehicle manufacturer may choose to participate," the spokesperson said. A list of current participants is on the site.
It is estimated that less than 75 percent of most recalled vehicles actually wind up being brought to a dealership for repairs. By establishing the VIN-searchable database, NHTSA hopes to increase the completion rate.
“The new online look-up tool will help new-car dealerships identify whether a used car or light truck has an unremedied safety recall prior to making a purchase or taking in a trade," said Forrest McConnell, chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA). "It will also help dealerships to determine whether used vehicles in inventory are under recall and to provide used-car shoppers with useful safety recall information.
“To improve vehicle safety, NADA urges every car owner who receives a recall notice from a manufacturer to visit his or her local new-car dealership to have the vehicle inspected, and if necessary, fixed at no charge," McConnell continued.
NHTSA is working with NADA and franchised dealerships across the U.S. to ensure the dealers are able to effectively use the new search tool.
The NHTSA database may also make it easier for used car dealers and independent aftermarket repair shops to check for recalls on customer vehicles, and then direct them to a dealership to have the repairs completed. While there is no economic incentive for recall referrals, it can generate goodwill with customers.
Low recall completion rates
The searchable database was developed in part because of the rapidly increasing number of recalls that have been issued (2014 will go down as another record year for both the scope and cost of recalls), as well as a report issued by the Government Accountability Office in 2011 that was critical of NHTSA's recall processes. That report recommended that the agency modify requirements for recall notices and letters, enhance and publicize its own website, make better use of manufacturer data to improve response rates, and seek legislative authority to notify used car buyers of recall announcements.
The GAO's focus group surveys found that consumers were not familiar with NHTSA's online resources, and wanted notification letters that included VIN numbers and defect severity information.
The GAO also found that recall completion rates can range anywhere from 23 percent to more than 90 percent, depending on the manufacturer and the year the recall occurred. Rates for even critical systems were fairly low; the GAO found that airbag completion rates stood at just 60 percent, while speed control system completion rates averaged 46 percent.
After the report was published, Congress passed legislation in 2012 requiring NHTSA to create the database for consumers and dealers. Under the law, large volume car, light truck and motorcycle manufactures have to provide search capability for uncompleted safety recalls on their websites, and manufacturers must provide vehicle owners with direct recall notices within 60 days of notifying NHTSA about the issue.
The rules put in place last year to implement the legislation also require manufacturers to inform NHTSA about the types of propulsion systems and crash avoidance technologies in their vehicles, which will help the agency monitor defect trends related to those subsystems.
Earlier this year, NHTSA began requiring manufacturers to use a distinctive label on required recall mailings. The agency also launched a SaferCar app for Android phones that provides free access to safety information, including recalls and safety performance ratings. A similar app for the iPhone was released in 2013.
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