Auto recalls reach all-time high, but 30% go unrepaired

Vehicle recalls are regularly in the news, warning of inadvertent air-bag deployments, faulty door latches, even risks of fire, as well as the ongoing Takata air-bag recall that dwarfs all others.

But the steady stream of recalls masks the fact that about 30 percent of recalled vehicles remain unrepaired on America’s roads, according to federal statistics.

Last year was a record for U.S. vehicle recalls — more than 53 million in 927 recalls — but those numbers are only the latest, with the total number of recalls increasing in each year back to 2011 when the number stood at 13.6 million, according to information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

There are numerous reasons recalled vehicles go unrepaired even though getting them fixed does not cost the vehicle owner.

They include perceptions about the severity of a recall or a lack of available parts. Some dealers also sell used cars with open recalls — but often vehicle owners may simply not know that their vehicles are under recall.

“The greatest challenge is making contact with the current owner of the vehicle. Vehicles may change hands many times over their life cycle,” said Mark Chernoby, chief technical compliance officer for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which is involved in two different programs to notify vehicle owners about recalls.

Fiat Chrysler recently announced that it is working with repair estimate company CCC Information Services to notify owners of the company’s vehicles involved in the Takata recall when they take the vehicles in to collision repair shops.

So far, 56,000 have been identified. CCC says it also is working with Honda on a similar program.

The Takata recall involves 19 automakers and affects 42 million vehicles.

Only one state — Maryland — applied for a U.S. Department of Transportation grant to notify consumers of open recalls when they register their vehicles.