Rolling General Motors recalls have grabbed headlines for the past few months, but despite widespread attention on GM product defects, many recalled cars will not be repaired.
CNNMoney reports that about a third of recalled cars are never brought to dealers. Some consumers minimize the risks associated with a car defect, others can’t give up their cars for the repairs to be made, and even more consumers simply assume that the recall notices are junk mail.
The nature of the used car market is also to blame for many consumers failing to take action to repair their cars. When cars have had multiple owners, it is often impossible for the manufacturer to track down the current owners of their defective vehicles. Individuals who have cars from discontinued brands such as Pontiac and Saturn may also be unaware that they can go to any GM dealership for repairs.
About 85 percent of GM cars are fixed within two years of a recall – significantly higher than the industry average – but this still leaves huge numbers of unsafe cars on the road.
“You can’t look at the percentages, you have to look at total number of vehicles,” CarFAx spokesman Chris Basso told CNNMoney. “If they get to 90%, that would be great, but that would still leave more than 250,000 on the road.”
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