Used cars have unknown recalls

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Car dealerships will fix recalled parts for free, and yet thousands of drivers have not taken vehicles with open recalls in for repairs. Target 8 found in some cases drivers don't even know they bought a vehicle with an open recall.

When Amy Mueller bought her Dodge Grand Caravan, she thought she got a deal, not a danger -- until Target 8 showed her the open recalls on it. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration says her van has a defect that can cause the airbag to deploy without warning.    

Target 8 discovered used vehicles on several West Michigan dealership lots with potentially dangerous open recalls. At the time of our investigation, here is what we found:

A GMC Yukon with a safety recall that can cause electrical features to malfunction, and in some cases catch fire, was listed for sale at GR Used Cars, 6015 S. Division Ave. in Grand Rapids. No one at GR Used Cars would talk to Target 8 in person, and the owner didn't return phone calls.  

A half-dozen vehicles with open recalls were listed for sale at Boondox Motorsports, 2535 28th St. SE in Grand Rapids, including a Ford F-150 with a fuel tank recall that the NHTSA says caused three fires and injured one person.

Boondox's owner, Troy Rubey, told Target 8 the used vehicles on his lot are safe, and if customers want employees to call the manufacturer and check for recalls, they will.

Amy Mueller bought her van at Ross's Auto Sales, 6993 S. Division Ave. in Grand Rapids.

"I did not know of any recalls until you contacted me," Mueller told Target 8.

Ross's Auto Sales General Manager Mark Savage said the vehicles he sells are safe.

"I, personally, would never sell anything I wouldn't buy myself," said Savage.

He said he tells people about open recalls when he knows about them, which a customer confirmed. Savage said checking every vehicle for recalls would be too time-consuming and that some responsibility falls on the consumer.

Mueller thinks dealerships should be held accountable.

"I don't know how the dealers or dealerships are selling them without bringing that to the table. It's not going to change whether I buy it or not, but just be honest so I can get it fixed," said Mueller.

Mueller said she definitely will check for open recalls before she buys her next vehicle.

"I can try to be as perfect as possible, as well as any other dealer on this street or any other street in the United States of America, but nobody's perfect, and it's probably just as much the consumer's responsibility to run the VIN number as it is ours," said Savage.

The dealerships should be disclosing recall information to buyers, according to the NHTSA.

"Dealers have a legal obligation not to sell a new vehicle after they have been notified of the recall by the manufacturer until the defect has been remedied. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does not, however, have the legal authority to require used car dealers or individual consumers to have recalled vehicles fixed prior to resale," the NHTSA said in a statement to Target 8.

Attorney Paul McDonaugh said unfixed recalls can be deadly. He represents the West Michigan family of Dr. Brian Laetz. Laetz had an open recall on his Hyundai Elantra that called for steering repairs. On March 18, 2010, Laetz was driving from Jackson to Kalamazoo when his car skidded across I-69 and hit an oncoming semi-truck. Laetz died at the scene.

In 2012, more than 17.8 million vehicles had safety recalls. Carfax says more than 2.1 million used vehicles that were for sale online in 2012 had at least one safety recall that had not been fixed. About 51,000 of them were for sale in Michigan.

According to Carfax, many states had fewer used vehicles with open recalls from 2011 to 2012 -- but Michigan wasn't one of them. Our state and several neighboring states, including Illinois and Indiana, had increases averaging 25%.

According to Carfax, Bob Knotts of Delaware bought a used cargo van without knowing it had an open recall. He awoke in the middle of the night to find the van on fire only feet from his home.

"My van caught fire from an electrical recall under the driver's seat that was never fixed," said Knotts in a Carfax YouTube video. "Had it spread to the back where I keep a propane torch and highly flammable glue, it would have been a total fireball. Had I gotten the Carfax report, I wouldn't have had this $8,000 loss."

Watch Knotts describe his experience via YouTube:
 

Target 8 has been tracking used vehicles with open recalls for months -- but some vehicles listed as having open recalls no longer on dealership lots, which means they were likely sold. It is unknown if the dealerships told the buyers about the recalls.

Consumers can ask a dealership to check for open recalls before purchasing, or can check themselves for free through Carfax or the NHTSA .

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