I personally don’t have an Autopian Answer to today’s Autopian Ask, but that’s OK. I have received recall notices, mind you, but they were so minor that I either fixed the thing myself (I believe one was “loose battery strap”) or I just decided I wasn’t worried about whatever the recall was for. I admit, the bar I set for when to worry is pretty high; if a recall says my car might catch on fire, but it sounds like it will ignite slowly, I’m probably gonna put that off way too long.
Let’s check in with the gang …
The Bishop
I just got another recall notice!
When I take the car in, they always find “other stuff.”
So I never leave for less than around $1500 for the “free repair.”
Mercedes
You people bring your cars in for recalls?
My 2016 Smart has a recall because the headlights have a lateral adjustment screw that’s non-compliant with FMVSS. The recall blocks off the screw so the headlight cannot be adjusted laterally.
Pfft, I’m not deleting a feature from my car!
Matt
My not-so-beloved Forester had to be recalled three times, including for a battery recall, the sunsetting of 3G, and something to do with the brake pedal. All I remember is they left an extra bolt in the footwell, and I had to text Bozi to double-check that I didn’t need that bolt. [Ed note: Yeah, but free bolt! – Pete]
Antti
I’ve only ever had recalls done on cheap beater cars. Takata airbag on my 1.5-liter JDM Impreza and the ignition switch on the Demio
On both counts, it was hilarious to take old, 1000-1500 euro cars in for recall work.
Brian
I actually brought my M5 in to get the air conditioning fixed in like 2017, expecting to have to go without a car. But they were like, “Oh your car has a recall we need to do, here’s a free X3 for a week.”
Which was nice.
Stephen Walter Gossin
Upon receiving the Takata Airbag recall notice for my ’04 Durango in the mail a few years back, I immediately knew I had to take action. I had been following the international, wide-spanning effects and reach of the issue with those problematic (and deadly) airbag units for years as a voracious consumer of automotive media. I didn’t want to roll the dice with potentially having shrapnel launched into my face while driving.
Taking the car to the local Dodge dealer was actually wicked simple and easy. I dropped it off after work and placed the keys in the late-hours Dropbox. The next afternoon, I got a call back from the service advisor inviting me to come get the truck. It only cost me a nominal amount of time and effort to gain a massive amount of peace of mind.
Your turn:
I had a ’93 Toyota pickup that needed a steering component replaced. I got the notice sometime in the early teens, the truck was ~20 years old and had something like 240k on the odo. Took it in and they did the work, entirely drama free.
Dunno if it counts as a recall but we had a 2014 Golf tdi that was bought back by VW during the dieselgate fiasco. It went well enough that I don’t really recall any of the details I guess, but having to replace the thing was sort of a pain.
I’ve told this story before, but my 2015 EcoDiesel was in the shop so much that the last time I took it in the service advisor looked at my history and said, completely unprompted, “You’ve been in here a lot.” At least half a dozen of those were recall fixes, including the one where they paid me $3000 for the emissions snafu.
I’ve had to deal with a few recalls; none involved much drama or excessive waiting. The strangest was the recall to address the gas tank placement on the ZJ. It became known that ZJs with factory-installed trailer hitches weren’t in as much danger from a rear-end collision, so I ignored the recall. Still, all ZJs had been recalled, so I kept getting the little postcards. Apparently a lot of ZJ owners felt the same way I did, because there were news stories about the incredibly slow response to the recall, a few of which noted that the NHTSA could opt to modify the recall and have all the affected vehicles permanently removed from the road. This pissed me off, so I scheduled an appointment at the local dealership. I think I timed it so they also took care of some other maintenance items, so I’m not sure how long the ‘fix’ took, but I had the Jeep back in a reasonable amount of time.
(The ‘fix’ for this particular recall: a technician verified a factory-installed trailer hitch was present, and put a little sticker on it.)
The transmission lead frame recall on my 2103 F150 5.0-6 speed auto. It was just a reprogramming/firmware update and I waited about an hour at the dealership, so pretty simple and minimal.
After I sold the truck to my brother the lead frame failed, conveniently after the warranty had expired. I always felt Ford did the reprogramming just to kick the can down the road and avoid the cost of fixing the problem properly by replacing the lead frame.
My brother still talks to me so no harm done.
I’ve had several cars get recalls. I always take them in, even for minor stuff I could easily do, and it’s no big deal other than the time. Why? Because then it’s on record as having been done. When you go to sell the car, do you want potential buyers asking you, “Why didn’t you get this recall done?” It may make them wonder what other maintenance you’ve skipped.
The one caveat: the recall Mercedes mentioned, where they make it so you can’t adjust the headlight – yeah, I would skip that one. That’s stupid, and easy to explain to potential buyers.
My 07 Tacoma had a recall for the seatbelt tensioner. It’s never been the same since, honestly. It is much more finnicky now to pull the seatbelt out to buckle it, and sometimes I have to fully retract then extend in order to have it function properly. It’s not all the time, but often enough to still be annoyed by it.
And sadly not enough frame rust for a free replacement, very sad.
Brought my 4Runner in for an airbag recall in 2021 or so, I dropped it off at the scheduled time in the AM, walked a little way down the street to Dunkin, and by the time I was done so was the 4Runner. Easy peasy. I had 100K on it at the time and they didn’t try to upsell me any services.
Late last summer my mom brought her 2020 MDX in for a recall, they ended up dropping the oil pan and replacing the main bearings (yikes). It had about 50K on it at the time, she’s not planning on keeping it too much longer. She was satisfied with the experience though, they gave her a brand-new Acura small SUV for a loaner, she actually liked it more than her MDX.
I had a leased, 2020 Chevy Bolt EV that was subject to the traction battery “fire risk” recall. The recall letter from GM wanted me to bring the car in for a module flash to mitigate risk while I waited for the traction battery replacement which would happen…later. In the meantime, they recommended that the car NOT be charged while inside a building. After waiting EIGHTEEN MONTHS for GM to tell me that it was my turn for a battery replacement, I contacted GM and demanded a buyback under the California Lemon Law. Since the potential penalties under CA lemon law are severe, GM rolled over immediately. They gave me a several thousand dollar check to turn the car in a month or two before the end of the lease. I’d say that it was a pretty good resolution to the recall.
CX-90 had to get the gas tank replaced. I received another 90 as a loaner and a week later got my vehicle back. Pretty painless in the grand scheme of things.
1.6L Ecoboost had a recall for a hot spot in the cylinder head that could lead to a crack.
They installed a new coolant reservoir and temp sensor in the hot spot as well as reprogrammed the maintenance light to come on when the coolant level got low.
My confidence dropped when I asked about the status of the repair and they told me they had a greenhorn doing it so it was taking longer than expected…
When I did my first oil change after there was a LOT of glitter in it. Probably shouldn’t have a newb drilling holes in cylinder heads. Anyway, the car has had 70k miles put on since then and absolutely zero issues.
Twice and it shows why I shop for one companies cars over another.
I had a Fiero in college, it actually was a good little thing I got cheap because it had no A/C (from the factory). There was a recall about fires caused by cracked exhaust manifolds. Took it the Pontiac dealer in town and they didn’t give me a loaner and I sat in the sales room all day. When I got it back (1 hour fix my rear), the gages were all wonky and it barely ran. What I found is that the tech had not unplugged the wiring harness from the firewall to get to the exhaust manifold, but had cut it with what must have been garden sheers and just stuffed the halves together and taped up. Took a week of arguing for the car to be fixed, and it ended up with this massive ball of tape sitting on the exhaust manifold as they reconnected each wire individually. GM would NOT pay for a new wiring harness, but the dealership would take $500 off of any car on stock for my trouble. I traded it in as quickly as I could, but not to that dealership.
I have a Toyota Sienna. Got a recall on a spare tire carrier. Went to the dealership and they ordered a new dash (because mine was cracked and under a TSB), fixed the spare tire carrier, washed and vacuumed the van and did a free oil change. When I went back a while later for a new dash, they again pretty much detailed the car and threw in an oil change and a tire rotation.
Took my 2017 WRX in for a rear cat recall in July.
The local dealer “found” $4,500 of additional work that needed to be done. This included a complete clutch which the tech had found a “bad spot” on the disk – by driving it 40 feet from the parking lot to the bay. The clutch had been replaced less than 50K miles earlier, under warranty, by them, when the clutch master cylinder went out.
I declined all extra service, the service rep didn’t bat an eye. 5K miles later and none of the “problems” have caused me an issue. It is obviously SOP for this dealer to try to trick people into extraneous repairs.
I’ve dealt with two other Subaru dealers, including the one I bought the WRX from, and the experience couldn’t be more different. Totally professional and transparent.
I know I’ve had recall work done in the past but I can’t remember the details. It was basically a quick routine thing for something really minor like a software update or an updated warning sticker or something like that.
I’ve never owned a car newer than 6 years old… so by the time I buy a given car, almost always any recall work has already been done.
And I’ve been lucky and never had a car with a Takata airbag or some issue like that where there is a recall but no parts.
Not on Purpose, but when I brought my used TDI Audi in for service they told me it needed one. It was a replacement of Line that ran from the front of the car to the back, clearly one of the first things installed on the car. They had it for 4 days.
Funny that the crooked Audi dealer I purchased it from did not do it prior to selling it to me.
The dealer has a lot to do with the experience. Our Nissan has been in for a few recalls and it usually leaves without the $3000 in “recommended service items” like the $70 cabin air filter and $60 battery cleaning being done. Took the Hyundai in to the local dealer and they turned it around in a day with no issues. Same car, different dealer due to where I was when it bricked and received a “recommended maintenance” statement for $1200 to include a brake service at 32K miles. On an electric car…
Multiple times, airbags, a seat belt tensioner in a Volvo, EV battery in the Bolt, probably a couple of others I’m forgetting. Typically the experience is fine, but the part that sucks is being told ‘hey your car could kill you, but we don’t have the part in stock yet’
Not a recall per se, but I read about a firmware update for the ridiculously harsh shifting automatic on our ’18 MDX. The service writer I got on the phone hadn’t heard about it, so I had to email a link to her about it. She thanked me, made an appointment and had a new RDX loaner waiting for me.
The update went fine and I learned that I didn’t really care for the 10-speed automatic in the RDX. It was constantly shifting. Maybe it needed a firmware update too?
Had a ’13 Sonata that was recalled at least 4 times that I can remember. Turned out that my car was only affected by a fuel pump hose issue, but regular involuntary visits to the dealer’s service department turned me off to the brand forever.
Last week we had our x7 in to Crevier BMW for the starter recall. It’s been in two other times for warranty stuff and pretty much the same first class experience. They gave us a new X3 m50 as a loaner which was fun. I was surprised at 1) how incredible that thing was to drive and 2) how pig ugly it unfortunately is-more so than the x7 ha ha
the one recall I have had done were pretty minor and got done with an oil change. they had to install a laminate and some inside padding to the glass wind deflector on the sunroof.
Our 2016 Ford Focus SE had to go in because of that God-awful automatic transmission. Three times we dragged it in so they could replace this or that. Fourth time, they just replaced the transmission. This was all within the first three years of ownership. They found a few extra things wrong, but it was all covered by the warranty. We got some wild loaners out of the deal: Two Explorers and, my personal favorite, an F-150 Crew Cab with the 3.5 liter twin-turbo V6. Was it practical with us living in Atlanta? Absolutely not! Was it better than our Focus? So so much better.
Never did buy another Ford though.
Brought my Fiesta in a for a recall and they gave me a fully loaded Lincoln MKZ with the 3.5TT. Got to test out the automatic parallel parking in the city which was pretty impressive.
I scheduled my 2018 Honda Accord for an state inspection, oil change, and brake job at the dealer I purchased it from 2 towns over, while I was there I thought I would have them take care of a recall for the fuel pump but they did not tell me until the day before that the gas tank needed to be below a quarter of a tank and I had a full tank so I only had the oil change and the brake job completed. In the meantime another dealer had moved closer to my house so I tried them for the recall when the tank was below a quarter of a tank. That dealer tried to tell me I needed to change the brake fluid and a couple of other random things, not knowing that 3 weeks prior I just had a 4 wheel brake job and full service inspection. Needless to say I will not be bringing the car to the dealer that moved closer to my house, they were trying to hose me over. The service manager where I purchased the car even confirmed at my next service that what they were recommending was not needed.
I always take advantage of a good recall, and I’ve had a few over the years. I’ve personally had 4 Takata airbag inflators replaced in 3 separate vehicles, for example.
However, the best manufacturer recall for me was on a 2001 Hyundai Elantra GT in Vermont.
Back in the day (’50s through the ’90s), if you had a car rot out from underneath you, a manufacturer would tell you to pound sand – typically citing the ‘rust-through’ edict in the bumper-to-bumper warranty that came to an end far too soon to ever be used by the consumer.
However, in the 2000s, it became clear that manufacturers could not simply pass this buck to consumers any longer. Rust became a regular issue that grew into recalls more and more. The usage of salt brine in recent years has exacerbated the issue.
This particular Hyundai Elantra GT was recalled because of control arm corrosion issues in salt-belt states. I brought it into the dealership and after a 30-minute diagnosis in the air, the service writer told me that my car would be covered under the recall, and I should discontinue driving it until it was repaired. I left the car there.
Two weeks later, I received my Elantra back with brand new front AND rear subframes and front/rear lower control arms. Hyundai corporate put over $5k in parts and labor onto a car that couldn’t be worth any more than half of that. I had purchased it from this very same dealership for $6500 after they revealed to me that it wouldn’t sell because it was a 5-speed.
Oh, and whilst NOT a recall, this very same car got a brand new OEM exhaust manifold and converter under California Emissions warranty at 78k miles. The cast iron manifold had cracked, and Cali emissions cars got a 100k warranty on all emissions equipment. Vermont is a Cali emissions state (not Federal). That extended mileage note in the warranty manual and the CA emissions sticker under the hood saved me $1700.
I’ve never been ‘in the black’ on any car, ever – but that Hyundai owed me NOTHING. I traded it in on a Honda Pilot shortly after the undercarriage was rebuilt after trying and failing to sell it for several months privately. Nobody wanted the 5-speed…
2018 ram ecodiesel, had to have the dealer do the EGR cooler and high pressure fuel pump. The dealership tried to charge me $2500 in labor and “storage fees” because they couldn’t get to it for two months after our scheduled time. Many arguments, and finally pointing out that their fees were in violation of state code as they are not an impound lot, and the time it was at their dealership was their fault, eventually resulted in them giving me my wife’s truck back without further cost. The engine in that truck let go six months later and was out of warranty so it cost me $22k within a year of the recall work.
Ecodiesel = bad.
Two cars had a few recalls. The old 2008 Audi A4 had a Takata driver’s side, then a year later Takata passenger side, then another airbag recall that wasn’t Takata-related but something to do with a bracket on the passenger side. All three were handled quickly and without issue. And it was one of the few times the dealer was right in catching an “extra” repair while in for a recall (leaking engine mounts) that an independent shop insisted wasn’t a problem. I no longer go to that shop.
We had a 2013 Ford Escape, which was the first year for the third gen redesign. I think we had like five or six recall notices, the scariest being the rear door latches (a big deal when hauling around babies and toddlers). One part should have been recalled but never was (a/c sensor) that burned out on us 4 times. Anyway, we either had recalls take care of with other service early on, but then when I started to go to a different independent shop, we just brought the car to the dealer for recall work. We got a mild upsell pitch on service when going in, but the Ford dealership was so busy with recall work, they never pressed too hard. Car never needed to wait out a recall for parts or anything.
I have an outstanding “recall” notice to update software on my 2023 Audi’s transmission mapping, but there is no safety risk, just some slight chance of an emissions error during state inspection … if it fails, I’ll bring it in to the dealer, but see no need to do so otherwise.