OTTAWA, Ontario -
CBC News recently shed some light on what appears to be a fairly large vehicle safety problem in Canada. By responding to this challenge, there exists a real prospect for the country’s dealers to foster trust amongst consumers, according to Carfax.
A report from CBC, citing the Automobile Protection Association, indicates that roughly a third of recalled vehicles don’t get repaired. CBC noted that about 1.9 million models have been recalled in 2010.
While these figures may seem alarming, tackling the issue of unfixed recalled vehicles is where the “opportunity” for dealers comes into play, according to a Carfax spokesperson.
“There are several resources available to dealers in Canada to help identify open recalls, including Carfax Vehicle History Reports,” public relations manager Chris Basso told Auto Remarketing Canada.
“Open recalls give dealers an opportunity to engage with customers and build trust with used-car shoppers,” Basso added. “Ultimately, franchise dealers can increase their revenue by bringing more open recalls into their service bays to be fulfilled.”
Continuing on to explain the issue in more detail, the CBC said that often the recall notices are disregarded or never make it to the owner in the first place.
CBC quoted APA’s George Iny as saying: “The problem is, year in and year out, about one in every three recalled vehicles is never corrected and the problem starts with people not getting the notice.”
Furthermore, the report suggested that the government, dealers and automakers have no set standards to guarantee that recall work is completed, and this had led to the epidemic of so many unfixed safety problems
CBC explained — citing Transport Canada — that it is mandatory for recall notices to be sent to owners. However, sometimes they are given no notification, the report noted, citing research.
“The only time you (are required) to check is when a vehicle is imported from the U.S. Then you have to make sure American recalls were done. But oddly enough, you don’t have to check that Canadian recalls were done,” Iny apparently said.