Dealers, automakers use new tools to reach vehicle owners

U.S. light-vehicle recalls have plunged to their lowest level in five years. But as the nature of safety recalls changes with the evolution of automotive technology, automakers and dealerships are turning to new tools to reach owners of recalled vehicles.

Automakers recalled 30.7 million cars and light trucks in the United States last year, NHTSA reports. That was a dramatic drop from 2016, when recalls related to defective — and potentially deadly — Takata airbag inflators elevated the total to a record 53 million.

Although Takata-related recalls are expected to continue at least through 2020, NHTSA reports that 60 percent of the roughly 50 million vehicles covered by those recalls in the United States have been fixed. Overall, 70 to 80 percent of all vehicles recalled in 2016 and 2017 got repaired, industry analysts estimate.

Over the past two decades, the number of annual U.S. recalls has ranged from about 10 million in 2008 to the peak in 2016. Stout Risius Ross, a Chicago investment advisory firm, says it expects recalls to level off at 20 million to 30 million for the next few years.

Robert Levine, a senior manager in Stout's Detroit office, says that recalls and other problems related to airbags and their components will continue. He predicts that advanced electronics in vehicles will generate more safety recalls as well.

"Electronic components, from control modules to printed circuit boards and wiring, powertrains and fuel systems also are likely to be involved in recalls," Levine told Fixed Ops Journal.

Two of the largest recalls in 2017 were for problems with a battery sensor on 1.1 million Honda Accords that could let water enter and cause an electrical short, and for a faulty roll rate sensor on about 1 million Ram pickups that could cause the rollover side curtain airbag or seat belt pretensioner to fail to deploy. At the same time, Levine notes, most recalls involved fewer than 10,000 vehicles.

Once an automaker determines a recall is needed, it is required to notify NHTSA and its dealerships that sell the affected vehicles. It also must alert current owners of vehicles covered by the recall via first-class mail.

Michele Baum, fixed operations director at Ganley Toyota in Akron, Ohio, says information on new recalls often becomes public before she and her counterparts get official word from the manufacturer. A dealership needs to prepare its service department to respond quickly to calls from owners of recalled vehicles, she says.

Baum notes that federal law prevents dealerships from trying to cash in on recalls, such as by offering a special rate on oil changes for recalled cars and trucks. But Robert Atwood, a management instructor for the National Automobile Dealers Association Academy, says recall work still can generate "found money" for dealerships in the form of additional customer-pay repairs.

"It is our obligation as dealers to inspect, at no charge, vehicles in for recalls and make recommendations if there is other work that needs to be done" that is unrelated to the recall, Atwood says.

As many as 57 millionvehicles with open safety recalls remain on U.S. roads, estimates Carfax Inc., which compiles vehicle history reports. Finding these vehicles' current owners remains a challenge for automakers, dealers, insurers and state departments of motor vehicles.

New search tools and methods ease the task. Some can pinpoint open recalls in a specific geographic area — a potential boon to dealerships in presenting their service offerings to owners of recalled vehicles.

In March, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the Association of Global Automakers and Carfax launched freeautorecall search.org, an online tool that can search as many as 10,000 vehicle identification numbers in 30 seconds to determine whether the cars and trucks have been recalled. Consumers, dealerships and government agencies have access to the data.

Starting this year, the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration is providing safety recall information on vehicle registration renewal notices. Of the 1 million-plus notices sent since April 2018, nearly one-fifth included a recall notification.

The pilot program, supported by an NHTSA grant, includes monthly reviews to determine how many vehicle owners respond to safety recalls because of the renewal notification. As of mid-August, the agency says, almost 35,000 vehicles have been repaired as a result of the new reminders.

Maryland motorists face no penalty for driving a recalled vehicle that has not been fixed. But a California law mandates that owners of vehicles recalled for emissions problems cannot renew their registrations until the repairs are completed.

Chris Martin, a spokesman for American Honda Motor Co., says the subsidiary advocates expanding the California law to cover open safety recalls as well. No state refuses to register unrepaired cars and trucks that are under a safety recall.

About 12 million Honda and Acura vehicles have been included in the roughly 50 million recalls related to faulty Takata airbag inflators; American Honda says more than three-fourths of its vehicles have been fixed. At least 17 deaths in the United States are attributed to explosions of Takata airbag inflators in all brands of cars and trucks.

Automakers blame parts shortages for thousands of the remaining open Takata recalls. But the inability to find current owners of affected vehicles, or to persuade them to seek repairs, also is delaying the work.

An advisory this year to owners of about 33,300 Ford Rangers and 2,200 Mazda B-series pickups from the 2006 model year with Takata airbags — considered "do not drive" vehicles — suggests that about half of the light trucks have been fixed.

In addition to other means of tracking recalled cars and trucks, vendors provide dealerships with up-to-date information about owners of recalled vehicles.

Estimating software provided by CCC Information Services, a supplier to collision repair centers, can alert a body shop when a vehicle it is repairing has an open recall, based on data supplied by automakers. An independent shop can refer the owner to a dealership that can do the recall work.

More than 24,000 body shops use the software, called CCC One, says Jim Kinsherf, CCC's vice president of business development. The company would not disclose pricing.

Another vendor, Recall Masters, says its data services can help dealerships identify customers in their markets who own recalled vehicles. Recall Masters works with ELEAD1ONE, which was acquired last month by CDK Global, to integrate vehicle recall lookups with customer check-ins and service adviser walk-arounds in dealership service lanes.

"Recalls aren't a program, but rather a new normal for dealers," says Sean Reyes, Recall Masters' chief marketing manager. "Our services include locating the second and third owners of recalled vehicles, and our digital forensics can locate the most recent contact information."

The company also can contact owners on behalf of a dealership, Reyes adds.

Xtime and Dealer-FX are among other vendors whose software can identify open recalls during initial service lane vehicle inspections.

Elgie Bright, chairman of the automotive marketing and management department at Northwood University in Midland, Mich., says recall work can help dealerships strengthen ties to service customers, while also attracting new or lapsed customers.

NADA Academy instructor Atwood agrees. He says recall work provides "a perfect opportunity to wow the customer — to show that the dealership is the best place to come for all repairs and service."