Unsafe used cars for sale

Used car dealers sometimes sell cars with unfixed safety defects. These vehicles have been recalled for a variety of reasons, such as malfunctioning Takata airbags and General Motors ignition switches, which have been responsible for thousands of injuries and deaths.

It’s not worth the risk to your life or others to drive these unsafe, recalled vehicles off the car lot. Here is how you can quickly check if a used car has an open recall and what to do:

Step 1: Find the car’s vehicle identification (VIN) number. This 17 character code can be found on some used car dealers’ websites or by looking at the corner of the windshield from the driver’s side where it meets the dashboard. If it is not there, you can also look at the door post (where it latches when closed). 

Step 2: Enter the VIN at https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls

Step 3: If the website informs you of an active recall, ask the car dealership to fix it prior to selling you the vehicle or look for a different car. The National Highway Safety Transportation Administration considers all unfixed safety defects a danger.