Unfixed recalls: 209,000 vehicles in Wisconsin have 2 or more
209,000 vehicles in Wisconsin have 2 or more unfixed recalls
More than 200,000 vehicles on the road in Wisconsin have two or more open recalls, according to Carfax.
MILWAUKEE - More than 200,000 vehicles on the road in Wisconsin have two or more open recalls, according to Carfax. That could be putting drivers and passengers at risk, even though the fixes are free.
Woman waits for recall repair
What they're saying:
Melissa Medek in West Allis knew her 2020 Toyota RAV4 had an open recall. Medek first heard about the recall in news reports in December 2023. She got a safety notice in the mail by February 2024.
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"Toyota had issued a recall for the passenger side sensor," said Medek.
Medek said at the time she got notice, there was no immediate fix available. So, she put it out of mind. In November, her passenger side sensor went off.
Melissa Medek
"It lit up with a warning," said Medek.
A passenger sensor is a device in the seat that detects if a person is sitting in it and whether to deploy an airbag. Medek said she often gives ride to her mom, who has a disability.
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"I can't drive her around in this," Medek remembers thinking. "What if the airbag didn't go on and she was in my car?"
Eleven months after first learning about the recall, Medek took her car to a West Allis dealer. She was told the dealer still wasn't able to make the fix.
"They told me that a rectification had not been made," said Medek.
Passenger sensor
Growing number of unfixed recalls
By the numbers:
Carfax said there are 58.1 million cars on the road with an open recall in the U.S. That's about one in five cars on the road and a 16% increase in two years. Carfax said its data shows more than 14 million vehicles have two or more unresolved recalls.
"Defective components in a two-ton machine, going 60 down the highway. That is reason for some serious concern," said Em Nguygen, director of Carfax public relations.
Nguyen said, in Wisconsin, about 929,000 vehicles have at least one open recall. She said around 209,000 vehicles have two or more open recalls. In the Milwaukee area, about 92,800 cars have two or more unfixed recalls.
What to do
What you can do:
Jeff Meadows, director of fixed operations for the Russ Darrow Group, said recalls should be handled by registered dealers only. The appointment should take 60 to 90 minutes.
"It's completely free to the customer," said Darrow. "The amount of time it takes to set your appointment is going to be based on the type of work that needs to be done and whether there's parts availability."
Reasons for the increase in open recalls could include driver complacency, more complex vehicles, earlier communication by manufacturers and parts delays.
"It shouldn't take near a year to get it fixed," said Medek. More than two weeks after dropping off her Toyota at her dealer, and writing Contact 6, Medek got word that the fix was made.
"It's running fine," said Medek. "I just hope there's no more issues."
Medek says her frustration over the delay was with Toyota, not her local dealer. Toyota did not respond to Contact 6's request for comment.
Carfax has a website where you can search for any open recalls on your vehicle. So does the NHTSA. You can search by your VIN number or license plate.
File a Contact 6 complaint
What you can do:
If you have a consumer complaint and want to see if Contact 6 can help, CLICK HERE to submit an online inquiry.
The Source: Information in this report is from Carfax, Jeff Meadows at Russ Darrow Group, Melissa Medek and a Toyota safety recall notice. Toyota did not respond to Contact 6's request for comment on this report.