Motor Vehicle Recalls

If you own a vehicle, you know how important it is to keep it in good repair. You want your vehicle to be as safe to drive now as it was when it was new. But what if "good as new" is not good enough? Sometimes there is a problem with the way a vehicle was designed or manufactured. The problem may not show up until years after the first vehicle was sold; and it may present a serious safety hazard for second or subsequent owners.

The Motor Vehicle Safety Act helps to protect you from this kind of safety hazard by requiring the manufacturer or importer to notify the owners of cars, trucks, buses, trailers, motorcycles and snowmobiles of any safety problems relating to these vehicles.

On average, about 800,000 motor vehicles are "recalled" each year because of a safety problem. When a vehicle is recalled, the manufacturer must notify dealers, owners and Transport Canada, describing the problem and showing how to fix it. Once dealers have been notified, they are responsible for correcting the problem according to the manufacturer's instructions.

You can search the on-line database of vehicle recalls at:

http://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/Saf-Sec-Sur/7/VRDB-BDRV/search-recherche/menu.aspx?lang=eng