A car crosses the Mill Creek Bridge on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Central Oregon.
Bradley W. Parks / OPB
As summer approaches, many Oregonians may be considering a road trip. But it’s somewhat disconcerting to know that 1 in 4 vehicles has an unfixed manufacturer's recall.
This summer, 377,000 cars will be driving around Portland with open recalls.
Some are serious, like a potential failure of the seat belt lock. Others are more benign, like a page in the owner's manual that needs to be replaced.
Christopher Miller of the website Recall Masters said information used to be decentralized and difficult to find when it came to vehicle recalls. But now, the U.S. Department of Transportation has the safercar.gov website where people can put in a VIN number and see if their vehicle has a recall.
“One of the issues with recalls is that consumers are somewhat apathetic," Miller said. "They don’t think they’ll have a problem with their vehicles themselves.
"But you’re not just putting yourselves at risk, and your passengers, you’re putting other drivers on the road at risk.”
Owners can set up an appointment at a local dealership and the recall work will be done for free.
But it’s good to remember, dealers are not required to check for recalls when a car is brought in for service — though many do.