NJ residents ignoring recall notices on 1.4M cars

It’s a major problem in New Jersey and across the entire region.

Car and truck owners are ignoring recall notices for their vehicles, endangering themselves and their passengers.

Chris Basso, a used-car expert and public relations manager of Carfax, says across the Garden State about 1 in 5 vehicles has an unfixed recall.

“It has a serious impact on public safety and is something we all can do better about taking care of," he said.

Basso said many people simply ignore recall notices because they don’t think the problem is important.

“We’re talking an alarming number of vehicles that are on the road with these recalls. The entire state of New Jersey has about 1.4 million.”

Pennsylvania has an even higher number, a total of 2.4 million recalled vehicles across the entire state.

Nationally about 57 million vehicles have open recalls.  Minivans and pickup trucks are more likely to get a recall.

He said all recalls are serious because they pertain to safety.

“No matter how big or small you may think a recall is, know that the smallest recall can impact the ability of your air bags to deploy or antilock brakes to work, putting your life at risk," he said.

Basso said recall information is available on your car dealer’s website and the fixes are free.

“There really is no reason for these recalls to go unfixed,” he said.

You can get free recall alerts at mycarfax.com.

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You can contact reporter David Matthau at David.Matthau@townsquaremedia.com