Question 1

Can a dealer legally sell a used car with an open recall?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Under current US federal law, dealerships are only prohibited from selling NEW vehicles with unfixed safety recalls. Used cars are exempt, meaning a dealer can legally sell a pre-owned vehicle with outstanding NHTSA recalls without repairing the defect first.

Question 2

How does the OTDCheck Recall Radar find recalled vehicles?

Accepted Answer

OTDCheck crawls dealer websites daily, extracting VINs from active listings. Each VIN is cross-referenced against the official NHTSA recall database. When a match is found, we classify the severity and surface it here.

Question 3

What should I do if a car I want has an open recall?

Accepted Answer

Contact the manufacturer to schedule a free recall repair. Do not finalize the purchase until the recall has been remedied or you have a written commitment from the dealer.

Question 4

How often is the data updated?

Accepted Answer

Daily. Our crawlers re-scan dealer inventories every 24 hours and cross-reference against NHTSA.

Recall Radar

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Severity Levels

Recall FAQ

Can a dealer legally sell a used car with an open recall?

How does the OTDCheck Recall Radar find recalled vehicles?

What should I do if a car I want has an open recall?

How often is the data updated?