Rise in missed car recalls sparks safety concerns with dealers blamed

The UK is facing a rising trend of missed vehicle recalls, as the latest data reveals that more than 3.2 million cars are on the road with faults that have not yet been rectified - and some of them are potentially unsafe.

The figure has been shared by Auto Data Solutions (ADS), a company that works with dealers to help manage relationships with customers, and it puts the blame squarely on dealerships rather than drivers.

ADS reckons poor customer database maintenance, a gap in manufacturer support for franchised dealers, disconnected data systems and a “cultural blind spot” that fails to recognise recall work as a potential business development opportunity are all combining to exacerbate the issue of more cars on the road with defects that should have been fixed under the recall system. 

“Franchise dealers are the customer’s main point of contact for recall rectification, and are ideally equipped to establish contact and take them through the process – but it’s happening less as time goes on,” says ADS operations director Jon Sheard. “The risk of an unrectified vehicle leading to tragic consequences affects brands as well as their dealers, threatening relationships with customers throughout the industry.”

ADS also recently warned that dealers could also face new problems in the event of a missed recall becoming an MOT failure, saying they would risk further reputational damage if dealer workshops were faced with being “unable to handle a sudden avalanche of unhappy customers, stranded without their cars”.

Sheard suggests that as the number of EVs increases, with potentially fewer workshop visits due to less frequent servicing requirements, the potential exists for the problem of missed recalls to get even worse.

Since 2018, the rate of recalls being left unrectified has already risen from around 18 per cent to almost 30 per cent in 2023, the latest year for which the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has figures.

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