Maintenance Minder: Take Care of That Safety Recall

Here's a news flash that probably won't surprise you: Most car owners don't respond to recall notices that they get, even if they're safety recalls for a problem with frightening consequences. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 60 percent of the 14 million 1995-2003 Ford Windstars that it recalled have never been repaired. And that recall was for cruise-control switches that could leak into the antilock braking system and cause a fire.
This announcement by NHTSA comes on the heels of yet another Toyota recall, this time for 740,000 Toyota and Lexus vehicles to repair a possible faulty brake cylinder. It's frightening to think that the problem in many of these cars won't be addressed. And it's hard to imagine why an owner wouldn't have the problem fixed, particularly since dealerships do the work for free and it usually takes only a short time to do it. If there is an outstanding recall on your vehicle, now's the time to take care of it. After the jump, you can read a few easy steps to get this important task completed.
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