[11] Bmw Vin Lookup Making This Week Talks

In the past, automakers’ VIN look-up practices varied widely. Some, like Chrysler, required consumers to register and set up an account on their websites before being able to see recall information with a VIN. That practice created an extra step. General Motors also once required consumers to register their vehicles with the company before searching for recall information, though it dropped that requirement in 2012. Finding recall information using a VIN on the Volkswagen website once required typing “VIN lookup” into the site’s search bar. Subaru was among the automakers that did not have the feature on its site, but added it within the last month.

The new rule is expected not only to benefit used-car shoppers, but to help increase recall completion rates for all vehicles. The safety agency said only about 70 percent of recall repairs are made.

Recall data will go back at least 15 years under the new rules. Automakers are not required by federal law to perform free recall repairs on vehicles more than 10 years old, but they usually opt to make the repairs anyway.

Regarding privacy concerns, the agency said it would not gather personal information on the site, so it would not be possible to track who has checked the recall status.

This is what consumers can expect when searching for recall information about a vehicle on the agency’s website: If there is an open recall, they can see what the manufacturer said in the recall notice, including descriptions of the defect, the safety risk associated with the problem and a description of the remedy. If a recall repair has not been completed for that particular vehicle, “Recall INCOMPLETE” will appear on the screen in red letters.

If there are no open recalls, consumers will see “Number of Open Recalls: 0” on the page.

If parts are not yet available to fix the safety defect, the warning will say, in red, “Recall INCOMPLETE. Remedy not yet available.”

Consumers who want to check on more than one vehicle never have to leave the page. After they enter one VIN, they will be told by the program that it is possible to enter another one.

N.H.T.S.A. said the same information would be available on automakers’ consumer websites. There is no standard location for the VIN prompt on the various sites, but several automakers have said that recall information would be at the bottom of their web pages. On Ford’s site, for example, “Safety Recalls” are listed under the Ownership heading. On Toyota’s site, “Safety Recalls & Service Campaigns” appears at the bottom of the page under the Tools heading. On Nissan’s website, “RECALL INFORMATION” is in a box outlined in white at the bottom of the page to the far right.