Info on Ford Safety Recalls

[daveinlv]

I recently traded in a 2012 Ford Escape for a smaller sedan. When the dealer ran a CarFax on my car, he asked me if I knew there was a recall on the car. I replied I knew, as I'd received a letter over a year ago advising of the recall, then advising to wait for another letter telling me to go to a local dealer to have the work done, and I was still waiting for the second letter. The salesman starts telling me how all he can do is wholesale out the car, and insinuating that he'd have to drastically reduce the trade-in value. We bristled up and prepared to walk out, as the Escape was in immaculate shape with only 28K miles on it (wife's car and she rarely drove it), and we felt it was worth no less than $10K. When saleman realized we were leaving, he worked out a deal where we got the $10K trade-in, and we proceeded with the deal..

My question is this: Does a undone safety recall prevent selling a car?? In the case of the Escape, it's kind of moot, as we've traded the car in, BUT I also have a 2007 Ford Ranger Extra Cab that I want to sell and get a smaller sedan. This vehicle ALSO has an outstanding
"Important Safety Recall" and the letter I have reporting this is dated July 2016, and nothing further from Ford. I tried calling Ford itself and after giving the "engrish" speaking rep the recall #, (16S26), and the VIN number his reply was "just wait for the second letter"... Ummm Hey Ford! Its been a $#%#$$ year...

Question: Am I going to get screwed selling this truck, or worse, be prevented from selling it because of this unfullfilled recall???

HELP!

Thanks
Dave

[shorod]

I know of no reason an open recall would effect the resale or trade in value of a vehicle. Getting the recall implemented would not be a cost to any dealership or purchaser as long as the recall is still listed as Open in the Ford system. It's a slight inconvenience, but for a large dealership that inconvenience would seem minimal unless they need to move the vehicle to auction right away.

You should be able to find out what recalls are still open on your vehicle over the Internet. I'm trying to recall the website. It's either safercar.gov, nhtsa.gov, or odi.gov (Office of Defects Investigation). It shouldn't take much Googling to figure it out.

-Rod

[Stealthee]

It was a salesman being a salesman. As rod pointed out the recall will be of no cost to the dealership. Most of the so called "safety recalls" are half-assed fixes to appease the masses because people are too stupid to properly know how to react to a vehicle.

[daveinlv]

Thanks for the info.. Checking on the status of the recall on my 2007 Ranger. Discovered when I went to dig out the title for it, I didn't have it, and now I'm wondering if I ever received it from the selling dealer back in 2012. Went to the @#@##$ DMV and after spending close to 3 hours there, and paying $21, they say it will be 4 to 6 weeks for a replacement title..

Thanks again..