5m cars re-sold before recall repairs

DETROIT, Michigan - About five-million used cars affected by safety recalls were sold through 2014 in the US without the recall fault(s) having been fixed.

A study by Carfax, which sells vehicle history reports, showed that overall there are more than 46-million cars and trucks on US roads with unrepaired safety issues despite recalls.

Some of the recalls involve serious safety problems such as leaky brake lines or crash bags that can inflate with too much force and send shrapnel into drivers or passengers.  Others are relatively minor, such as brake master cylinder caps with pictures rather than words.

PROTECT YOURSELF

No matter the problem, if you're shopping for a used car, you should make sure a recalled part has been repaired.