Be Vigilant of Car Recalls: Lessons For Car Owners

February 3, 2010 by Silicon Valley Blogger

One of the biggest consumer stories of late has been the Toyota recall. As someone whose been shameless about only driving imports, this particular story hits home. For most of my life, I’ve had the long-standing belief that “foreign” cars are supposed to be well-made, especially compared to their American counterparts. But maybe we should take a closer look at what it really means to be American vs “Foreign Made”: when you look under the hood, you’ll realize that there’s a lot more in common between those designations.

car recalls

Now that the news has broken on the matter of this massive recall, we see that it’s given one of the big reputable car manufacturers a black eye. So maybe it’s time to ask: are car imports really supposedly better than American cars? And who exactly is making a high quality car these days? I’d love to hear you sound off on this!

Be Vigilant of Car Recalls: Lessons For Car Owners

That said, here are some interesting tips from The Huffington Post, which tell us how to minimize or avoid experiencing problems with our vehicles:

  • Make sure you always properly service your car.
  • Do proper maintenance on your vehicle, such as rotating your tires and changing your brake pads.
  • If your accelerator sticks, put your car in neutral, then brake firmly. If this does not work, turn your ignition off and coast to the side of the road.
  • Keep in touch with your dealer if possible (so they know where to reach you about any issues).
  • Register with DriverSide.com to get news about your car (e.g. recalls, etc); this site also provides you with service notifications and alerts to help you keep with your maintenance schedule.
  • When buying a car, take a look at car sites like Edmunds.com and Automotive.com. Check out Experian’s service called AutoCheck and/or check out Vin History, which offers free vehicle history reports.
  • If you plan to drive your car to the ground like I do, then you’ll need to be watchful and proactive about your car’s health!

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