According to a series of news agencies, a consumer reportedly purchased a used van that later turned out to be more of a hassle than a vehicle: it burst into flames unexpectedly, while the van was parked right outside of his house.

This episode is one of the many stories of consumers who purchase vehicles with unfixed recalls that end up posing serious risks to drivers and passengers. According to a recent research performed by Carfax, more than 2.7 million of used vehicles that, during the year of 2011, were listed online had at least one recall that had not been repaired. Since recall announcements are only issued after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration deems the issue risky to consumers, vehicles with recalls that were not repaired can pose serious risks to consumers everywhere, which could then lead to fatalities.

Recently, an auto dealer had one Nissan Altima with four unfixed recalls, one Cadillac Escalade with three recalls that were not repaired and one Chevrolet Silverado with fifteen unfixed recalls. Articles showed that since California state laws do not require auto dealers to warn consumers about unfixed recalls, consumers can end up with a potentially vehicle in their possession.

According to a spokesperson of the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association, the agency urges auto dealerships to repair the issue associated with the recall before selling the vehicle, which is not always what the dealership chooses to do. However, some dealerships do.

Consumers are urged to check the vehicle they are looking into purchasing for recalls that were not repaired before finalizing the purchase.

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