I-TIP: How to check your car for open recalls
From Transport Canada's website to paid services, there are ways to find out if your car is part of a recall
Roughly one in six cars in Canada has an open recall, according to figures from CarProof — a service that sells car history data to dealers and the public — and a 2016 CBC investigation.
Many car owners don't even know if their car has a defect or not, but there are a few easy ways to find out.
One of the easiest is Transport Canada's website, which has a recall database that is searchable by make, model and year.
Manufacturers typically list recent recalls on their corporate websites, and occasionally use social media to tell the public about recalls on their models.
Some manufacturers also allow you to search their site for open recalls by entering your vehicle identification number into a search engine.
Your VIN is a 17-character alphanumeric code, typically found at the base of your windshield or on a sticker on the inside of your door jamb.
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also allows car owners to search its database for open recalls by plugging in your VIN — and it works for Canadian cars, too.
And you can always call your dealership to check if there are any outstanding maintenance or defect issues on your make and model.
If you're buying a used car, you should be able to find out from your dealership whether there are recalls on the car that haven't been addressed.
If you want a full car history, you can also use a paid service like CarProof — but be prepared to shell out more than $50 for a verified report.