What if car dealers close down?
Those who got their cars from dealers or importers who subsequently closed or changed ownership may also not be notified of recalls.
Mr Loo from CarTimes said that when companies close down, owners usually have “no incentive to do anything anymore”.
Agreeing, Sgcarmart’s Mr Chan said it was not realistic for shuttered dealers or parallel importers to notify customers of a recall exercise, because “that chain of communication would no longer exist”.
In the case of the Takata airbag death, LTA had reached out to the defunct parallel importer via registered mail, for three different recalls unrelated to the Takata airbag. The letters were returned to LTA.
Mr Oh from AIEA said his association has compiled a list of motor workshops to assist vehicle owners who may be affected by the Takata airbag recalls and have no recourse to their parallel importers who may have ceased operations.
“We encourage vehicle owners to consider engaging these motor workshops for rectification works,” he said.
What about secondhand cars?
For secondhand cars, drivers can check their status on LTA’s electronic vehicle recall system.
If the car is from an authorised dealer, any recall that has been issued and reported will be reflected accordingly, said Mr Chan.
But if the car is from a parallel importer, or a dealership or importer that has already closed, the same issues may emerge – where the need for a recall may not be reflected.
For secondhand cars, another challenge is that some owners may not have updated their contact details or may not reside in the address where the recall notifications are sent to, said Mr Oh.
“We urge vehicle owners to update their contact details and arrange for their vehicles to be rectified as soon as they receive recall notifications from our members,” he said.
What more can be done?
Associate Professor Jawn Lim from the Singapore Institute of Technology’s business, communication and design cluster said there was an “over-dependence” on dealers to inform car owners about recalls.
“This system becomes volatile when dealers close or change ownership,” he said. “There is a need to reduce reliance on such volatile links in the system.”
He said contact details such as company names, emails, or phone numbers often change.
Assoc Prof Lim said one solution could be to use a car’s on-board unit (OBU), the device that powers ERP 2.0, to notify drivers about recall alerts immediately.
Another possible option is to require vehicle inspection stations to maintain an alert list of troubled cars, he added.
“This way, during regular inspections before road tax renewals, owners can be reminded or notified of any manufacturing faults that must be rectified,” he said.
But Mr Chan from Sgcarmart said potential policy changes were unlikely, as it would require a high level of information regulation by LTA.
“Ultimately, that’s one of the realities of the grey market, and a compromise that customers need to accept,” he said.
