Major recalls by auto manufacturers are the subject of national news reports, and even minor recall notices usually receive some mention in the press. RV manufacturers also issue recall notices when design or production flaws present potential safety hazards, but you almost never hear about them on the evening news. Why? It’s principally a matter of scale.
RVs are no less susceptible to manufacturing errors than cars, but proportionately fewer sales mean those errors put fewer drivers at potential risk. When millions of car owners may be affected, it’s easy to understand why automobile safety alerts merit media attention.
While RV manufacturers, like their automotive cousins, are required to issue recall notices when problems occur and are further required to contact affected RV owners directly; notification takes time and may be delayed to purchasers of used RVs due to the added time required to trace re-sale records. To stay on top of RV safety issues, RV owners may want to keep up with the monthly recall lists published by the National Highway Transportation Safety Association.
On its website, the NHTSA doesn’t differentiate auto from RV manufacturers on recall lists but publishes a single vehicle recall list by incident and annual summaries by manufacturer. NHTSA also allows consumers to sign up for email alerts on recalls for up to 5 vehicles, as well as child restraints, tires and motorcycles. In addition, there are several websites that track and publish RV recalls exclusively.
