For years I have been advising consumers who are about to purchase a used car to make sure that all safety defects that were covered by recalls have been repaired. Consumers can check out the recalls at the Auto Safety Hotline that is run by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Well, I am driving a four-year-old car that I purchased new, so does this advice apply to me? It sure does. In fact, I just checked out my car by going to www.nhtsa.dot.gov and found that it has been subject to eight recalls. While most of them are minor, one was pretty serious because the brake and gas pedals were too close to each other and could result in hitting both of them at once. Two other recalls involved the stability of child safety seats, a very serious matter.

I have taken my car in every time there was a recall and had the work done. Have you always responded to recalls? If you aren’t sure, go to the website and check it out for yourself.