Finding NHTSA recalls when looking up a VIN

[CityWoman]

In my search for a vehicle, if an ad that interests me includes the car's VIN, I've been looking it up at vehiclehistory.com (it's free), and it seems that many have one or more NHTSA Recalls listed in their details.  Some recalls seem to me to be for minor issues, but I'm not really sure.

My questions:

1. When there are recalls listed in a car's history, does that apply to all cars of that year and model or only that specific vehicle?
2. If recalls are listed, should I forget about that vehicle or ask the seller if the issues were fixed?  Or does an NHTSA Recall mean that those cars were supposed to be taken off the road and returned?
3. Which types of recalls are nothing to worry about, which would be okay if problems were fixed, and which would be an absolute no-go that rules out considering that vehicle?

Thanks, in advance, for any insight you can offer!

 

[CityWoman]

Just wanted to add that I have been taking any vehicles with NHTSA Recalls off my list of potentials to check out. But is that necessary? I really liked many of the cars that had Recalls and was bummed to nix them. But I'm uncertain about the meaning of seeing a Recall listed in a VIN lookup and wonder if the owner had the items in question fixed, would that show up in the lookup? This is confusing to me. Please help.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Recalls are a part of life with cars these days. Recalls are usually safety related defects...although they can be related to durability issues or emissions compliance...etc...

Minor and mid-level problems (often called TSBs) such as dim headlights, wind noise, or a defective glovebox hinge are probably easy to live with in most cases...but active recalls are usually critical....and they have either been fixed or you should be able to get them fixed if the recall campaign is still active. 

Major recalls, like VW 'dieselgate' buyback, or the Toyota Tecata airbag mess, should be avoided. 

Avoid recalls that sound expensive or dangerous, like transmission problems, fires in the engine compartment, etc. Some recalls are announced when only 2 out of 100,000 cars are affected...so sometimes its just a precautionary recall.

So, I would not filter out all the recalls....but if you focus on one that looks good otherwise, ask about the recall. With the VIN, you can call or visit the dealer who sells that make of car and ask them to run the VIN for any outstanding recalls.

 

[CityWoman]

Here is an example of some Recalls looking quite minor and others more serious.  Below are the Recalls listed for a 2005 Toyota 4Runner I like:

2010-02-03 
NHTSA Recalls
Details: Equipment > other > labels

2010-02-03 
NHTSA Recalls
Details: Equipment > other > labels

2011-02-24 
NHTSA Recalls
Details: Vehicle Speed Control > accelerator Pedal

2016-02-05
NHTSA Recalls
Details: AIR Bags > side/Window

2016-06-02
NHTSA Recalls
Details: Seats > front Assembly > seat Heater/Cooler

Obviously, the airbags and accelerator pedal are important. So, do these Recalls apply to every single vehicle of this make/model that came out that year? Or is there something individual about them? As in, if I looked up thre VIN of someone else's '05 4Runner, would it have the exact same Recalls listed or something different? When a certified mechanic, dealer, or repair place makes a repair of something, does it get recorded as part of the record for that particular VIN?