Remember that new car smell? Or, maybe your car wasn’t new when you first bought it. Either way, hopefully, it’s treating you well. Of course, if you’re treating your car well, there’s a good chance it will do the same for you.

Are you having the oil changed regularly? Proper and timely maintenance is essential to getting the most out of your car. Of course, there is that ‘intangible’ – unexpected problems that were born on the drafting board or in the manufacturing process. You might say that some problems are built right into the car. They may remain hidden for a while but, usually, at some point, they come to light. When they do, the result is what we call a recall.

It’s essential that you take care of your car if you want it to take care of you. If you maintain it properly, you can get a couple hundred thousand miles out of a car without any serious problems. Yes, you’ll have to do some repairs during that time. After all, tires and brakes will wear down until you need to replace them. Shocks, struts, exhaust systems, the battery and other parts are all susceptible to the inevitable corrosive nature of time and use. But, those issues that slip through the cracks during design and/or manufacture of the car, well, there’s not much you can do about that.

The problem with a recall is that the cause for the recall is often an issue of safety. Unfortunately, some problems aren’t addressed with appropriate recalls until someone is hurt. For instance, a few years ago, people were dying because the accelerator on their new car was sticking. It took a while before the manufacturer of the vehicle was sufficiently convinced that the problem was a mechanical issue with the vehicle.

Some problems have already been identified but no one in a position to initiate a recall seems to listen. For instance, there is a company in Fox Lake, IL, that makes emergency brake cables – Bruin Brake Cables. The owner, Rick Gelscheit, tests his brake cables, as well as his competitors’ cables. He’s found that his competitors’ cables fail a pressure test more than half the time.

Gelscheit has contacted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the problem. The NHTSA is where many recalls originate. Though the agency has opened a case regarding the matter, they have yet to act.

What all this means is that there are potential problems with your new car that could put you and your loved ones at risk while driving. Even if it’s not a safety issue, a recall can indicate there is a problem with the vehicle.

How do you know if there was a recall related to your vehicle? One way is to listen to the news. Unfortunately, you may only hear about the larger recalls through the media. A better way to stay on top of is to visit www.safecar.gov, the NHTSA’s website. There, you can enter your car’s VIN number to see if there are any recalls related to your vehicle.

The NHTSA also has a SaferCar app you can download to your phone where you can obtain information about recalls. The app also provides an option where you can enter your vehicle’s information and receive its rating in a crash, as well as help installing a car seat and an option for filing a complaint.