The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website allows you to sign-up for automatic notifications of recalls affecting your vehicles, as well pertinent recalls of tires and child safety seats at www.safercar.gov.

Dealers repair recalls for free.  Getting recalls fixed could not only save your life but also help prevent your vehicle from being sold to a future buyer with a dangerous defect.

State-by-state numbers from CARFAX study:

The study found 2,720,661 used cars listed for sale online in 2011 with at least one unfixed recall.