There are millions of potentially faulty and unsafe cars and vans on the roads that have never been checked, despite safety recalls being issued by the manufacturers, a new investigation has revealed.

Over 3.2 million motors recalled on safety grounds between 2018 and 2023 have not been rectified, according to shock new findings from data experts Auto Data Solutions (ADS).

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) figures released under the Freedom of Information Act also suggests that the total figure of uncorrected vehicles on the roads could be much higher.

ADS warns the volume of unrepaired and potentially dangerous vehicles that have not had recall notices actioned will increase until dealers overhaul their contact management systems more effectively.

The issue is occurring because dealers are failing to maintain customer relationships, which leaves many drivers unaware that their car is subject to a recall, despite manufactures issuing a notice.

Calling it ‘the biggest wake-up call yet for dealers to begin taking the maintenance of customer databases more seriously’, Jon Sheard, operations director at ADS, said: 'Failure to keep track of customers not only lets down the manufacturers who are fulfilling their duty of care by notifying authorities and drivers to potential issues but also motorists who have a right to know that their vehicle should be professionally checked.'

Vehicle recalls are a common procedure, though safety recalls are deemed the most urgent and need to be rectified as early as possible. 

The DVSA has the power to force the hand of car makers to issue a recall if there are safety concerns.

Any non-safety-related faults can also lead to voluntary recalls by auto makers, though it is up to the manufacturers discretion to do so.

The severity of a recall can vary, ranging from adjustments in maintenance schedules to ‘Stop Drive’ orders where a vehicle must not be driven until repairs are made.

Only last week Ford issued a safety recall for its popular Kuga plug-in hybrid family car due to concerns that the battery could short circuit; letters were sent to over 26,000 affected owners of the Kuga PHEV, which has been on sale since April 2020.

DVSA records over the six-year spell between 2018 and 2023 shows 14,880,235 cars and vans were subject to a recall. 

However, 3,252,696 of these vehicles are earmarked by the government agency as having an outstanding safety recall notice still in place.

This represents more than a fifth (21.9 per cent) of all motors recalled over this period.

A recent study by vehicle history checker CarVertical also suggested that around 28 per cent of cars recalled in 2024 had not been fixed.

It found that almost 1.1 million cars (and almost 1.2 million vehicles in total) were recalled in the UK in the first eight months of 2024. 

The report also said Britain has one of the worst records across Europe for actioning recall notices.

Why dealers are failing to contact owners regarding recall notices

When manufacturers issue a safety recall, they typically notify affected customers by post, advising them to contact their local franchise dealer to have the problem repaired for free at their earliest convenience.

While some dealers proactively contact customers directly themselves too, many non-safety recall cases are delayed until an owner arranges to bring the vehicle for a scheduled service.

However, this is where many recall notices - including safety call backs - can slip through the net. 

Because of increasingly variable and extended service intervals on modern cars and vans, especially EVs, a dealer may not see a vehicle for two or more years. 

Alternatively, the driver might take their car to be serviced elsewhere and will be none the wiser about an outstanding recall issue.

Another problem is that customers may not receive recall notifications due to changes of address, or simply because they don’t open the letter. 

If the dealer loses contact with the customer, the driver remains unaware of the recall and their car is not fixed.

ADS has advised dealers that missed safety recalls could result in sudden 'unmanageable deluge' of cars being presented for checks or repairs if there is a rule change under consideration goes through.

A missed recall is currently recorded as an ‘advisory’ during an MOT, but it could become an automatic failure under proposals being considered by government.

If introduced to the annual MOT, dealer workshops could rapidly become overwhelmed by a surge of vehicles in need of repair.  Millions of drivers too could be left potentially unable to drive their cars.

Sheard added: 'Last year we reported that up to three quarters of customer records, in the typical dealer database that we analyse, contain inaccuracies. 

'This can be solved quite easily by more consistent monitoring of database accuracy than many dealers routinely undertake.'

This is Money has reached out to the DVSA for comment.  

Ignoring a recall? It could invalidate your insurance

While manufacturers and dealers have a duty to contact car owners about recalls, by law, it is the driver's responsibility to ensure their vehicle is in a roadworthy condition.

While minor recalls won't impact your car insurance, failing to act on a known safety recall could land you in hot water with both the police and your insurer.

A collision found to have been caused by a mechanical fault that you’ve failed to have remedied despite a recall notice could invalidate your insurance, warns the RAC.

BBC consumer champion Matt Allwright told Morning Live this month that 'particularly if it's a serious safety defect and it results in someone being injured or worse, then it could be on you'.

He added: 'If it turns out that you didn't take the car in for a recall when you were made aware of it, then your insurance company could say you weren't entirely doing your due diligence on that car to make sure you knew everything about that car.'

The DVSA also points out that if police find you at the wheel of a car with a major safety recall you can be 'fined up to £2,500, be banned from driving and get three penalty points for driving a vehicle in a dangerous condition'.