Millions of vehicles on the road right now have open safety recalls that haven't been repaired. Most of their owners have no idea. A recall can involve anything from a minor inconvenience to a serious safety issue — and until it's repaired, you could be driving a car with a known problem that a dealer would fix for free.

The scary part? Recalls don't expire. A vehicle can sit with an unresolved recall for years, and nothing automatically forces the repair to happen. It's entirely on the owner to follow up — which means plenty of drivers are unknowingly living with issues that have already been identified and solved.

Checking is easier than you think. Visit nhtsa.gov/recalls and enter your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) — a 17-character code unique to your car. You can find it on the driver's side dashboard near the bottom of the windshield, or on your registration and insurance card. In seconds you'll know if your vehicle has any outstanding recalls.

If it does, contact an authorized dealer to schedule the repair. There's no charge to you — recalls are always fixed at no cost. Depending on the nature of the recall, the fix might take as little as an hour, and many dealers will work around your schedule to make it as easy as possible.

It's also worth checking periodically, not just once. New recalls are issued regularly as safety issues are identified, so a vehicle that was clear six months ago may have a new recall today.

Shopping for a used car? Run the VIN before you buy. Any open recalls on that vehicle would also be repaired at no charge by an authorized dealer — but it's good to know what you're walking into before you sign anything.

AAA Members can find a dealer that's also a AAA Approved Auto Repair facility at AAA.com/AutoRepair — these shops are rigorously inspected and offer members discounts and longer warranties, giving you extra peace of mind that the job is done right.