Auto dealers have thousands and thousands of mostly used cars they can’t sell until they perform recall work on Takata-brand air bags – so many cars, in some cases they’ve run out of room to store them.

Dealerships are fixing the air bags as fast as they can, as they receive replacement parts. Customer cars take priority, which is also contributing to the backlog of unsold used cars in inventory.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 9.3 million Takata air bags have already been fixed. But cars that are subject to “stop sale” orders are still piling up, dealers said.

Recall work is performed at no charge to customers. Manufacturers reimburse dealerships for performing the work. Customers are usually informed of recalls by mail. At least 14 different manufacturers are affected, according to NHTSA.

Consumers can also look up their own Vehicle Identification Number on a NHTSA web site to see if it is subject to recall. The VIN number is easiest to find on the dashboard or on a sticker on the driver’s side door jamb.

Publicly traded dealer groups complained about a huge backlog of recall work, in recent second-quarter earnings reports.

“During the quarter, we continued to see disruption from the Takata airbag recall, which impacted our used vehicle business,” said Mike Jackson, chairman, president and CEO of AutoNation.

“The disruption … is significant. Literally, where do you put all these cars? And we’ve rented – we’ve had to go out and rent storage lots,” Jackson said in a conference call on July 29, according to a transcript posted on seekingalpha.com.

Jackson said about 20 percent of AutoNation’s used-vehicle inventory was on hold due to open recalls, about 5,200 vehicles. AutoNation, based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is the nation’s biggest auto retailer.

Click below to read the full article:
Forbes | Autos