ATLANTA — Auto recalls and alerts are not uncommon and should be taken seriously.
However, Channel 2 consumer adviser Clark Howard warns that not every notice is legitimate and should be looked into thoroughly.
John Moelter and his wife were surprised when they received what looked like a technical service bulletin in the mail.
"We've had no problems with it; we've just done routine maintenance on it." Moelter said about his 2013 Expedition.
"We thought well, if they thought enough to send us a postcard we better check on this." said Moelter.
Instead of contacting the company on the postcard, John called Ford directly.
"Ford looked up the car by VIN number and said there was no recall, there was no technical service bulletin." said Moelter.
Ford also told him Technical Service Bulletins are not sent to consumers directly.
They are sent to dealerships when an update is needed for a repair manual.
When John called United Auto Defense, the company that sent him the postcard, he was told something completely different.
"She said specifically 200,000 plus issues with the car but we can help you with that.
She said, 'We do have a service that we can provide to you for a fee that will help you with those things that are not covered under your warranty and not covered by the dealership if they have to provide those services on your car," explained Moelter
Armed with the information he had from Ford, Moelter hung up the phone.
"I'm frustrated that someone would send us something that would cause us to be concerned." said Moelter.
Technical Service Bulletins have confused people for years.
They are sometimes referred to by auto safety advocates as "secret recalls".
If you'd like to know what recalls and Technical Service Bulletins include your vehicle you can visit the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's website.
They have a simple link that you can click, look up your make and model, and you'll see if there's a problem with your vehicle.