There’s always the possibility that a vehicle will have a design and/or manufacturing problem, no matter how well made and put together it is. If the problem is serious enough the government will order that the manufacturer issues a recall notice and fixes the problem free of charge. The manufacturer will then attempt to contact everyone who has that particular kind of vehicle so they are aware of the problem. As you can no doubt imagine this is no easy feat.
A product recall always affects safety so you should always take them seriously. The good news is that it’s pretty 
easy to find out your car has been recalled or not. The government actually host links on their own website where you can find out including http://www.nhtsa.gov. There are also a number of other websites with this recall information on including www.carfax.com, www.autobytel.com and www.dmv.org.
Recalls are always serious business but the good news is that they are also quite rare. There are also smaller problems that don’t really affect your safety but are still problems you should address. Information about these is commonly distributed using a Technical Service Bulletin, or TSB. A TSB tells service centers about common faults and how to repair them.
You can trust the professionals to have all the latest information because they pay subscription plans to receive them. Consumers can also get one of these subscriptions at a reasonable price if they so choose.
If you hear that your vehicle has been recalled for whatever reason then it’s time to get the work done and stay safe!