Many people assume that recalls are a bad sign, but when it comes to your safety a recall can save your life or the lives of the people you care about most. A technical service bulletin is the mechanism through which vehicle owners learn any unsafe elements that need immediate attention.

Because today’s vehicles are mass-produced and delivered to the market for sale so quickly problems often arise after the vehicle has been sold. Sometimes, even while the car is relatively new things go wrong and are reported to manufacturers. Many times, because of usage patterns, it’s rental car agencies that first experience an issue and report the problem. A rental car technical service bulletin is what occurs when notification is made of a possibly faulty part or vehicle.

Rental agencies usually experience problems before individuals just because the cars are driven a lot more, accrue more mileage, and are serviced more often than cars owned by individuals. As such, rental agencies are a good resource for technical service bulletin information. Many manufacturers rely on rental cars to let them know how well each make and model has been put together.

A rental car technical service bulletin should be responded to immediately. Even if the issue does not seem that serious, it’s best to have your vehicle inspected to insure your safety. Rental agencies usually respond promptly as they have insurance and liability issues to consider. Because rental agencies cannot predict when or if something will go wrong in their particular vehicles, it’s better to err on the side of caution.

While technical service bulletins may seem like an every day issue to a rental agency, or anyone who deals in cars, each one should be taken seriously. The smallest faulty car part can be the source of a technical issue, but it’s that same part that can either save or take a life. Fortunately for consumers, rental cars are required to be recall free, meaning your safety should never be compromised when driving a rental car.

While a rental car is a common source or indicator of the need to recall or release a technical service bulletin it’s not the only source. If you are driving a car, rental or not, and you have issues that are related to the proper functioning or design of the car you should contact the manufacturer or the NHTSA for recall information.