Just issuing a recall is not enough. There are countless reasons why someone does not return the product: They maybe simple not know, and there is no way to reach them.
That is why Samsung push update to disable note 7 even after recalling them.
> There are countless reasons why someone does not return the product: They maybe simple not know, and there is no way to reach them.
In Germany we let the Kraftfahrtbundesamt handle this. You are required by law to keep your address updated with the authorities, and all vehicles have to be registered to get a license plate. When a recall for safety reasons happens, the Kraftfahrtbundesamt writes a notification letter, and if you do not respond in time with evidence of having the recall issue remediated by a qualified shop (or doing it yourself and getting a sign-off from a licensed inspector), eventually they write to your local DMV office that can ban your vehicle from the roads, and if you miss that the police shows up at your home and physically removes the license sticker from the table.
And heaven forbid you get actually caught driving the car after having gotten the notification letter from your local DMV. That's automatically felony territory. Our authorities really, really do not mess around.
As American, I assume most the thread above was assuming US locale and it Seems like a solid case of the all too common “impossible by US status quo standards” when in fact the solution can be quite simple we just lack the imagination or willingness to see what worths elsewhere
As for cost, surely you can ask Ford's lawyers who worked there in the 70s to give you a good calculation on life vs recall costs.