WASHINGTON (AP) - Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, seeking to finish the massive tire recalls it began six years ago, said Friday it would notify owners to bring in 200,000 recalled tires that may still be on vehicles or used as spares.

The Nashville-based subsidiary of Japan's Bridgestone Corp., said about 95 percent of the 6.5 million tires recalled in the 2000-01 tire recall had been replaced.

But the tiremaker will ask registered owners of Ford Explorer, Mercury Mountaineer and Mazda Navajo sport utility vehicles — many of which have the tires as original equipment — along with Firestone stores and dealers to check for the recalled tires.

"Even though there are only a small percentage of these tires believed to be still in use, we are continuing to put safety first and are implementing this communications campaign to try to reach out to a group of consumers whose tires have not yet been recovered," said Mike Kane, the company's vice president of quality assurance.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Friday issued a consumer advisory asking owners to replace all tires included in the recall campaign.

The affected tires include the P235/75R15 Radial ATX and certain P235/75R15 and P255/70R 16 Wilderness AT models manufactured before May 1998. Tires manufactured after that date are not affected, NHTSA said.

At least 271 people were reported killed and hundreds more injured in accidents involving Firestone ATX and AT tires, leading to the recalls. About 6.3 million of the tires were replaced during the recall, the company said.

The letters will urge consumers to check their tires and spare to see if they have a tire covered by the recall campaigns and get the tires replaced free of charge.

Owners were being encouraged to take their vehicle into a Firestone store or participating tire dealership for a free inspection.