Recall campaigns on record

How to read a recall

A recall is a manufacturer telling the United States safety regulator, in writing, that a batch of cars left the factory with a defect that affects safety or breaks a federal standard, and that it will fix it at no cost to the owner. The campaign number is NHTSA's identifier: the first two digits are the year the campaign was filed, the letter V marks a vehicle campaign (E marks equipment, such as a replacement part), and the remaining digits are the sequence. The date is the filing date, not the date the defect appeared — a 2021 campaign can cover a 2011 car, as the air bag inflator recalls did.

The safety-critical flag is ours. It marks campaigns whose component is one where failure means a fire, a crash, a stall in traffic or an air bag that does not deploy — brakes, steering, fuel system, air bags, seat belts, engine stall, electrical fire. A campaign for a label or a floor mat is a recall; it is not the same risk, and the flag is how the reliability score tells them apart.

A recall on this page tells you the defect exists in the batch. It does not tell you whether the car you are looking at was repaired. Dealers complete recall work free of charge for the life of the car, but a used car changes hands and the work is often never done. Before buying, run the VIN through the VIN check or NHTSA's own lookup at nhtsa.gov/recalls, and ask the seller for the dealer invoice for every open campaign. The guide to checking a VIN and its recalls walks through it step by step.