Has Your Vehicle Been Recalled? Here’s How to Find Out

Vehicle recalls are nothing new to seasoned owners. Most are familiar with checking the mail to occasionally find a recall notice from a dealership or manufacturer. These notices alert owners of safety issues and prompt them to come to a dealership for service. In the words of the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA), "A recall is issued when a manufacturer or the NHTSA determines that a vehicle, equipment, car seat, or tire creates an unreasonable safety risk or fails to meet minimum safety standards."

While safety recalls can be inconvenient hassles that range in severity, they should never be ignored. Even seemingly minor repairs are "safety" recalls, after all. Diligently attending to recall notices for your vehicle as soon as you receive them will address and fix issues, keeping you and your passengers safer while driving.

In this article, we will take a deeper look into the process that surrounds issuing a recall, examine the different types of recalls, and discuss some of the most and least recalled makes and models of vehicles over the past few years. You’ll also learn how to check for recalls on your car, or a car you may want to purchase.

TYPES OF VEHICLE RECALLS
Safety recalls can either be issued by a vehicle's manufacturer or the NHTSA. As consumers experience safety issues and report them to the NHTSA, if enough reports about the same issue are received, the NHTSA may launch an investigation or a federal recall campaign. In most cases, vehicle manufacturers voluntarily issue safety recalls as they become aware of issues with their models, but occasionally the NHTSA will decide to step in for cases that warrant a more forceful intervention.

With the increasing prevalence of technology and on-board computing, in recent years many of the most frequent safety recalls are Over-the-Air (OTA), particularly with newer electric vehicles (EVs). OTA manufacturer recalls typically fix bugs in software and occur in the middle of the night while the vehicle is parked and not in use.

Credit: NHTSA's new data on recalls for 2023

As shown above, the rate of OTA recalls have increased fairly steadily since 2019. Understanding the difference between an OTA recall and one that requires bringing the vehicle into a dealership is important. OTA recalls are almost always non-intrusive with many occurring without the vehicle owner even knowing. So, consumers who rank a low recall rate high on their list of must-haves when considering a new vehicle purchase should dig a bit deeper before dismissing a vehicle with high recall rates. For example, Telsa’s entire model line occupies four of the top seven slots for most projected recalls, but almost all of their recalls in 2023 were OTA.

Credit NHTSA's new data on recalls for 2023

But software issues are not the only things bumping up recall numbers for EV’s and hybrids. As more of these types of vehicles are sold each year, the number of large, complex battery packs being parked in garages or carports has also increased. Since these batteries can be more prone to issues, in instances where they may become a fire hazard, many recalls tell owners to park outside or not to drive their vehicles at all until a fix can be implemented. Each year, more and more vehicles are impacted by these, with 2023 posting a 51% increase in Do Not Drive or Park Outside recalls year over year impacting 4.8 million vehicles.

PREDICTED LIFETIME RECALL RATE
Automakers and industry analysts generate predicted lifetime recall rates for vehicles based on historical recall data from the NHTSA, quality control measures put in place by each auto manufacturer, test results, and consumer feedback to create an estimated number of recalls a vehicle may experience over the course of its lifetime. While the industry median hovers between 3-4 recalls over a 30-year lifespan, some recent motor vehicle makes and models have over 60 recalls expected over their lifetime.

While a high predicted lifetime recall rate can be cause for concern, particularly since these are all safety issues, many of the top 25 most-recalled models drop off the list entirely when OTA recalls are excluded from predictions. This means that for heavily-recalled makes—like Tesla—owners can expect the vast majority of these recalls to be OTA, causing no inconvenience to them whatsoever. Consumers concerned about the impact predicted recall rates will have on their vehicle ownership should keep this in mind as they are doing research. The predicted recall rate—while a valuable data point—is merely an estimate and should always be viewed within the proper context.

MOST AND LEAST RECALLED VEHICLES IN 2023
Rather than report only on the predicted recall rate, which we believe tends to give the impression that certain makes and models are more problematic for owners than they actually are, we will also take a look at the most recalled manufacturers for 2023. This is a better metric for setting recall expectations for consumers weighing a future vehicle purchase.

We’ve also included the top ten makes and models with the lowest predicted recall rates.

Credit: Autoblog

Are you wondering, “does my car have a recall?” You can find all recall information related to your vehicle in the NHTSA's Recall and Investigations Database.