About the data

Where the numbers come from

Every page is built from two public-domain federal datasets: the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation complaints file (every vehicle safety complaint filed since 1995) and the NHTSA recalls files (every safety recall campaign since 1967). We download them, count them, and show the counts. All summary sentences are computed from those counts; nobody writes them by hand.

Complaints are unverified owner reports filed with NHTSA. Counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular models collect more of them.

When a page gets built

A model-year page ships only if NHTSA holds at least 25 distinct complaints about it, spread over at least 3 vehicle systems, and it is not a duplicate of another page (the same model under a different spelling, or a page sharing most of its complaint records). One new page ships each night, and every page is rebuilt with the latest data.

Privacy

The NHTSA complaint file includes owners' cities, partial VINs, dealer contacts and operator names. We never load those fields. Owner excerpts are cut short and have contact details and VINs removed.

Affiliate disclosure

We earn a commission if you buy through the sponsored links on this page. It never changes the data. No affiliate programs are enabled. Sponsored links are marked and never affect which pages exist or what they say.

To check open recalls for a specific car, use its VIN at NHTSA.gov.