About RecallIndex
Was your car recalled?
What we do
RecallIndex aggregates every NHTSA recall and complaint by make, model, and year so drivers can see what is wrong with their vehicle.
We focus on U.S. vehicle recalls, complaints, and investigations. Every page on recallindex.org is built from the NHTSA Recalls and Complaints API, cited and linkable so readers can trace any number back to its source.
Who runs this
RecallIndex is built and maintained by the RecallIndex Team. We're a small group working on making public U.S. vehicle recalls, complaints, and investigations data easier for non-specialists to read. If you have a correction, a data tip, or a question about how a number was derived, the contact email below reaches us directly.
Who this is for
RecallIndex is built for car owners, used-car shoppers, mechanics, and automotive reporters.
Why this exists
Public data on U.S. vehicle recalls, complaints, and investigations is technically free, but practically locked behind file formats, acronyms, and paywalled dashboards. RecallIndexexists to close that gap: take the raw federal and public-sector data, and turn it into pages a normal person can read in thirty seconds.
How we work
- Primary source only. We pull from the NHTSA Recalls and Complaints API and cite the exact dataset and version on every page.
- No invented numbers. If a figure is not in the underlying public data, it does not appear on recallindex.org. We never generate synthetic statistics to fill gaps.
- Methodology, in plain English. We pull the NHTSA Recalls and Complaints API for every U.S. light-duty vehicle make, model, and year, group recalls by defect type, and surface owner-filed complaints with a count and a short summary. Pages cross-link to NHTSA’s own campaign-ID page.
- Refreshed on a schedule. Refreshed daily; new recalls typically appear on the site the same day they post at NHTSA.
- Corrections welcome. Readers flag issues all the time. When the source fixes a record, RecallIndex follows.
Known limitations
NHTSA campaigns are defect-based and may not cover every vehicle with a similar issue — a complaint history can reveal problems that were never formally recalled. Complaint severity is self-reported and not verified by NHTSA.
Why vehicle recall data deserves a dedicated home
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) maintains the federal vehicle-recall database — every recall the agency has investigated and ordered since 1966 is in the system, searchable by VIN, make, model, and year. The data is excellent and free; the user interface is the problem. NHTSA’s official site is built for regulators rather than for everyday vehicle owners, and the search behavior breaks down once a recall has been superseded, renamed, or expanded to a wider fleet.
RecallIndex is built to fix the presentation gap. Every make page consolidates active and historical recalls for the make, every model page shows recalls broken down by model year, every recall detail page summarizes what was wrong, who is affected, and what the remedy is. The underlying data is the same NHTSA data; what the site adds is the structure that makes finding a specific recall fast and obvious.
The site monetizes through AdSense on the editorial recall summaries. The recall data itself is public-domain and free to use, and we link directly back to NHTSA on every page so owners can verify the recall and start the no-cost remedy through their dealer.
How the NHTSA pipeline works
The pipeline pulls from two NHTSA endpoints: the Recall Campaign API for active and historical recalls, and the Investigation API for the underlying technical investigations that lead to recalls. Both refresh on NHTSA’s release schedule — typically within days of a new recall being announced. Our pipeline runs daily and writes the merged result to a static dataset that drives the site.
Each recall on the site stamps the NHTSA campaign number, the announcement date, the affected vehicle range, the technical issue, and the prescribed remedy. We link back to the NHTSA recall page for the authoritative current record. Owners who want to act on a recall — usually the right move when one applies to their vehicle — can use the VIN-lookup tool on NHTSA’s site to confirm whether their specific vehicle is covered.
A practical caveat: not every fleet-wide problem becomes a recall. NHTSA investigations can resolve as a service campaign (no recall) or a technical service bulletin (TSB) — neither of which carries the legal weight of a recall. The site focuses on full recalls; we mention investigations and TSBs in context but do not treat them as the same thing as a recall.
Where recall data has limits worth knowing about
Three things worth understanding. First, recall scope can change over time. NHTSA frequently expands a recall after a few months of dealer-reported repair data shows the issue extends beyond the original fleet boundary. RecallIndex shows the current scope on every recall page; owners checking against historical news coverage should always cross-reference against the current NHTSA record.
Second, the same underlying issue can produce multiple campaign numbers. Manufacturers sometimes split a recall across multiple campaigns (one per affected model line, for example), and supersession is common when an initial remedy fails and a second remedy is issued. The recall detail pages flag known supersession relationships when NHTSA has them in the record.
Third, the remedy is always free at the dealer, but the timeline can be long when parts are scarce. Some recalls require parts that take months to manufacture; owners can usually drive the vehicle in the meantime unless NHTSA has issued a stop-drive or stop-sale order. The recall page on the site notes the remedy status (parts available, parts pending, stop-drive in effect) when NHTSA publishes that information.
Independence
RecallIndex is an independent publication. We are not funded, owned, or directed by any of the agencies, companies, or organizations that appear in our data. Hosting is paid for by advertising — see our Privacy Policy for details — and we do not take paid placements, sponsored rankings, or "remove-my-entry" fees.
History
RecallIndex launched in 2026 as part of a small portfolio of independent public-data sites. It has been maintained and updated continuously since.
Contact
Tips, corrections, data-partnership questions, and press inquiries: hello@recallindex.org. More options on our contact page.