Built from NHTSA's own files
What goes wrong with your car, according to everyone who owns one
Every safety complaint, recall campaign and defect investigation the US government holds, joined together and put on one page per vehicle.
Look up your car
Start here
- Check your own car by VIN
The only way to know whether a recall covers your exact car.
- Look up a car you are thinking of buying
What breaks on it, how often, and at how many miles.
- See what was recalled this week
Updated as manufacturers file with NHTSA.
- Find out if your state will make them buy it back
What every state's lemon law asks for, read from the statutes.
19 recalls carry a do-not-drive or park-outside warning
NHTSA issues these where it considers the risk immediate. They stand until the repair is done, and a recall usually covers only part of a production run, so the answer for your own car is a VIN away.
What a vehicle page tells you
What actually breaks
Which part owners complain about most, how many of them, and the mileage the failure typically showed up at.
Whether it is getting worse
Complaints year by year, so you can see whether a problem is fading or still arriving. Some cars are under investigation and not yet recalled.
What owners said
Their own accounts of what the car did, in their words, alongside every recall and the free fix that goes with it.
Covering 4,311 model years across 635,483 complaints and 5,081 recall campaigns.
Most complaints on file
All vehicles →Not a reliability ranking. A model that sold half a million units collects more complaints than one that sold twenty thousand, and NHTSA does not publish sales, so nothing here divides by them.
2010 Ford Fusion
5,130Mostly the steering
9 fires 1 death 11 recalls
2012 Ford Focus
3,769Mostly the power train
15 fires 5 deaths 7 recalls
2011 Hyundai Sonata
3,376Mostly the steering
112 fires 3 deaths 14 recalls
2013 Ford F-150
2,982Mostly the power train
35 fires 4 deaths 3 recalls
2010 Toyota Prius
2,822Mostly the hydraulic brakes
13 fires 2 deaths 10 recalls
2011 Ford Fusion
2,786Mostly the steering
10 fires 1 death 7 recalls
2013 Ford Escape
2,750Mostly the engine
90 fires 18 recalls
2017 Ford Escape
2,689Mostly the engine
15 fires 4 recalls
What owners complain about
Across all 4,311 vehicles on the site.
130,448
ENGINE
113,729
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
98,390
POWER TRAIN
65,519
STEERING
51,381
AIR BAGS
50,635
SERVICE BRAKES
39,974
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
32,833
STRUCTURE
Just recalled
All recent recalls →Mack Trucks, Inc.
October 1, 2026
STRUCTURE:BODY:BUMPERS:ACTIVE SHUTTERS/GRILL · up to 3,096 vehicles
Grech Motors Inc.
September 30, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM · up to 134 vehicles
Highland Ridge RV
September 30, 2026
EQUIPMENT:RECREATIONAL VEHICLE/TRAILER:PLUMBING:POTABLE WATER:STORAGE TANK · up to 489 vehicles
Starcraft RV
September 30, 2026
EQUIPMENT:RECREATIONAL VEHICLE/TRAILER:PLUMBING:POTABLE WATER:STORAGE TANK · up to 552 vehicles
Rivian Automotive, LLC
September 29, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:PROPULSION SYSTEM:CRITICAL FASTENERS · up to 14 vehicles
Nova Bus (US) Inc.
September 29, 2026
EQUIPMENT:MECHANICAL:CARRIER/RACK · up to 18 vehicles
How current this is
- Complaint file published October 2, 2026.
- Most recent recall campaign filed October 1, 2026.
- Investigation file published 2026-10-02.
Compiled and maintained by guarledes
Independent developer and analyst