Frequently asked questions
Where do the complaints and recalls come from?
Straight from NHTSA, the U.S. federal auto-safety agency: owner complaints filed since 1995 and safety recall campaigns announced since 2010. We refresh the data monthly. AutoDefect IQ is independent and not affiliated with NHTSA.
How do I check if my specific car has an open recall?
Our pages cover a make, model and year as a whole. To check whether your exact vehicle still needs a recall repair, run your 17-character VIN through NHTSA’s free VIN lookup at nhtsa.gov/recalls — it knows which campaigns were already completed on your car.
Is the recall repair really free?
Yes. By federal law, safety recall repairs are performed free of charge at the brand’s franchised dealers, generally for vehicles up to 15 years old from the date of sale. Call a dealer with your VIN to schedule it.
What do the “DO NOT DRIVE” and “PARK OUTSIDE” warnings mean?
NHTSA attaches these flags to its most serious recalls: “Do Not Drive” means stop driving the vehicle until it is repaired, and “Park Outside” means a fire risk exists even while parked, so keep it away from buildings. If you see one of these on your model, check your VIN immediately.
Are the owner complaints verified?
No. Complaints are statements consumers filed with NHTSA — they are not verified findings, and one vocal model year can look worse than it is. Use the totals to compare patterns (and crash, fire, injury counts) rather than as proof of a defect.
Why does a car show complaints but no written reports?
We display the ten most recent complaint narratives as excerpts. Older or shorter filings, and complaints without a written description, count in the totals but are not excerpted.
Why can’t I find a certain model year?
We list model years with at least 3 complaints or at least one recall on record. Very new, very rare or trouble-free model years may not have a page yet — that is usually good news.
Recalls from before 2010 are missing.
Correct — our recall archive currently starts with campaigns announced in 2010. For older campaigns, search the vehicle on nhtsa.gov. Complaint records and service bulletins go back to 1995.
What is a technical service bulletin (TSB), and is the repair free?
A TSB is a repair instruction a manufacturer sends its dealers for a known issue — a pattern the factory has acknowledged, short of a safety recall. Unlike recalls, TSB repairs are not automatically free, though naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill or warranty coverage. We show recent bulletins per model year; full documents are free on nhtsa.gov.
How is the reliability score calculated?
It compares a model year only against other years of the same model: complaint volume versus the model’s own median year, plus deductions for recalls, “Do Not Drive” or “Park Outside” flags, reported deaths, and elevated fire rates. Model years without enough history show no score. The full formula is on the about page.
More on the dataset and its limits: about the data.