Methodology: where this data comes from

What we collect

RecallGarage pulls two public feeds from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: recall campaigns and complaint records. We don't survey owners, scrape forums, or buy third-party data. If it's not in NHTSA's system, it's not on this site.

For recalls, we collect the campaign number, the manufacturer's name for the issue, the component involved, and the model years the campaign lists. For complaints, we collect only counts by month. We never ingest the narrative text drivers write when they file a complaint. That means our pages can show you that complaint volume rose or fell in a given month, but they can't tell you what any individual driver said. This is a deliberate limit, not an oversight. Counts are structured data we can verify and refresh. Narrative text is unstructured, harder to check, and easy to misquote out of context.

How we match recalls to model years

A recall campaign often names a range of model years, sometimes a range of production dates within a single model year, and sometimes a mix of trims or plants. We match each campaign to every model year it names, and that campaign then shows up on each of those model year pages.

This is where the most important caveat lives: recalls are scoped to VIN ranges, not to entire model years. A campaign might name the 2019 model year but only affect vehicles built in a six-week window at one plant. NHTSA's own database is organized this way for a reason. It lets manufacturers and regulators track exactly which cars need the fix without pulling in cars that were never at risk.

Because of that, nothing on RecallGarage states or implies that your specific car is part of any recall. A page showing a campaign for your model year means that year is named in the campaign, not that every car built that year is affected. To find out if your actual vehicle is included, check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. It's free, it takes a minute, and it's the only way to get a real answer for your car. If a recall does apply to your VIN, the repair is free at any franchised dealer for that brand.

Complaint aggregates

Complaint counts are aggregated by month for each model year. We show trend lines so you can see whether complaints for a given system or model year are climbing, flat, or fading. A spike can mean a real emerging problem, a change in how NHTSA logs a category, or increased awareness after a recall was announced. We don't try to diagnose the cause. We show the pattern and let you read it alongside the recall history for that year.

Retrieval dates and refresh

Every page on RecallGarage carries the date we last pulled data from NHTSA. Recall campaigns get added and complaint counts get updated on NHTSA's own schedule, not ours, so the retrieval date tells you how current the page is at the moment you're reading it. If it's been a while since the date shown, treat the numbers as a snapshot rather than a live feed and check NHTSA directly for anything time-sensitive.

What this data can't tell you

This data can't tell you if your car, specifically, has an open recall. It can't tell you why complaint counts moved in a given month. It can't substitute for a mechanic's inspection or a dealer's VIN lookup. What it can do is give you a clear, sourced record of what NHTSA has published for a given model year, so you can ask better questions when you take your car in.