How to read a NHTSA vehicle recall

Information as of 16 October 2026. Everything below comes from the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, NHTSA's defect-reporting regulation and its recalls site, linked below. If anything here is wrong, tell us at contact@oqro.io and we will correct it.

When must a manufacturer report a defect?

49 U.S.C. 30118 requires a manufacturer that decides in good faith that a vehicle or item of equipment contains a defect related to motor vehicle safety, or does not comply with an applicable federal motor vehicle safety standard, to notify the Secretary of Transportation, the owners, purchasers and dealers. The Secretary can also order a notification after an investigation and a decision that a defect or noncompliance exists, after giving the manufacturer an opportunity to present information.

49 CFR Part 573 sets the mechanics. The manufacturer's report to NHTSA, the Part 573 defect and noncompliance information report, is due not more than five working days after the manufacturer determines that a safety defect or noncompliance exists. It identifies the vehicles by make, model and model year, states the number of vehicles potentially involved and the percentage estimated to actually contain the defect, describes the defect and the chronology of events leading to the determination, and describes the remedy and the schedule for it. Quarterly reports then track how many vehicles have been remedied.

What does the owner get?

49 U.S.C. 30120 requires the manufacturer to remedy the defect or noncompliance without charge, by repairing the vehicle, replacing it with an identical or reasonably equivalent vehicle, or refunding the purchase price less a reasonable allowance for depreciation. The duty does not apply when the vehicle was bought by its first purchaser more than 15 years before the notification. Owner notification letters are sent within 60 days of the manufacturer's report to NHTSA, and the manufacturer may send an interim letter when a remedy is not yet available, followed by a second letter when it is.

What do the campaign number and the fields mean?

NHTSA publishes each recall on its recalls site under a campaign number in the form of a two-digit year, a letter and three digits, for example 25V123 for a vehicle recall; equipment recalls (tyres, child seats, components) carry other letters. The record carries the manufacturer, the report date, the component as NHTSA classifies it (for example air bags, electrical system, fuel system), the makes and models and years affected, the number of units potentially affected, and the summary of the defect, the consequence and the remedy in the manufacturer's words. NHTSA also flags recalls with a Do Not Drive or Park Outside advisory, which the manufacturer issues when the risk warrants it. A vehicle identification number lookup on the same site says whether a given vehicle has an open recall, and a recall stays open for that vehicle until the remedy is performed.

How does OQRO show recalls?

The vehicle recalls page lists campaigns reported by listed manufacturers, newest first, with the component, the number of units and the vehicles affected, a chart of campaigns per month and a link to the NHTSA record. Each company page carries its own recalls, beside the other public records OQRO keeps. Campaigns are matched by the manufacturer's name as NHTSA records it, so a brand that files under a parent's name appears under the parent.

What this does not tell you

The number of units is the manufacturer's estimate of the population potentially affected, not the number that have the defect and not the number that have been repaired. A recall does not say what the remedy costs the manufacturer, whether a supplier is responsible, or whether the recall followed a NHTSA investigation or the manufacturer's own finding, except as the chronology in the Part 573 report describes. OQRO shows the record as published; it does not interpret it, and nothing here is investment advice.