Vehicle & Product Recall Lookup
Check whether your car has open safety recalls using official NHTSA data, and browse the latest consumer product recalls from the CPSC. Recall repairs on vehicles are always free at franchised dealers.
How Safety Recalls Work
A recall happens when a manufacturer or a federal agency determines that a product creates an unreasonable safety risk or fails to meet minimum safety standards. Vehicle recalls are overseen by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA); most other consumer products fall under the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Both agencies publish every recall publicly — the data on this page comes live from their official databases.
Vehicle Recalls: What Owners Should Know
Roughly one in five vehicles on U.S. roads has an open, unrepaired recall. Manufacturers must fix recalled defects free of charge at franchised dealerships — there is never a fee for recall repair, regardless of the vehicle's age or how many owners it's had. A year/make/model search like the one above shows every campaign affecting that model; for certainty about your specific car (some recalls only cover certain production runs), run your 17-character VIN through NHTSA's official VIN tool. If you're buying a used car, checking recalls before purchase takes two minutes and can reveal unrepaired safety defects the seller may not even know about.
Product Recalls: Why They're Easy to Miss
Unlike vehicles, most consumer products aren't registered to an owner — so when a crib, space heater, or battery pack is recalled, the manufacturer usually has no way to contact buyers directly. Recalls of children's products deserve particular attention: nursery products, toys, and furniture account for a large share of CPSC actions, often for tip-over, choking, or entrapment hazards. Checking the feed above periodically — or before buying secondhand items — is one of the simplest safety habits a household can build. Remedies typically include free repair kits, replacement, or full refunds.
Part of a Complete Safety Picture
Recalls cover the products in your life; our other tools cover the place you live. Check an area's safety profile, weather, earthquake history, and flood risk — and see exactly where all our data comes from on our Data & Methodology page.