Research · NHTSA safety recalls
Car Recalls by Brand: 32 Makes Compared
By the YearToAvoid Editorial Team · Published · NHTSA data through
We matched 4,778 NHTSA safety recall campaigns to the 2005–2025 model years of 32 car brands and counted them two ways: how many campaigns each brand has in total, and how many recalls the average model year of that brand is covered by.
Key findings
- The average Tesla model year is covered by 12.2 recall campaigns, the most of the 32 brands (3.8 when recalls fixed by an over-the-air software update are left out). Lexus is lowest at 1.3.
- Ford has the most campaigns in total: 853 across 49 models, ahead of Chevrolet (436).
- 149 campaigns carry NHTSA’s “Do Not Drive” or “Park Outside” warning. Ford models appear in 24 of them, more than any other brand.
- The largest single recall in the data is campaign 15V320000 (Acura and Honda, 2015): 6,281,043 vehicles, for airbags.
- 98 campaigns were remedied with an over-the-air update; 32 of them involve Tesla.
Read this before quoting it. A recall count is not a quality score. Recalls are issued when a manufacturer or NHTSA decides a defect is a safety risk; a brand with many recalls may simply have more models, sell more vehicles, share more parts across its lineup, or act on problems sooner. The per-model-year average removes the effect of lineup size but not of sales volume, which NHTSA does not publish.
Recalls by brand
Ranked by average recall campaigns per model year, model years 2005–2025. Brands that share a campaign are each counted for it.
| # | Brand | Avg. recalls per model year | Excl. over-the-air | Total campaigns | Rank by total | Do Not Drive / Park Outside | Models | Model years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tesla | 12.2 | 3.8 | 85 | 25 | 0 | 5 | 43 |
| 2 | Ram | 8.5 | 8.4 | 180 | 13 | 4 | 6 | 79 |
| 3 | Mercedes-Benz | 6.3 | 5.5 | 393 | 3 | 8 | 31 | 258 |
| 4 | Ford | 6.0 | 5.8 | 853 | 1 | 24 | 49 | 532 |
| 5 | Honda | 5.1 | 5.1 | 213 | 11 | 0 | 20 | 244 |
| 6 | Lincoln | 4.8 | 4.8 | 153 | 15 | 5 | 12 | 95 |
| 7 | Subaru | 4.6 | 4.6 | 112 | 19 | 5 | 12 | 154 |
| 8 | Jeep | 4.2 | 4.1 | 249 | 7 | 7 | 26 | 169 |
| 9 | Toyota | 4.1 | 4.1 | 289 | 4 | 2 | 35 | 413 |
| 10 | Dodge | 3.8 | 3.8 | 258 | 6 | 8 | 29 | 207 |
| 11 | GMC | 3.7 | 3.7 | 236 | 9 | 5 | 15 | 203 |
| 12 | Acura | 3.7 | 3.7 | 87 | 23 | 0 | 11 | 109 |
| 13 | Volkswagen | 3.5 | 3.5 | 212 | 12 | 7 | 22 | 216 |
| 14 | BMW | 3.2 | 3.1 | 263 | 5 | 12 | 51 | 485 |
| 15 | Volvo | 3.1 | 2.8 | 90 | 22 | 1 | 11 | 134 |
| 16 | Pontiac | 3.0 | 3.0 | 51 | 28 | 0 | 11 | 42 |
| 17 | Chevrolet | 3.0 | 2.9 | 436 | 2 | 11 | 46 | 455 |
| 18 | Scion | 2.9 | 2.9 | 27 | 32 | 0 | 5 | 38 |
| 19 | Cadillac | 2.7 | 2.6 | 141 | 17 | 3 | 15 | 135 |
| 20 | Mitsubishi | 2.7 | 2.7 | 87 | 24 | 2 | 11 | 111 |
| 21 | Audi | 2.6 | 2.6 | 150 | 16 | 1 | 24 | 315 |
| 22 | Hyundai | 2.6 | 2.5 | 223 | 10 | 19 | 31 | 263 |
| 23 | Saturn | 2.5 | 2.5 | 29 | 31 | 0 | 7 | 28 |
| 24 | Chrysler | 2.5 | 2.4 | 139 | 18 | 10 | 18 | 124 |
| 25 | Buick | 2.3 | 2.3 | 101 | 21 | 0 | 14 | 103 |
| 26 | Kia | 2.3 | 2.3 | 171 | 14 | 16 | 28 | 248 |
| 27 | Nissan | 2.3 | 2.3 | 245 | 8 | 3 | 24 | 312 |
| 28 | Mazda | 2.2 | 2.2 | 112 | 20 | 19 | 17 | 154 |
| 29 | Infiniti | 2.0 | 2.0 | 70 | 27 | 2 | 15 | 104 |
| 30 | Mercury | 1.9 | 1.9 | 33 | 30 | 4 | 9 | 43 |
| 31 | MINI | 1.4 | 1.4 | 36 | 29 | 0 | 9 | 95 |
| 32 | Lexus | 1.3 | 1.3 | 72 | 26 | 0 | 23 | 278 |
Example of how to read a row: the average Tesla model year in our data is listed in 12.2 recall campaigns. Pontiac, Saturn, Mercury and Scion were discontinued, so their figures cover only the model years they were sold.
The 10 largest recalls on record
By the number of vehicles NHTSA lists as potentially affected. That figure covers the whole campaign, including models and years outside this study.
| # | NHTSA campaign | Brands in our data | Announced | Problem area | Vehicles affected |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15V320000 | Acura, Honda | May 28, 2015 | Airbags | 6.3M |
| 2 | 14V400000 | Chevrolet, Pontiac | Jul 3, 2014 | Electrical System | 5.9M |
| 3 | 18V332000 | Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram | May 17, 2018 | Electrical System | 4.8M |
| 4 | 16V352000! | Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Mitsubishi | May 24, 2016 | Airbags | 4.6M |
| 5 | 09V388000 | Lexus, Toyota | Oct 5, 2009 | Engine | 4.4M |
| 6 | 26V104000 | Ford | Feb 20, 2026 | Electrical System | 4.4M |
| 7 | 15V313000! | Chrysler, Dodge, Mitsubishi | May 26, 2015 | Airbags | 4.1M |
| 8 | 16V651000 | Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC | Sep 8, 2016 | Airbags | 3.6M |
| 9 | 15V370000 | Honda | Jun 15, 2015 | Airbags | 3.5M |
| 10 | 19V645000 | Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC | Sep 6, 2019 | Brakes | 3.5M |
! = campaign with a “Do Not Drive” or “Park Outside” advisory.
What gets recalled
Recall campaigns by problem area, out of 4,778. Each campaign is assigned to one area.
- Electrical System733
- Airbags659
- Structure & Body535
- Fuel System361
- Brakes356
- Transmission & Powertrain354
- Suspension, Wheels & Tires310
- Engine248
- Steering242
- Seat Belts229
Method and limits
- Source. NHTSA’s recall database. A campaign is one NHTSA campaign number; it is counted for a brand when it lists at least one 2005–2025 model year of a model we track.
- Scope. 32 makes and the models with at least 50 owner complaints across all years. Recalls that only cover models or model years outside that scope are not included, so totals are lower than a manufacturer’s full recall history.
- Shared campaigns. Sister brands often share one campaign (for example a single campaign covering several brands of the same manufacturer). Each brand is counted for it, so brand totals add up to more than 4,778.
- Average per model year is the number of campaigns listing each model year, averaged over all of the brand’s model years in the data. One campaign that covers ten model years counts once in “total campaigns” and once for each of those ten years in the average.
- Brand pages show a different total. Each brand page adds up its models’ recall counts, so a campaign covering three models of a brand is counted three times there and once here.
- Over-the-air. A campaign is treated as over-the-air when NHTSA’s remedy text says the fix is delivered by an over-the-air update.
To see the recalls for a specific car, open its model-year page from a brand page or run a recall check by VIN. The site-wide method is on the methodology page.
Use this data
You are welcome to quote these figures and reproduce the tables in articles, videos and posts. Please credit YearToAvoid and link to this page so readers can check the numbers and the method.
Suggested citation:
YearToAvoid, “Car Recalls by Brand: 32 Makes Compared,” analysis of NHTSA data through Sep 24, 2026. https://yeartoavoid.com/research/recalls-by-brand/
Download the full table (CSV) · Questions or a custom cut of the data? Contact us.
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