How Vehicle Safety Recalls Work: From Defect Report to Dealer Repair

A vehicle safety recall is a formal action taken when a vehicle or piece of equipment has a defect that creates an unreasonable risk to safety, or when it fails to meet a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS). In the United States the process is overseen by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), part of the Department of Transportation. This guide explains the steps from the first sign of a problem to the repair at your dealer.

Who starts a recall?

Most recalls are started by the manufacturer. Automakers monitor warranty claims, field reports and internal testing, and when they decide a safety defect or noncompliance exists they are required to act. A recall can also begin with NHTSA: its Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) reviews consumer complaints and other data, and if it concludes a defect is safety-related it can request that the manufacturer recall the vehicles. If a manufacturer disagrees, NHTSA can pursue an order through the courts, though most cases end with the manufacturer agreeing to a recall.

How NHTSA investigations escalate

• Complaints: owners report problems to NHTSA, and analysts look for patterns across the same make, model and year.
• Preliminary Evaluation: if a pattern appears, ODI opens a first-stage investigation to assess scope and severity.
• Engineering Analysis: if the issue looks serious, the investigation deepens, often with testing and detailed manufacturer data.
• Recall request: if ODI concludes a safety defect exists, it asks the manufacturer to recall the affected vehicles.

Not every complaint leads to an investigation, and not every investigation leads to a recall. Many recalls never go through this path at all, because the manufacturer finds the problem first.

The manufacturer’s filing (Part 573 report)

Once a manufacturer determines that a safety defect or noncompliance exists, federal regulations require it to notify NHTSA within five business days. The filing is called a Part 573 Defect and Noncompliance Information Report, named after the section of the regulations that governs it. It describes the defect, identifies the affected vehicles and production dates, explains the safety risk, and outlines the planned remedy and notification schedule. NHTSA publishes this information, and it is the source of the descriptions, risk statements and remedy text shown on CheckCarFault.

When are owners notified?

Manufacturers must mail notification letters to registered owners, generally within 60 days of filing the report. The letter explains the defect, the risk, the remedy, and how to arrange a free repair. If the repair parts or procedure are not ready yet, the manufacturer sends an interim letter first and a second letter when the remedy becomes available. You will often see this in recall text, for example: “Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk are expected to be mailed on a given date. Additional letters will be sent when the remedy is available.”

What remedies are available?

Federal law requires the manufacturer to remedy the problem at no charge to the owner. The remedy is normally a repair, such as replacing a part or updating software. In some cases it can be a replacement vehicle or a refund. Which one applies is described in the recall notice.

How to read a campaign number

NHTSA identifies each recall with a campaign number such as 26V605000. It breaks down like this:

• 26: the last two digits of the year the recall was opened (2026).
• V: the recall type. V is for motor vehicles. Other letters are used for equipment (E), tires (T) and child seats (C).
• 605: the sequence number for that year. Higher numbers were opened later in the year.
• 000: a trailing code used by NHTSA’s numbering system.

The manufacturer also assigns its own recall number, for example a code like 26C42 for a Ford recall. Dealers often look up recalls by the manufacturer number, so it is worth noting both.

Reading the information on a recall page

• Defect description: what is wrong, and which vehicles are included (model years, trims, build ranges).
• Safety risk: what could happen if the defect is not fixed, such as a loss of steering or an increased risk of a crash.
• Remedy: what the dealer will do, and whether the remedy is ready yet.
• Vehicles affected: the manufacturer’s own count of potentially affected units. Counts can be very small for new model years, because only vehicles built before the problem was caught are included.

A recall page for a model year does not mean every vehicle of that model year is affected. Recalls often cover only certain trims, build dates or equipment. To find out whether a specific vehicle is included, check its VIN on NHTSA’s recall lookup or ask a dealer.