The data on US Vehicle Safety Data is published for general information and research. It is a republication of public records, not a safety certification, an inspection, or advice about any individual vehicle.
What the Data Is
Complaint counts are owner filings recorded by NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation. A filed complaint is an owner's report; NHTSA does not investigate every filing, and a complaint — including complaints reporting crashes, fires, injuries or deaths — is not a finding that a defect caused the event. Recall records are manufacturers' formal campaigns as recorded by NHTSA; whether a specific vehicle is covered depends on its VIN, build date and production run, which only the official VIN lookup or a dealer can confirm. Safety ratings apply to the tested variant named on the page and may differ for other variants of the same model-year. Fuel-economy figures are EPA laboratory ratings; real-world economy varies with condition, load, weather and driving style.
Currency
Figures are a snapshot of the NHTSA and EPA datasets as accessed in October 2026. Both agencies update their records continuously: new complaints and recalls filed after that date will not appear here until the dataset is refreshed, and older records are occasionally corrected. Before acting on any figure — especially before buying a used vehicle — check the live record at nhtsa.gov and fueleconomy.gov.
Complaints Are Allegations, Ratings Have Eras
Two properties of the source data deserve emphasis. First, a NHTSA complaint is an allegation by an owner, recorded as filed; the database includes filings that investigations later did not substantiate, and excludes resolved problems owners never reported. Treat counts as signals about where to look, not verdicts. Second, NHTSA made its rating program more demanding from model-year 2011 and has added tests since, so star ratings are comparable within an era, not across the full history of the program. EPA ratings likewise were revised for older vehicles when test procedures changed; we publish the current official figures, not the numbers printed on a period window sticker.
Not Professional Advice
Nothing here is mechanical, legal, medical or financial advice. Whether a vehicle is safe to drive after a failure, what a repair should cost, or what a vehicle is worth are questions for a qualified mechanic, the manufacturer, or the agencies — not for a data table. If a dashboard warning, a recall notice or a symptom suggests an immediate hazard, act on it first and research afterwards.
Decisions
Do not rely on this site alone for decisions about buying, selling, repairing or driving a vehicle. Have used vehicles inspected by a qualified mechanic, confirm open recalls by VIN, and complete recall repairs promptly — they are free at franchised dealers. If you believe your vehicle has a safety defect, file a complaint with NHTSA; owner filings are what drive investigations and recalls.
This disclaimer was last updated in October 2026 and applies to every page of the site.