Recall vs. TSB vs. service campaign

A safety recall starts when a manufacturer, or NHTSA, determines that a vehicle has a defect that creates an unreasonable risk to safety or does not meet a federal motor vehicle safety standard. The manufacturer files a defect report with NHTSA, mails owners within 60 days, and must remedy the vehicle without charge: repair, replacement or refund. Only vehicles first sold more than 15 calendar years before the notice fall outside that duty.

Safety recalls are the only type with a public, VIN-level federal lookup. NHTSA’s VIN search shows safety recalls left unrepaired on that vehicle from the past 15 calendar years, using data supplied by the manufacturer. The full rules are in are recalls free, and do they expire? If you paid for the fix before the recall was announced, you may be owed a refund: recall reimbursement.

Every safety recall campaign NHTSA has for a model year is listed on our recall pages by make, and the latest recalls page lists every campaign filed in the last 60 days, refreshed daily from NHTSA’s recall file.

A TSB is a document a manufacturer sends to its dealers describing a known problem and the approved fix: a new part number, a revised procedure, a software update. It is a repair manual update, not a promise to pay.

Whether a TSB repair is free depends on the car: inside the factory warranty it generally is, because the repair is a warranty repair. Outside warranty you usually pay, unless the manufacturer agrees to cover it as goodwill, which is worth asking for when the TSB describes your exact symptom. Bring the TSB number to the service desk.

Federal rules require manufacturers to send NHTSA copies of communications about defects they give to dealers and owners, and NHTSA publishes them. On nhtsa.gov/recalls, search by year, make and model and open the manufacturer communications results.

Customer satisfaction programs (also called service campaigns, special service programs or product updates) are voluntary. The manufacturer fixes a non-safety issue at no charge, usually within a time and mileage limit. Ford, for example, describes its programs as upgrades or warranty extensions with time and mileage limits, and Mazda lists its Special Service Programs alongside recalls in its own lookup.

Warranty extensions lengthen coverage for one component that is failing more than expected, for example a transmission or a battery, to a stated number of years or miles. If you paid for that repair before the extension, many manufacturers reimburse you; the letter says how.

Emissions recalls cover vehicles that do not meet EPA emission rules. The manufacturer remedies them at its expense, but they are run under the Clean Air Act rather than NHTSA’s safety law, so they do not show up in NHTSA’s safety recall search.

All three can end, and none appear in NHTSA’s VIN search. The manufacturer’s own lookup is the place to find them. Each brand page under build sheet by brand links the official recall lookup and notes what it covers.

1. Safety recalls for the model year: enter the VIN above, or browse recalls by make.
2. Open safety recalls on your VIN: nhtsa.gov/recalls.
3. Programs, extensions and emissions recalls: the manufacturer’s VIN lookup.
4. TSBs: NHTSA manufacturer communications for your year, make and model, or ask the dealer to print them for your VIN.
5. Patterns: owner complaints by component on each model-year page here. A component with many complaints and a TSB but no recall is worth reporting to NHTSA if it affects safety.

Found an open recall? Here is what to do next.