⚠ Checking for Open Recalls

Every vehicle in AutoDrive that has a VIN on file can be checked for open safety recalls issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — the same authoritative source used by manufacturers and dealers. This is a free feature for every account: it is not part of the AutoCare add-on, because we believe safety information should be available to everyone.

Where to find recalls

Open recalls show up in two places:

• The Service tab on each individual vehicle — a "Recalls" card lists every open campaign with its summary, consequence, and recommended remedy.
• AutoCare › Vehicle Recalls in the sidebar — a single roll-up across every vehicle in your group, useful when you manage more than one car.

If a vehicle does not have a VIN on file yet, AutoDrive prompts you to add one. Recall lookups need the VIN to know exactly which vehicle (year, make, model) is being queried.

What each recall record contains

For each open campaign you will see:

• Campaign number — the official NHTSA identifier (e.g. 19V182000), linked to the full campaign page on NHTSA.
• Manufacturer — the maker that issued the recall.
• Component — the part of the vehicle that is affected (e.g. "AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE").
• Summary — a description of the defect and which vehicles are involved.
• Consequence — the safety hazard the defect creates.
• Remedy — the fix the manufacturer is offering, which is normally free of charge at any authorized dealer regardless of how old the vehicle is.
• Report date — when the campaign was filed.
• Park-it / Park-outside flags — when present, these mean the vehicle should be parked immediately or kept outside until repaired, because the defect poses an active fire or injury risk.

How often the data refreshes

NHTSA publishes new campaigns on a daily cadence. AutoDrive refreshes each vehicle's recall data every 24 hours. Tapping into the Recalls card always uses the freshest data we can get; if NHTSA is temporarily unreachable, AutoDrive shows the most recent cached result (up to 30 days old) and flags it as offline so you know the lookup did not complete in real time.

What to do when a recall is found

Contact any authorized dealer for your vehicle's make — repairs for open recalls are free of charge by federal law, regardless of vehicle age or whether you are the original owner. Bring the campaign number with you to speed up the appointment. For urgent park-it campaigns, follow the parking guidance immediately and arrange the repair before driving the vehicle again. On the web, each open recall has a Find a dealer shortcut and a link to view the full campaign on NHTSA.

Tracking repairs you've had done

NHTSA tells us which campaigns are open for your VIN, but it has no way of knowing whether you have had the work done. Once a recall is fixed, choose Mark as repaired — on the web under AutoCare › Vehicle Recalls, or in the iOS and Android apps under AutoCare › Recalls — and optionally record the date, dealer, and work-order number. The campaign moves into a separate Repaired list on that vehicle and stops counting toward its open-recall total, so the count reflects only what still needs attention. Use Reopen if it ever comes back. Your open/repaired status stays in sync across web and mobile, because it is stored on your account rather than on any one device.

Why we pull from NHTSA directly

NHTSA is the federal agency that manages every US safety recall. By querying their public data feed in real time, AutoDrive surfaces the same recall information your dealer would see — without any subscription, third-party data vendor, or paywall. The same applies to AutoDrive Personal, Family, Fleet, and Free plans alike.