NHTSA stands for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It is the US government agency responsible for vehicle safety standards. When a safety defect is discovered in a production vehicle — by the manufacturer, owner complaints, or NHTSA testing — a recall is issued.
A recall obligates the manufacturer to fix the defect at no cost to the vehicle owner. Dealers perform recall repairs. The manufacturer pays the cost.
What a recall actually means: A recall is not automatically a reason to reject a vehicle. Recalls range from "replace a floor mat clip" to "stop driving immediately." The severity varies enormously. The key question is whether the recall has been completed.
An open recall — meaning the repair has not been done — is worth addressing but should not necessarily stop a purchase. The repair is free. You schedule an appointment with a dealer. They fix it. You are done.
A completed recall is exactly what you want to see: the defect has been identified and corrected. This is normal.
The concern: some recalls are difficult to complete because parts are unavailable, or the owner never took the vehicle in. High recall counts (8+ open recalls) sometimes indicate a vehicle that was not properly maintained — and if the owner did not complete safety recalls, they may have skipped other maintenance too.
How to check recall status by VIN: Go to nhtsa.gov/recalls and enter the 17-character VIN. The database will show all recalls issued for that specific vehicle and whether each has been completed.
CarScorer applies a -0.5 point penalty for vehicles with more than 8 open recalls, and separately flags safety-critical recalls (crash risk or fire risk) in the score breakdown.