The recall letter goes to the address on the registration. Is that still you?
Recall alerts for your car
Thousands of recall campaigns are filed with NHTSA every year, and the manufacturer tells owners by post, at the address on the registration. If you bought the car used, moved, or simply want to know the day a campaign is posted rather than the month, this closes that gap.
Pick the vehicle
Choose the model year, then use the box on its page — the sign-up sits at the foot of its recall section.
The letter in the mail is the last step
49 CFR 573 and 577- The manufacturer decides there is a safety defect. It has five working days to report it to NHTSA.
- NHTSA posts the recall. Usually within days of the report, on NHTSA’s public file.
- WhichTrim emails you. The day it is posted, with what to do next: check your VIN, book the free repair.
- Dealers are told. Parts and repair instructions follow; for some recalls the fix comes weeks later.
- The manufacturer’s letter reaches owners. It has up to 60 days after filing, and it goes to the address on the registration — not to you if you bought used or moved.
An alert is the only way to hear at step three instead of step five. Free, one email per recall, nothing else.
How it works
Free, no accountEnter your email on your vehicle's page.
Click the confirmation link we send, which proves the address is yours. Nothing is switched on until you do.
Hear from us only when NHTSA files a new campaign against that model year.
Bulletin alerts, for the people who fix them
Free, separate listEvery service bulletin page has its own sign-up: a weekly email of what the manufacturer filed with NHTSA for that model — service bulletins, campaigns, warranty extensions, over-the-air notices — sent only in a week when something new was filed. Same rules as recall alerts: confirm by email first, one-click unsubscribe, nothing else sent.
What this is, and what it is not
Source: EPA, NHTSA and manufacturer press kitsWhat will you actually send me?
One email per new NHTSA recall campaign against the exact model year you chose. If NHTSA files nothing, you hear nothing — most vehicles go months or years between campaigns. There is no newsletter and no digest, and a recall-alert address is never sent anything else.
What are bulletin alerts?
A separate list you join separately, from a service bulletin's page: once a week, and only in a week when something new was filed, the service bulletins, campaigns, warranty extensions and over-the-air notices a manufacturer filed with NHTSA for the model you picked, every model year. Signing up for one never signs you up for the other.
Do I need an account?
No. An email address and the vehicle, and a click on the confirmation link to prove the address is yours. We do not ask for your name, your VIN or anything else, and the alert list is kept separate from the API accounts.
How do I stop them?
Every message has a one-click unsubscribe — both the link in the footer and the button your mail app shows at the top. It takes effect immediately, with no confirmation step and no page asking you to reconsider.
Does a recall mean my car specifically?
Not necessarily. A campaign covers a build range, not every car of that model year, which is why the alert links to the full filing and tells you to confirm your own VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. The repair is free either way.
How fast is it?
The dataset is rebuilt from NHTSA's files every night and alerts go out shortly after, so expect to hear within a day of a campaign being posted. That is weeks ahead of the manufacturer's own letter, which it has up to 60 days after filing to mail (49 CFR 577.7) — and which goes to the address on the registration, not necessarily to you.
What do you do with my address?
Store it to send those alerts, and nothing else. It is not sold, not shared, not used for marketing, and not joined to anything else we hold. Unsubscribe and the record is deleted outright rather than flagged. If you never confirm, it is deleted after seven days.