The record is public. Here is how to read it.
Guides
What the record is telling you
11 plain-English guides to the federal vehicle record — recalls, service bulletins, investigations, complaints, crash ratings, fuel labels, VINs and trouble codes. Each one explains what a record is, what you can do with it, and what the record shows right now, with figures recomputed from the same files every page on this site is built from.
Recalls & bulletins · 8 min read Recall, service bulletin or investigation? What each one means for your car Three federal records that sound alike and work very differently: who files each one, what it obliges anyone to do, and which one gets your car repaired for free. 391 recall campaigns filed in the last 12 months Read the guide →
Start here
Most confusion about a car’s record comes from three different documents that sound alike. This guide sorts them out; the rest go deep on one each.
Every guide is free, has no sign-up, and links the primary source for every rule it states.
Recalls, bulletins and investigations
8 min read Technical service bulletins (TSBs): how to find one and use it at the dealer A service bulletin is a manufacturer's repair instruction to its dealers, filed with NHTSA and public by law. How to find the one that matches your car's symptom, how to read it, and what it can and cannot do at the service desk. 32,500 manufacturer communications on file Read the guide →8 min read How NHTSA defect investigations work: from complaint to recall Most recalls start with the manufacturer. Some start with NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation asking questions. How an investigation opens, what each stage does, how it ends, and how an owner's complaint feeds it. 77 investigations open Read the guide →9 min read NHTSA owner complaints: what they tell you, what they don't, and how to file one Every complaint in NHTSA's database is an owner's own account of a problem. What the counts can and cannot tell you, how NHTSA uses them, and how to file one its screeners can use. 319,236 owner complaints on file for the vehicles on this site Read the guide →
Buying, owning and paying
9 min read How to check a used car for open recalls before you buy Federal law keeps a dealer from delivering a new car with an unrepaired safety recall. It does not do the same for used cars, so the check is yours: how to run it by VIN, what each result means, and how to get the free repair. 391 recall campaigns filed in the last 12 months Read the guide →7 min read Warranty extensions and special coverage: repairs a manufacturer may already owe you When a part develops a known problem, a manufacturer may extend the warranty on it, sometimes by years. How these programs work, how they differ from a recall or a service contract, and how to find one that covers your car. 357 warranty extensions and coverage programs on file Read the guide →9 min read Car loan vs. lease: the math behind the monthly payment A loan payment and a lease payment are built from different pieces. The formula behind each, a worked example of both, what the federal disclosures must show you, and the arithmetic of which costs less. 7.47% Federal Reserve average APR: 48-month new-car loan, commercial banks Read the guide →
Reading the numbers
8 min read NHTSA 5-star crash ratings: what the stars measure and how to compare them What NHTSA's frontal, side and rollover tests actually do, how the overall score is built, why frontal stars only compare within 250 pounds, and what the driver-assistance checkmarks mean. 77% of NHTSA-rated model years on this site are 5 stars overall Read the guide →8 min read Reading the EPA fuel economy label: MPG, MPGe, range and the cost figures What each number on the EPA fuel economy label means for gas, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles, what it assumes, and how to turn it into your own fuel cost. 22 MPG median combined MPG, 2027 gas-only configurations on this site Read the guide →10 min read How to read a VIN: what each of the 17 characters means The federal rule behind the vehicle identification number: where to find it, what each of the 17 positions records, how the check digit catches a miscopied character, and what a VIN cannot tell you. 17 characters in every VIN since the 1981 model year Read the guide →10 min read Check engine light codes: what an OBD-II code tells you, and what it doesn't Since 1996, cars and light trucks have carried a federally required self-test system. How to read the code it stores, why that code names a failed test rather than a broken part, and why clearing it fixes nothing. 1,142 trouble codes with a page of their own on this site Read the guide →
Look up your own car
The guides explain the record. The record itself is one search away.