Defect investigations, by action number

Complaints come first. When enough of them, or a crash, or a petition, point at one condition, NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opens a Preliminary Evaluation (PE) and asks the manufacturer for its data; if the answers warrant it, the PE is upgraded to an Engineering Analysis (EA) with testing. A Recall Query (RQ) looks at a recall that already exists — whether the fix works and reached everyone. A Defect Petition (DP) is a member of the public asking the agency to open one; it is granted or denied in writing. An Audit Query (AQ) examines the manufacturer’s own reporting rather than a vehicle.

None of these is a finding. An investigation closes with a recall recommendation, with the manufacturer recalling on its own, or with no defect trend found — and a closed file can reopen. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a PE or RQ and eighteen for an EA; the pages say how long each has actually run.

What is here: every action opened since 2010, or naming a model year that late, from NHTSA’s investigation file; the file’s 4,369 older actions, back to 1972, stay at nhtsa.gov. Recalls that came out of an investigation link back to it, and vehicle pages list the actions opened on that model year.