Safest 2026 compact sedans by NHTSA recall record
Highest Safety Signal among 28 compact sedan model-years, ties broken by fewest owner complaints.
| # | Vehicle | Safety | Recalls | Complaints | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2026 BMW 3 Series | A | 0 | 0 | 100 / 100 |
| 2 | 2026 Porsche Taycan | A | 0 | 0 | 100 / 100 |
| 3 | 2026 Aston Martin DB12 S | A* | 0 | 0 | 100 / 100 |
| 4 | 2026 Aston Martin DB12 V8 | A* | 0 | 0 | 100 / 100 |
| 5 | 2026 Audi A3 | A | 0 | 0 | 100 / 100 |
| 6 | 2026 Audi S3 | A | 0 | 0 | 100 / 100 |
| 7 | 2026 BMW M | A* | 0 | 0 | 100 / 100 |
| 8 | 2026 Ferrari Purosangue | A* | 0 | 0 | 100 / 100 |
| 9 | 2026 Ferrari Roma | A* | 0 | 0 | 100 / 100 |
| 10 | 2026 Honda Prelude | A | 0 | 0 | 100 / 100 |
| 11 | 2026 Lexus IS | A | 0 | 0 | 100 / 100 |
| 12 | 2026 MINI John Cooper Works | A* | 0 | 0 | 100 / 100 |
| 13 | 2026 Maserati Grancabrio | A | 0 | 0 | 100 / 100 |
| 14 | 2026 Rolls-Royce Spectre | A* | 0 | 0 | 100 / 100 |
| 15 | 2026 Toyota Mirai | A | 0 | 0 | 100 / 100 |
* Provisional: the grade starts at 100 and subtracts per recall, so a model year nothing has been filed against yet scores full marks on an empty record. It has not been driven long enough to be tested — read a starred row as untested, not as proven.
Safety Signal starts every model-year at 100 and subtracts points per open NHTSA recall campaign by severity: critical 15 (fire risk, park-outside or do-not-drive advisories), high 8 (brakes, steering, airbags, loss of drive power, structure, battery), moderate 6, minor 3 (software, labels, lighting fixed by an update). Floor 35. A ≥ 90, B ≥ 80, C ≥ 70, D ≥ 60, otherwise F. Complaint counts and NHTSA crash ratings are shown separately and are not blended into the grade. Because the scale subtracts from a clean sheet, a model year too new to have been recalled, complained about or bulletined scores full marks on an empty record; we label those grades provisional rather than present them as earned.