Most Recalled Cars in 2025: What the NHTSA Counts Mean

The 2022 Ford Maverick appeared in 12 distinct vehicle recall campaigns received by NHTSA in 2025 in our review of the agency’s public recall file. The 2025 Ford Bronco appeared in 11. Those are counts of campaigns attached to a model year. They do not tell you that every example of either vehicle has an open recall, that one model is less reliable than another, or how many owners have already received a remedy.

Nationally, NHTSA’s 2025 annual recall report records 891 vehicle recall campaigns and a reported affected population of 29,262,623. That population adds the vehicles covered by each campaign; it should not be read as 29.26 million unique cars, since a vehicle can be included in more than one campaign. Both figures are national, not Seattle estimates.

Model years that appeared repeatedly in 2025 campaigns

We counted distinct NHTSA campaign numbers for each exact make, model, and model-year label in vehicle recall records received during 2025. These familiar passenger vehicles and pickups were among the highest counts in the file. The count is new campaigns received in 2025, not every recall ever associated with that model year.

Source: our count of NHTSA’s post-2010 flat recall file, accessed October 8, 2026, using the agency’s field dictionary. We filtered the report-received date to 2025 and recall type to vehicles, then removed duplicate campaign numbers within each make/model/model-year group. The displayed review covered model years 2015–2026. NHTSA updates the underlying file, so a later download may differ. This table does not use vehicle sales or registrations as a denominator, and it does not rank defect rates.

Why a recall count cannot answer which car is safest

One campaign can cover several model years and many vehicles. A second campaign may cover some of the same cars. The raw file’s potential-affected-population field is repeated on multiple model-year rows, so adding those rows would overcount. A campaign count also says nothing by itself about the severity of the issue, whether a particular VIN is included, or whether the repair is complete.

The annual report shows why the definitions matter. Of its 891 vehicle campaigns in 2025, 649 were classified as defect recalls and 242 as compliance recalls. That is a different question from how often a model breaks down in ordinary use. A large model-year count is a reason to check the car’s history carefully, not a verdict on an individual vehicle. NHTSA’s report provides the national classification figures.

Check the car in front of you before buying

Ask the seller for the 17-character VIN and enter it in the official NHTSA recall lookup. NHTSA says a VIN or license-plate search tells you whether that specific vehicle needs a recall repair; a year/make/model search gives general information about campaigns. Compare the VIN on the car with its registration and the seller’s documents, and save the lookup result with your purchase notes.

If the lookup finds an open recall, read the campaign’s safety instructions and ask the manufacturer’s dealer whether the remedy is available and completed. NHTSA says owners should contact a local dealership for the free manufacturer remedy. If a result says zero unrepaired recalls, remember that NHTSA says its VIN search may omit very recent campaigns before all VINs are identified, recalls already repaired, and most recalls older than 15 years. Recheck before the sale if time passes or new information appears. NHTSA explains these lookup limits.

A recall lookup covers manufacturer safety campaigns; it cannot tell you whether this used car has worn brakes, a weak battery, a fluid leak, or neglected maintenance. A pre-purchase inspection in Seattle helps you assess the car’s observable condition and identify questions for the seller. It complements the VIN check. It does not replace a manufacturer recall remedy or guarantee the car will have no future problems.

If a recall and a current symptom overlap

Treat the campaign’s instructions and the car’s present behavior as separate pieces of evidence. If braking has changed, do not assume a recall entry explains it or that a recalled part is the only concern. Mobile brake repair can assess the condition and urgency of the brake system, while the manufacturer handles its recall remedy. If the check engine light is on, diagnostics can identify the current fault rather than treating a recall list as a parts list. Our guide to driving with a check engine light explains when other symptoms make a trip more urgent.

Remedies are not always available immediately. Across the 2021–2025 vehicle recall cohort in NHTSA’s 2025 report, 697 recalls had a final remedy in less than two months, 3,587 in two to six months, 211 in six to twelve months, and 41 took more than a year. These are campaign counts for that multi-year cohort, not wait times for a particular car. Follow any interim “do not drive” or “park outside” instruction attached to your VIN, and get the manufacturer or dealer’s current remedy status before deciding what to do.

How we checked the numbers

We used the NHTSA recall data and its published field definitions. For the table, we included records whose Part 573 report-received date was in 2025 and whose recall type was “V” for vehicle. We grouped exact make, model, and model-year labels and counted unique campaign numbers, rather than summing repeated rows. The complete 2025 vehicle file had 891 distinct campaigns, matching the annual report; 885 had at least one row in the 2015–2026 model-year window used for the displayed review. Commercial vehicles and RVs were not included in the illustrative table of familiar passenger vehicles and pickups.

This is a snapshot of US recall filings, not a local failure study. It lacks a denominator for how many of each model-year were sold or registered, and NHTSA’s model names may not match every marketing trim name. Before acting on a statistic about a model, check the specific VIN and the actual condition of the car you plan to drive.