WASHINGTON — More than 29 million vehicles were recalled in the United States in 2025, and millions are still on the road without the free repairs that fix them, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says.
The agency is asking drivers to check whether their vehicles, car seats and tires have open recalls. It issued 997 safety recalls for vehicles and equipment last year, according to NHTSA. Besides the vehicles, those recalls covered more than 1.1 million pieces of equipment, including nearly 745,000 car seats and more than 145,000 tires.
Many never get fixed
A recall only works if the owner gets the repair. About half of the vehicles recalled in 2025, 50.3%, had been repaired by February 2026, according to the annual State of Recalls report by Recall Masters, as reported by Digital Dealer. Over the past decade, completion rates have typically stalled between 75% and 87%, the report found.
Software and electronics problems made up the largest category of 2025 recalls, with 119 campaigns covering about 8.2 million vehicles, the report said.
How to check
- Search NHTSA’s recall lookup tool with your 17-character vehicle identification number or your license plate.
- Download NHTSA’s SaferCar app, which can check vehicles automatically.
- Sign up for email alerts about future recalls on the NHTSA site.
- For car seats, tires and other equipment, contact the maker or the store where you bought it.
Recall repairs are free at the manufacturer’s dealerships, NHTSA said. It urged owners to follow any warnings from the automaker, including instructions not to drive a vehicle or to park it outside until it is fixed.
A lookup by VIN shows open recalls for a specific vehicle, which is useful for anyone who bought a car secondhand.
