CarMerit reliability checker

Don’t Buy Blind
Check Your Next Used Car’s NHTSA Reliability Record

Pick a brand, model, and year to see owner-complaint, recall, investigation, and manufacturer-communication counts from NHTSA, plus CarMerit’s verdict on whether that year is a safe used buy.

Most-reported problem areas

Owner complaints, safety recalls, investigations, and manufacturer communications (TSBs) shown here are sourced from NHTSA’s official public records and verified by CarMerit (snapshot dated Jul 2026), not fetched live. All four figures are raw counts, not defect rates or reliability scores — not adjusted for sales volume, and older model years have had more time to accumulate reports, so lower counts on newer years do not prove better reliability. Where shown, the recall repair-completion percentage comes from the manufacturer’s own NHTSA remedy reports; because a single NHTSA recall campaign often covers several models at once, this percentage reflects the whole campaign, not this model exclusively — treat it as a directional signal, not an exact per-vehicle figure. Where shown, “NHTSA defect investigations” are genuine defect-related ODI investigation types (Preliminary Evaluation, Engineering Analysis, Defect Petition, Equipment Query, Recall Query) – administrative/compliance audits unrelated to a vehicle defect are excluded. Verdicts combine this data with CarMerit’s own research and may not reflect every individual vehicle. Data source: NHTSA.gov. Always verify a specific vehicle’s history before buying.

How to read this tool

Pick a brand, model, and model year above, then read the verdict box — it tells you in plain English whether that year is a safe used buy. Below it are four NHTSA numbers. Here’s what each one actually means:

Owner complaints — raw reports drivers filed directly with NHTSA describing a problem with their car. Nobody verifies these; they’re just what real owners reported. A high number means more people spoke up, not necessarily a worse car — popular models naturally rack up more reports than rare ones.

Safety recalls — official NHTSA-mandated fixes for defects that affect safety. If a car has an open recall, the manufacturer is legally required to repair it for free. Always check recall status by VIN before buying, even if the model year looks clean here.

Investigations — formal inquiries NHTSA opens to check whether a defect exists, before any recall is ordered. Not every investigation leads to a recall; some close with no action. An open investigation is a signal to watch, not proof of a problem.

Manufacturer communications (TSBs) — official bulletins manufacturers send to their own dealers describing known issues and the correct repair procedure. These aren’t safety recalls and aren’t free fixes, but a high count often signals a well-documented, common problem for that model year — worth asking your mechanic about directly.

Why we built this

Most “is this car reliable” advice online is vague, outdated, or trying to sell you something. NHTSA’s own complaint and recall database is free and public, but it’s not easy for a regular buyer to search or interpret. We built this tool to put that same data in front of you in plain English, model by model, year by year — for free, with no signup. If it saves you from one bad used-car purchase, it’s done its job.