How We Source, Update & Grade UK Recall Data

Our car recall data comes from DVSA's published recall file under the Open Government Licence. We check it every day, add plain-English explanations, classify each recall by the system affected and grade its urgency using fixed rules. We never change DVSA's facts, and we publish every correction.

Fetch
Download DVSA’s recall file every day.
Check
Compare it with yesterday’s file and flag new or changed recalls.
Validate
Test counts, dates and references before anything is published.
Build
Rebuild every page from the checked data.
Publish
Put the new pages live and record the data date.

Where The Data Comes From

We combine DVSA's recall list with official statistics from DfT, DVSA and GOV.UK, and cite every other source on the page where it is used.

Source	What we use it for
DVSA vehicle recall file	Every recall page, list, chart and the code lookup
DVSA MOT history service	The open-recall result in our registration check, where available
DfT vehicle licensing statistics (VEH0120, VEH0124)	Recalls per 100,000 cars, and how many of each model are still on the road
DVSA Code of Practice on vehicle safety defects and recalls	How recalls work, timescales and closure¹
GOV.UK guidance	Owners' rights and duties, costs, reporting defects
DVSA safety defect statistics	Investigation outcomes, published up to 2017²
DVSA annual reports	Official commentary on recall trends³
Written answers to Parliament	Official statements on DVSA's role and recall volumes⁴
Office for Product Safety and Standards notices	Child car seat and product recalls
Manufacturers' own UK websites	Helpline numbers and contact details only
Courts, Which?, trade bodies and press	Named events and studies, always labelled with their source

Every fact on the site carries an ID in our fact register, with its source and the date we checked it.

How Often It’s Updated

We check DVSA's recall file every day and rebuild the site only when the file changes. Other sources are refreshed monthly, quarterly or yearly.

Source	How often we check
DVSA recall file	Daily
GOV.UK guidance and the Code of Practice	Weekly, with changes reviewed by hand before any wording changes
Manufacturer helpline numbers	Weekly where possible, monthly by hand otherwise
Written answers to Parliament	Monthly
DfT licensing statistics	Quarterly
DVSA annual report, DfT fleet age data	Yearly

Before any update goes live, the new file must pass automatic checks: the expected columns are present, the number of recalls has not dropped sharply, and dates are valid. If a check fails, the site keeps the last good data and we investigate. The date at the top of each data page shows the last successful update. Figures written into our guides update automatically from the same data, so a number in a sentence always matches the tables.

How The Registration Check Works

When you enter a registration, we look up the vehicle's make, model and date of first use through DVSA's MOT history service, then match the recalls for that model whose build dates could include your car. Where the MOT service reports an open recall directly, we show that too. We do not store your registration on our servers.

Because the match is by model and build dates, a result can include recalls that turn out not to apply to your exact car. That is why every result tells you to confirm with your VIN through the manufacturer's helpline or a franchised dealer, which is the final word.

How We Group Recalls By Fault

Each recall is tagged with the systems its DVSA description mentions, for example brakes, fire risk or airbags, and a recall can have several tags.

Fault group	Typical wording that triggers it
Airbags	Airbag, inflator, Takata
Brakes	Brake, braking, stopping distance
Fire risk	Fire, thermal incident, overheating of wiring
Fuel leaks	Fuel leak, fuel smell, fuel line
Steering	Steering, power steering
Seat belts	Seat belt, belt buckle, pretensioner
Electric and hybrid batteries	High-voltage battery, cell, charging
Software	Software, update, reprogramme, control unit
Loss of power	Stall, loss of drive, engine stop
Suspension, doors and latches, emissions, eCall	Matching part names

We match whole words in the concern and defect text, and we review the rules whenever a group looks wrong. Takata recalls are identified only where the recall names Takata; other inflator recalls are counted as airbags but not as Takata. Recalls for lorries and buses are excluded from car figures.

How We Grade Recall Urgency

We use four labels, stop-drive, urgent, book soon and low, based on the manufacturer's wording and the system affected.

Label	Rule	Example
Stop-drive	The manufacturer's text tells owners not to drive	R/2025/385, Volkswagen rear axle bolted connection
Urgent	Fire, airbags, brakes, steering, seat belts or loss of power	R/2022/206, BMW EGR cooler that may cause a thermal incident
Book soon	Lighting, latches, visibility or eCall	R/2025/075, Tesla firmware to restore post-crash eCall
Low	Labels, documentation or software with no direct safety effect	R/2025/410, Ford Mustang VIN label with incorrect details

A label describes what the recall says. It is not a verdict on your car, and we never describe a car as safe. DVSA has no official stop-drive flag, so we rely on the manufacturer's wording, and your recall letter always takes priority. See can you drive a car with a recall?.

What Our Numbers Mean, And Don’t

A recall reference is one campaign. The vehicle figure is the manufacturer's estimate and can overlap between campaigns, so we call it vehicle-records, not cars.

Recalls are DVSA references, such as R/2025/527. One reference can cover many models, and one problem can be split into several references.
Vehicle-records are the manufacturer's estimates added together. The same car can be counted in several recalls.
Car recalls include light vans and pick-ups, because DVSA groups them together. Our brand rankings remove van-only recalls when dividing by DfT car numbers.⁵
Dates use the recall's launch date, by calendar year.

Known Limitations

Some information is not in DVSA's file, for example which individual cars have been fixed, so we always show the manufacturer's helpline number for a VIN check.

Individual cars. DVSA's file records build dates but not VIN ranges, so we can show whether a recall may apply, not whether it does.
US imports. A few references for US-import vehicles list UK numbers that are not plausible. We leave them out of vehicle totals and biggest-recall lists.
Naming. DVSA and DfT sometimes name the same model differently, which can affect per-model rates.
Source errors. We found a recall in DVSA's file with a launch date in the future (R/2026/030) and treat its date with caution.
MINI. Many MINI recalls are filed under BMW references.

Corrections Log

When we find an error, we fix it and record it here.

Date	What changed
15 October 2026	eCall group narrowed to recalls that name the emergency call system (163 to 51)
15 October 2026	Takata group limited to recalls naming Takata (173 to 56, with 117 other inflator recalls counted as airbags only)
15 October 2026	Vehicle totals now summed once per recall, not once per model
15 October 2026	Mercedes-Benz lorry and bus recalls removed from car figures (891 to 834)

Our editorial process

Who Checks Our Content

Every guide is written from our fact register and checked by our editorial team. Safety and legal pages get a second review.

Guides are never rewritten automatically. When a source changes, we review the wording and updates the page, and the "last updated" date changes only when the content does. See our editorial policy and about us.

Data: DVSA vehicle recall data (Open Government Licence v3.0), updated 15 October 2026.

How Our Recall Data Is Sourced From DVSA, Updated, Classified And Graded For Urgency