Which Car Makes Have The Most Recalls In The UK, By Total, Since 2020 And Per 100,000 Cars On The Road

Mercedes-Benz has the most car recalls in the UK: 833 in DVSA records since 1992 and 421 since 2020. Adjusted for the number of its cars on the road, Mercedes-Benz still leads the major brands, followed by Citroën and Peugeot, while MG, Renault, Nissan and Honda have the fewest recalls per car.

Most Recalled Car Brands Since 2020

Since 2020 Mercedes-Benz has launched 421 UK recalls, about twice as many as Ford (207) and three times as many as BMW (143).

These counts include light vans and pick-ups, which matters for Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Peugeot, Citroën and Vauxhall, all big van makers. A count of recalls is a count of DVSA references, and one reference can cover many models or only a handful of cars. Open any brand's page, such as the Mercedes-Benz recall check or the Ford recall check, for its full list.

Recalls Per 100,000 Cars On The Road

Dividing each brand's recalls by its licensed cars gives a fairer picture. Mercedes-Benz has about 18.04 car recalls per 100,000 cars since 2020, Citroën 12.25 and Peugeot 9.16, while MG, Renault, Nissan and Honda are under 2.¹

Mercedes-Benz

18.04

Citroën

12.25

Peugeot

9.16

Jaguar

8.67

Land Rover

6.89

BMW

6.69

Tesla

5.93

Hyundai

4.77

Mazda

4.6

Fiat

4.48

Volvo

4.47

SEAT

4.2

Suzuki

4.13

Kia

3.81

Audi

3.63

The "per 100,000 cars" column uses car recalls only, with van-only references removed, divided by the number of each brand's cars licensed in the UK in 2026 Q2. The last column keeps the van references in, to show how much they change the picture. Fiat, Mercedes-Benz, Citroën, Renault and Ford move most, because so many of their recalls are for vans. Brands are listed here when they have at least 250,000 cars licensed in the UK.

Low-volume Brands

Brands with fewer cars on the road can show high rates from a small number of recalls, so we list them separately.

A single extra recall can move a low-volume brand several places, so treat these rates as a guide, not a verdict. Luxury and performance brands also tend to sell many versions in small numbers, each of which can need its own recall.

All-time Ranking Since 1992

Over three decades of DVSA data, Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot, Citroën, Ford and Vauxhall have the most recall references.

The all-time list favours brands that have sold many models and vans in the UK for a long time. It also includes recalls that have long been closed for reporting, though a closed recall still applies if an affected car turns up. See do car recalls expire?.

The Biggest Single Recalls In UK History

The largest recall reference in DVSA's file is Vauxhall's December 2025 Takata airbag recall, covering about 949,336 vehicle-records across eight models.

Vauxhall appears again and again near the top, because it has sold some of the UK's best-selling cars for decades. Airbags dominate the more recent entries, through the Takata recalls that BMW, Toyota and Vauxhall have run. We leave out a small number of references for US-import vehicles whose stated UK numbers are not plausible. See Takata airbag recalls.

Which Electric And Hybrid Car Brands Have The Most Recalls?

High-voltage battery and charging recalls have risen sharply since 2020, from 18 in 2020 to 46 in 2024, with Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Peugeot and BMW recording the most.

These counts include plug-in hybrids and mild hybrids as well as fully electric cars, and they are not adjusted for how many electrified cars each brand has sold. Ford's total, for example, includes recalls for the Kuga plug-in hybrid. See electric car recalls.

Why More Recalls Doesn’t Mean A Worse Car

Recall counts reflect how many models a brand sells, how strictly it reports problems and how many vans it builds, so a brand that recalls early and often can look worse than one that does not.

Four things drive a brand's count that have nothing to do with how well its cars are built:

• Range size. A brand with 30 models and many engine options files more references than one with five.
• Vans and pick-ups. Commercial vehicles add references for some brands but not others.
• How the brand files recalls. Some file one reference covering many models; others file one per model.
• Readiness to recall. A manufacturer that acts on a small risk early adds to its count, which is what owners should want.

A recall is a free repair, not a reliability score. A brand with few recalls can still have costly faults that are not safety defects, and those never appear in DVSA's data. Our guide to what a car recall means explains the difference.

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How we built these rankings

Method And Caveats

We count DVSA recall references for cars and light vans since 2020 and divide by DfT's licensed-car totals for 2026 Q2.¹

The caveats are:

1. Vans. DVSA's car category includes vans, but DfT's car figures do not, so we remove van-only references for the per-car rate.
2. MINI. Many MINI recalls are filed under BMW references, which lowers MINI's rate and raises BMW's.
3. Low volumes. Brands with fewer cars swing on a small number of recalls.
4. Overlap. Vehicle-records add up across references, and one car can be in several recalls.

The full method is on our methodology page, and the yearly data can be downloaded from UK car recall statistics.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Tesla The Most Recalled Car Brand In The UK?

No. Tesla has 18 UK recall references since 2020, about 5.93 per 100,000 cars on the road, which puts it mid-table among major brands. Tesla can fix some problems with over-the-air software updates, without a dealer visit.

Which Model Has The Most Recalls?

Among models, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class appears in the most UK recall references, with 152. See the Mercedes-Benz recall check.

Which Brand Has The Fewest Recalls?

Among major brands, MG, Renault, Nissan and Honda have the fewest recalls per car since 2020.

Can I Download The Data?

Yes. The yearly tables are on UK car recall statistics as CSV files under the Open Government Licence.

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Data: DVSA vehicle recall data (Open Government Licence v3.0), updated 15 October 2026. Licensed vehicle figures: DfT vehicle licensing statistics (2026 Q2).