UK Car Recall Statistics: How Many Recalls There Are Each Year, What Goes Wrong Most Often And How Many Get Fixed

DVSA's data lists 6,050 car and light van safety recalls in the UK since 1992, including 375 launched in 2025. The government says recall campaigns affect more than 4 million vehicles a year.¹ Software faults are now the most common reason for a recall.

6,050

car and light van recalls since 1992

375

recalls launched in 2025

238

recalls so far in 2026

306

software recalls since 2020

How Many Car Recalls Are There Each Year?

UK car recalls have risen sharply in a decade, from 215 in 2015 to between 324 and 388 a year since 2018.

199220092026

A recall here means one DVSA reference, such as R/2025/511. One reference can cover several models, and a manufacturer may split one problem into several references, so the count measures campaigns rather than cars. The rise since 2015 reflects more models on sale, more complex electronics and software, and the long tail of the Takata airbag recalls. Each year has its own archive in our UK car recall list.

Recalls On Vans And Pick-ups

Light vans and pick-ups make up a large share of the total. DVSA's data includes 1,140 van recalls since 1992, 527 of them since 2020, and 97 in 2025 alone. The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, Ford Transit and Mercedes-Benz Vito appear in the most van recalls, partly because they are sold in so many versions. Van recalls also tend to arrive sooner after build, with a median of 15.9 months. See van recalls for the full list.

Stop-drive Recalls

Recalls that tell owners not to drive at all are rare. Only 24 car and light van recalls in DVSA's data use do-not-drive wording, and 11 of those were launched in 2025, most of them linked to Takata airbags in older cars. DVSA has no official stop-drive flag, so we identify these by the manufacturer's own wording. See do not drive recalls.

How Many Vehicles Are Affected Each Year?

Recalls launched in 2025 covered about 3,887,381 vehicle-records, consistent with the government's figure of more than 4 million vehicles a year.¹

201020182026

These are manufacturers' estimates of vehicles affected in the UK, added up across references. The same car can appear in several recalls, so the totals are vehicle-records, not separate cars. A single large campaign can swing a year: 2025 includes Vauxhall's Takata airbag recall of 949,336 vehicle-records. The government figure also counts lorries, buses and motorcycles, which this page leaves out.

What Goes Wrong Most Often?

Since 2020 the most common recall reasons are software faults, brakes, fire risks, airbags and high-voltage battery problems.

Software

306

Brakes

250

Airbags

222

High-voltage battery

222

Fire risk

206

Suspension

158

Fuel leaks

148

Wheels and tyres

137

Seat belts

117

Emissions

99

Steering

99

Doors and latches

93

Loss of power

90

eCall

47

Takata airbags

44

We sort recalls into fault types by reading DVSA's concern and defect wording, and one recall can fall into more than one type. Software is also changing how recalls are fixed. In 2010, 9% of recalls were fixed with a software update; in 2025 the figure was 36%. More software fixes mean shorter dealer visits, and some manufacturers can now send updates over the air.

How Quickly Do Defects Lead To A Recall?

Half of UK car recalls arrive within about 20.4 months of the first affected car being built, but 18.8 % arrive five or more years later.

The gap matters for owners of older cars. A model can be several years old before a recall appears, so a clear check today does not mean a clear check next year. Airbag recalls, which include the Takata campaigns, take longest to appear. Our guide to whether car recalls expire explains why an old recall still applies.

The age of the UK fleet makes this more than a technical point. DfT figures show that about 43 % of licensed cars were first used in 2015 or earlier, and about 17 % in 2010 or earlier.² Many of those cars are now with their second or third owner, who may never have received the original recall letter. A recall that arrives eight years after a model was built has to find a car that has changed hands, address and sometimes registration plate, which is one reason why a check by registration before buying is worth the two minutes it takes.

How Many Recalls Get Fixed?

DVSA's last published figures show 89 % to 98 % of cars and light vans were fixed by the time a recall closed, but a 2018 DVSA estimate was that about 1 in 13 vehicles had an outstanding recall at any time.³⁴

The official figures and the industry studies measure different things. DVSA's response rates cover recalls that had reached the end of their reporting period, which are by definition the ones that went well. The studies look at cars still on the road at a point in time, including recalls that are still running. Both point the same way for owners: a large share of cars are fixed, but enough are missed that a check is worth doing before every purchase and every few months. See how to check for outstanding recalls.

Which Makes Have The Most Recalls?

Mercedes-Benz has the most UK recalls in total and per car among major brands. Since 2020 it has launched 421 recalls, ahead of Ford with 207 and BMW with 143.

Raw counts favour big brands with many models and vans. Adjusted for cars on the road, Mercedes-Benz has about 18.04 car recalls per 100,000 licensed cars since 2020, against 1.48 for MG.⁸ The full rankings, with method notes, are on our car recall rankings page.

What These Statistics Mean For Your Car

A rising recall count does not mean cars are getting less safe. It reflects more models, more software, stricter reporting and manufacturers acting earlier. For an owner, three numbers matter most:

• Recalls keep arriving for years. About one in five comes five or more years after the first affected car was built, so check again every few months, not just once.
• Fix rates are high but not complete. Most recalled cars are repaired, but a share are missed, often after a change of owner.
• Most fixes are quick. A growing share are software updates, and the repair is free under a safety recall.⁹

Run your registration through our car recall check to see whether any recall applies to your car today.

Electric And Hybrid Car Recalls

High-voltage battery and charging recalls rose from 18 in 2020 to 46 in 2023 and 46 in 2024, as more electric and plug-in cars reached the road.

201820222026

There are now about 2,016,968 battery electric cars licensed in the UK (2026 Q2). Most high-voltage recalls are fixed at the dealer, and 33% include a software update. A few carry parking advice, such as charging limits or parking outside, until the repair. See electric car recalls.

Why Different Sources Give Different Numbers

Recall statistics differ because some count recall campaigns, some count vehicles, some use financial years, and some include lorries, buses and motorcycles.

DVSA's annual report for 2024 to 2025 described a 67 % increase in car recalls in 2024 compared with 2023, without stating its basis.¹⁰ Our count of car and light van references shows 324 in 2023 and 361 in 2024, an increase of about 11 %. The two can both be right: one may count vehicles or campaigns over a financial year, the other counts references by launch date.

The main reasons figures differ are:

• References or vehicles. A recall of 900,000 cars counts once as a reference but dominates a vehicle count.
• Calendar or financial years. DVSA reports often run from April to March.
• Which vehicles. Some totals include lorries, buses, motorcycles and trailers.
• Overlap. The same car can be in several recalls, so vehicle totals are vehicle-records, not cars.
• Launch or registration date. A recall can be registered with DVSA weeks before it is launched.

Our methodology page sets out exactly how we count.

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Use this data

Download The Data And Cite This Page

You can download our yearly tables as CSV under the Open Government Licence. Please cite DVSA as the original source and link to this page for the analysis.

• refs-per-year.csv
• vehicles-per-year.csv
• families-since-2020.csv
• lag.csv
• Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0

Suggested citation: "DVSA vehicle recall data, analysed by [site name], updated 15 October 2026." Our fault types, rankings and timing figures are our own analysis, and the method is published so anyone can check it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where Is UK Recall Data Stored?

DVSA publishes the recall list through GOV.UK's vehicle recall check service and as a downloadable file. Manufacturers send recall data to DVSA when they register a recall.

Is This Data Official?

The recall list is DVSA's. Our analysis of fault types, rankings and timing is ours, using the method on our methodology page.

How Often Is It Updated?

Weekly for the recall numbers, quarterly for the licensed-car figures used in the rankings.

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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).