---
title: "Vehicle defect check."
description: "Read NHTSA recall campaigns, complaint counts by component, and dated open investigations for selected vehicles. Review the limits before case research."
canonical: "https://scalewithsearch.com/tools/vehicle-defect-check"
date: "2026-10-27"
modified: "2026-10-27"
---
## Site navigation

- [Scale With Search](https://scalewithsearch.com/)
- Services
  - Services
    - [AI systems](https://scalewithsearch.com/ai-systems)
    - [Site build](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#site-build)
    - [Whole website fix](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#whole-website-fix)
    - [Content library with SEO](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#content-library)
    - [Working session](https://scalewithsearch.com/audit)
  - Start here
    - [Send your brief](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#send-your-brief)
    - [Example scope](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#review-the-example-scope)
  - [Prices and terms](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#prices-and-terms)
- Industries
  - Real estate
    - [Real estate agents and teams](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate)
    - [Platforms, ownership, and IDX](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate/real-estate-website-platforms-ownership-idx)
    - [Search, content, and AI](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate/real-estate-search-content-ai)
    - [Inquiries, campaigns, and handoffs](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate/real-estate-website-inquiries-campaigns-handoffs)
    - [Buyer, seller, and local pages](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate/real-estate-buyer-seller-local-resources)
    - [Rules, privacy, and trust](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate/real-estate-website-rules-privacy-trust)
  - Browse by business
    - [Trades and home services](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-trades)
    - [Health, wellness, and animal care](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-practices)
    - [Law, finance, and IT](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-professional)
    - [Marketing and SEO agencies](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-agencies)
    - [Shops and manufacturers](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-manufacturing)
    - [Restaurants, shops, studios, and nonprofits](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-local-services)
  - Chiropractic practices
    - [Chiropractic and wellness practices](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/chiropractic-and-wellness-practices)
    - [Chiropractic and physical therapy clinics](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/chiropractic-and-physical-therapy-clinics)
  - [All industries](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/)
- Resources
  - Free tools
    - [AI readiness check](https://scalewithsearch.com/check)
    - [Free tools](https://scalewithsearch.com/tools/)
    - [Free Starter Kit](https://scalewithsearch.com/kit/business-memory-starter-kit.zip)
  - Guides
    - [AI-native library](https://scalewithsearch.com/ai-native)
    - [Industry intelligence](https://scalewithsearch.com/intelligence)
    - [Office job guides](https://scalewithsearch.com/guides/)
    - [Business memory](https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/business-memory-for-ai-agents-guide)
    - [Agent governance](https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/ai-agent-governance-guide-small-business)
    - [Migration and ownership](https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/leaving-vendor-ai-memory-guide)
  - Articles
    - [All articles](https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/)
    - [What changed](https://scalewithsearch.com/changes/)
- About
  - Evidence
    - [Proof](https://scalewithsearch.com/proof)
  - Scale With Search
    - [About](https://scalewithsearch.com/about)
    - [How it works](https://scalewithsearch.com/how-it-works)

# Vehicle defect check.

## Public data

Select a make and model, then a model year. The demo covers six vehicle models from 2010 through 2026.

Do not enter a VIN, plate, name, injury or case description. There is no intake form attached to the results.

## What this shows

The server requests NHTSA recall campaigns and complaint records for the selected make, model and year. It groups complaints by component.

Crash, fire, injury and death columns count reports with each flag. They do not count unique vehicles or injured people. One complaint can appear under several components. Do not add component rows together.

The investigation list comes from a separately prepared snapshot of NHTSA's public investigation file. It includes records without a close date for the selected vehicle and year. The snapshot date appears with the results.

## What to check

Read the current agency campaign and investigation records. An attorney checks the underlying evidence before developing a case theory.

The campaign list includes agency do-not-drive and park-outside flags when supplied. Read the official campaign instructions before making a vehicle decision.

## Limits

These are model-level research records. A match cannot establish a particular vehicle's recall status, defect, causation, liability or claim value. A complaint records a report, not an agency finding.

An empty result cannot establish vehicle safety. The counts reflect the records returned for this selection. They are not rates, forecasts or a comparison adjusted for vehicles on the road.

Successful public results can remain cached for one day. Retrieval time can precede your request. Open investigations reflect their separate snapshot date. A warning appears when that snapshot is more than fourteen days old.

The snapshot requires a reviewed refresh before a changed file reaches the public demo. It does not update automatically. An empty snapshot list does not rule out an investigation today.

A missing source or invalid response shows an error. The tool excludes complaint narratives, partial VINs, personal contact details and incident descriptions. It creates no victim list or outreach.

The form accepts controlled vehicle selectors. The application retains no individual search history. Network infrastructure may retain access logs.

## What the private version adds

A product-liability partner selects a vehicle and component watchlist. The private function stores dated snapshots and joins public changes to the firm's own matter records.

A research attorney checks candidate matches before any theory is accepted. Party identities and medical records stay within the firm's controlled system.

Your firm owns the component corrections, review decisions and history. That history can show how complaint counts changed between your own collection dates.

Scale With Search builds the collection, record matching and review queue around those records and limits.

[Explore AI systems](/ai-systems)

----

```text
                  .|########||.                                       .|########||.                                       .|########||.
               |##||.      .||##|.                                 |##||.      .||##|.                                 |##||.      .||##|.
             |#|.              .|#|.                             |#|.              .|#|.                             |#|.              .|#|.
           |#|                    |#|                          |#|                    |#|                          |#|                    |#|
         .#|                        |#.                      .#|                        |#.                      .#|                        |#.
        .#.                          .#|                    .#.                          .#|                    .#.                          .#|
       |#.                            .#|                  |#.                            .#|                  |#.                            .#|
      |#             ......             #|                |#             ......             #|                |#             ......             #|
     .#           ||#########|           #|              .#           ||#########|           #|              .#           ||#########|           #|
    .#.         |######||######|.        .#.            .#.         |######||######|.        .#.            .#.         |######||######|.        .#.
    #.        .##|###|##|#|######|        .#            #.        .##|###|##|#|######|        .#            #.        .##|###|##|#|######|        .#
   ||        |##|#||||||||||||#||#|        ||          ||        |##|#||||||||||||#||#|        ||          ||        |##|#||||||||||||#||#|        ||
   #        |#||||||||||||||||||||#|        #.         #        |#||||||||||||||||||||#|        #.         #        |#||||||||||||||||||||#|        #.
  ||       |#||||||||||||||||||||||#|       ||        ||       |#||||||||||||||||||||||#|       ||        ||       |#||||||||||||||||||||||#|       ||
  #       .#||||||||||||||||||||||||#|       #        #       .#||||||||||||||||||||||||#|       #        #       .#||||||||||||||||||||||||#|       #
 ||   ....|||#||||||##|#|||#|#||##||||....|. ||      ||   ....|||#||||||##|#|||#|#||##||||....|. ||      ||   ....|||#||||||##|#|||#|#||##||||....|. ||
 #.  .  ....|#  ....#|||   ||| .#|||  ....#. .#      #.  .  ....|#  ....#|||   ||| .#|||  ....#. .#      #.  .  ....|#  ....#|||   ||| .#|||  ....#. .#
 #   .  ||||#| .#####||  . .#| .#|||  ||||#   #.     #   .  ||||#| .#####||  . .#| .#|||  ||||#   #.     #   .  ||||#| .#####||  . .#| .#|||  ||||#   #.
.|   |||||  #. |#|||||. ||  #. |#||. .|||||   ||    .|   |||||  #. |#|||||. ||  #. |#||. .|||||   ||    .|   |||||  #. |#|||||. ||  #. |#||. .|||||   ||
||   |....  #. ....|#.      |. ...|. ....||   ||    ||   |....  #. ....|#.      |. ...|. ....||   ||    ||   |....  #. ....|#.      |. ...|. ....||   ||
#.  .||||||##||||||##||####|||||||#||||||#|   .#    #.  .||||||##||||||##||####|||||||#||||||#|   .#    #.  .||||||##||||||##||####|||||||#||||||#|   .#
#    .||####|###########################|.     #    #    .||####|###########################|.     #    #    .||####|###########################|.     #
#      .#||||||.#.|| # |. ..# #| #|||||#|      #    #      .#||||||.#.|| # |. ..# #| #|||||#|      #    #      .#||||||.#.|| # |. ..# #| #|||||#|      #
#      .#|||||| ..  |# ## |#| ...#|#|||#|      #    #      .#|||||| ..  |# ## |#| ...#|#|||#|      #    #      .#|||||| ..  |# ## |#| ...#|#|||#|      #
#      .#|||#|# .# .#| #| ##|.#..#|||||#|      #    #      .#|||#|# .# .#| #| ##|.#..#|||||#|      #    #      .#|||#|# .# .#| #| ##|.#..#|||||#|      #
#      .#||||||############|######|||||#|      #    #      .#||||||############|######|||||#|      #    #      .#||||||############|######|||||#|      #
#   |...||#||||||#||||#|#||||||#|||||#||| |.|  #    #   |...||#||||||#||||#|#||||||#|||||#||| |.|  #    #   |...||#||||||#||||#|#||||||#|||||#||| |.|  #
#. .. ||||# .|||##|.  |#| .|| || .|||#. #|  # .#    #. .. ||||# .|||##|.  |#| .|| || .|||#. #|  # .#    #. .. ||||# .|||##|.  |#| .|| || .|||#. #|  # .#
|| |  ...||  ...##| |  #| .|. |. #####  .. .| ||    || |  ...||  ...##| |  #| .|. |. #####  .. .| ||    || |  ...||  ...##| |  #| .|. |. #####  .. .| ||
|| ||||| || ||||#|  .  |. |. |#. ||||| |#| || ||    || ||||| || ||||#|  .  |. |. |#. ||||| |#| || ||    || ||||| || ||||#|  .  |. |. |#. ||||| |#| || ||
.# |.....#|....|#.||||.|||##.|#|....||.#||.#. #.    .# |.....#|....|#.||||.|||##.|#|....||.#||.#. #.    .# |.....#|....|#.||||.|||##.|#|....||.#||.#. #.
 #.|||||||#############################| ||| .#      #.|||||||#############################| ||| .#      #.|||||||#############################| ||| .#
 ||       ##||#||#||||||#||#||#||#||##.      ||      ||       ##||#||#||||||#||#||#||#||##.      ||      ||       ##||#||#||||||#||#||#||#||##.      ||
  #       .#|||||||||#||#|||||||||||#|       #        #       .#|||||||||#||#|||||||||||#|       #        #       .#|||||||||#||#|||||||||||#|       #
  ||       |#||||||||||||||||||||||#|       ||        ||       |#||||||||||||||||||||||#|       ||        ||       |#||||||||||||||||||||||#|       ||
  .#        |#||||||||||||||||||||#|        #.        .#        |#||||||||||||||||||||#|        #.        .#        |#||||||||||||||||||||#|        #.
   ||        |#||||||||||||||||||#|        ||          ||        |#||||||||||||||||||#|        ||          ||        |#||||||||||||||||||#|        ||
    #.        .######|#|#########|        .#            #.        .######|#|#########|        .#            #.        .######|#|#########|        .#
    .#.         |#####||||#####|         .#.            .#.         |#####||||#####|         .#.            .#.         |#####||||#####|         .#.
     |#           ||########||           #.              |#           ||########||           #.              |#           ||########||           #.
      |#             ......             #|                |#             ......             #|                |#             ......             #|
       |#.                            .#|                  |#.                            .#|                  |#.                            .#|
        |#.                          .#.                    |#.                          .#.                    |#.                          .#.
         .#|                        |#.                      .#|                        |#.                      .#|                        |#.
           |#|                    |#|                          |#|                    |#|                          |#|                    |#|
            .|#|.              .|#|.                            .|#|.              .|#|.                            .|#|.              .|#|.
               |##||.      .||##|                                  |##||.      .||##|                                  |##||.      .||##|
                 .||########||.                                      .||########||.                                      .||########||.

Scale With Search  2026  [scalewithsearch.com](https://scalewithsearch.com)
```
