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CARSMULTIVERSEWatch a recall

How long before they tell you

The delay

Every recall has two dates. The day the manufacturer told the regulator there was a defect, and the day it told the people driving the cars. This is the distance between them, for every American recall since 2010 that carries both dates, and below for the Dutch register too.

41 daysMedian wait before owners are notified
107 daysOne recall in ten waits at least this long
14,858Recalls with both dates on record
215Told owners the same day

615 campaigns notified owners before the report reached the regulator. That is not an error in the data and it is not a criticism. It is a manufacturer telling its customers first. Those are excluded from the medians rather than counted as zero, so they neither flatter nor penalise anyone.

Which manufacturers keep owners waiting

Ranked by the median gap, longest first. Only manufacturers with 15 or more datable recalls appear: below that a single slow campaign decides the ranking.

  Manufacturer Median wait   Slowest Recalls Same day Over 90 days
1 Daimler Vans USA 63 days 681 days 126 0 38
2 Chrysler Group 61 days 552 days 109 0 35
3 Tesla 60 days 404 days 83 0 9
4 Aston Martin The Americas 60 days 111 days 17 0 2
5 Daimler Trucks North America 59 days 779 days 484 4 153
6 Supreme 59 days 122 days 22 0 1
7 Porsche Cars North America 58 days 561 days 119 0 31
8 Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems 58 days 99 days 15 1 2
9 BMW of North America 57 days 989 days 378 4 80
10 Autocar 57 days 684 days 98 0 22
11 Hino Motors Sales U.S.A 57 days 314 days 37 0 9
12 Arcimoto 57 days 98 days 30 0 1
13 Nova Bus (US) 56 days 302 days 52 0 14
14 REV Recreation Group 56 days 222 days 44 0 1
15 Ferrari North America 55.5 days 525 days 28 0 7
16 Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing 55 days 487 days 236 0 54
17 Hyundai Motor America 55 days 298 days 199 2 42
18 Vac-Tron Equipment 55 days 63 days 15 0 0
19 Mitsubishi Fuso Truck of America 54.5 days 392 days 27 1 2
20 Lucid USA 54.5 days 60 days 20 0 0
21 Kia America 54 days 311 days 72 0 13
22 Vermeer Manufacturing 54 days 209 days 39 0 4
23 Van Hool N.V 54 days 261 days 22 0 4
24 Altec Industries 53 days 203 days 196 2 5
25 Gulf States Toyota 53 days 162 days 19 0 3
26 Cummins 52 days 212 days 51 0 8
27 PACCAR 51.5 days 720 days 182 1 30
28 Rosenbauer America 51.5 days 439 days 18 0 3
29 Navistar 51 days 378 days 260 1 35
30 Volvo Bus 51 days 716 days 24 0 5
31 Autocar Industries 51 days 141 days 18 0 2
32 Prevost Car (US) 50.5 days 290 days 38 0 11
33 McLaren Automotive 50 days 666 days 15 0 3
34 International Motors 49.5 days 195 days 38 0 5
35 Mercedes-Benz USA 49 days 1,075 days 385 0 79
36 Jaguar Land Rover North America 49 days 382 days 189 1 36
37 Corp. Micro Bird 49 days 160 days 99 0 6
38 Mazda North American Operations 49 days 714 days 95 0 15
39 Prevost Cars 49 days 276 days 63 2 10
40 Volvo Car USA 49 days 167 days 52 0 4
41 Southeast Toyota Distributors 49 days 113 days 29 0 2
42 SPARTAN CHASSIS 49 days 117 days 21 0 4
43 Temsa Global Sanayi Ve Ticaret A.S 49 days 135 days 19 0 1
44 Nissan North America 48 days 1,017 days 263 0 28
45 Wabash National 47.5 days 218 days 22 0 2
46 Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) 47 days 409 days 282 0 28
47 Kovatch Mobile Equipment 47 days 395 days 50 0 1
48 Spartan Fire 47 days 147 days 29 1 1
49 Nova Bus 46.5 days 66 days 41 0 0
50 Hyundai Motor 46 days 262 days 30 1 4
51 HME 45.5 days 220 days 17 0 4
52 Kia Motors America 44.5 days 185 days 82 0 9
53 Winnebago Industries 44 days 563 days 124 1 17
54 Volvo Trucks North America 44 days 204 days 114 0 17
55 Ferrara Fire Apparatus 44 days 379 days 25 1 3
56 Lamborghini (Automobili Lamborghini) 44 days 200 days 23 0 1
57 Great Dane Trailers 43 days 205 days 37 0 2
58 Chrysler (FCA US, LLC) 42 days 637 days 496 1 87
59 Volkswagen Group of America 42 days 599 days 318 0 61
60 Mack Trucks 42 days 261 days 133 0 16
61 Bentley Motors 42 days 63 days 32 0 0
62 Eldorado National- Kansas 42 days 83 days 20 0 0
63 Rivian Automotive 41.5 days 221 days 22 0 3
64 Ford Motor 41 days 889 days 757 0 171
65 Motor Coach Industries 41 days 858 days 63 0 8
66 Continental Tire the Americas 41 days 78 days 22 0 0
67 Blue Bird Body 40 days 293 days 198 0 20
68 Thor Motor Coach 40 days 443 days 135 3 2
69 TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA 40 days 263 days 24 0 3
70 Spartan Motors USA 39.5 days 763 days 94 0 7
71 Ducati North America 39 days 97 days 60 0 1
72 E-One 38.5 days 91 days 53 0 1
73 Terex South Dakota 38 days 84 days 47 0 0
74 KZRV, L.P 38 days 280 days 45 0 3
75 Polestar Automotive USA 38 days 270 days 17 0 2
76 Winnebago Towable 37.5 days 157 days 32 0 3
77 Champion Bus 37 days 174 days 27 0 3
78 DAIMLER BUSES NORTH AMERICA 37 days 396 days 15 0 3
79 General Motors 36 days 1,287 days 510 5 79
80 McNeilus Truck & Manufacturing 36 days 61 days 30 1 0
81 Braun 36 days 144 days 27 0 1
82 Newmar 35.5 days 204 days 126 1 3
83 Gillig 35 days 833 days 79 0 5
84 Mitsubishi Motors North America 35 days 399 days 72 0 6
85 Airstream 35 days 134 days 63 0 1
86 Maserati North America 35 days 189 days 39 0 3
87 Isuzu Technical Center of America 35 days 115 days 23 0 1
88 Kalmar Solutions 35 days 84 days 16 0 0
89 Collins Bus 34.5 days 154 days 29 0 1
90 Tiffin Motorhomes 34 days 245 days 82 0 3
91 KTM North America 34 days 419 days 30 1 4
92 Turtle Top 34 days 70 days 23 0 0
93 Alliance RV 34 days 76 days 16 0 0
94 Lion Electric 33 days 57 days 17 0 0
95 Subaru of America 32 days 460 days 110 0 11
96 Highland Ridge RV 32 days 70 days 32 0 0
97 Cruiser RV 32 days 62 days 26 1 0
98 Heartland Recreational Vehicles 31 days 111 days 73 1 1
99 Starcraft RV 31 days 94 days 57 0 1
100 STARCRAFT BUS 31 days 144 days 20 1 2
101 Pierce Manufacturing 30.5 days 1,100 days 71 0 6
102 Oshkosh 30.5 days 58 days 35 0 0
103 Gulf Stream Coach 29.5 days 154 days 34 0 2
104 Suzuki Motor of America 29.5 days 911 days 34 0 8
105 VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA 29.5 days 127 days 27 0 2
106 Braun Ambulances 29.5 days 58 days 16 0 0
107 Indian Motorcycle 29 days 336 days 32 0 3
108 FLEETWOOD RV 29 days 129 days 22 0 1
109 Lakota 29 days 79 days 17 0 0
110 VOLVO CARS OF N.A 28.5 days 190 days 26 0 1
111 Halcore Group 28 days 65 days 28 1 0
112 Entegra Coach 27 days 60 days 48 0 0
113 Eldorado National- California 27 days 146 days 26 0 1
114 Forest River Bus 27 days 64 days 21 1 0
115 Triumph Motorcycles America 26 days 59 days 54 0 0
116 Jayco 25 days 284 days 222 1 6
117 Grand Design RV 24 days 109 days 57 0 1
118 Polaris Industries 24 days 267 days 29 0 3
119 New Flyer of America 24 days 186 days 28 0 1
120 TRANS TECH BUS 24 days 57 days 16 1 0
121 Forest River 23 days 509 days 598 9 16
122 Foretravel 22 days 49 days 18 2 0
123 Sutphen 22 days 226 days 15 2 2
124 Keystone RV 21 days 222 days 197 1 3
125 Meritor 21 days 75 days 35 3 0
126 Shyft Group 19 days 354 days 44 2 3
127 Zero Motorcycles 19 days 48 days 23 0 0
128 Coach and Equipment Mfg 18 days 108 days 21 0 2
129 Triple E Recreational Vehicles 17.5 days 99 days 53 1 1
130 Piaggio Group Americas 17 days 49 days 19 0 0
131 Trail King Industries 17 days 42 days 16 0 0
132 Harley-Davidson Motor 16.5 days 127 days 56 1 3
133 ARBOC Specialty Vehicles 16.5 days 99 days 16 1 1
134 New Flyer Industries 15.5 days 379 days 27 1 1
135 Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA 15 days 56 days 55 0 0
136 DUTCHMEN MANUFACTURING 15 days 129 days 23 0 1
137 Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A 13.5 days 99 days 49 0 1
138 Cooper Tire & Rubber Co 11 days 36 days 15 0 0
139 Bombardier Recreational Products 9 days 128 days 25 1 2
140 Marion Body Works 8 days 59 days 19 0 0
141 Takata same day 4 days 19 13 0

Has it got better

The median wait by the year the defect was reported.

Year Recalls Median wait   Slowest tenth
2010 719 27.5 days 116 days
2011 652 28 days 98 days
2012 647 29 days 82 days
2013 684 42 days 99 days
2014 859 45 days 98 days
2015 967 37 days 89 days
2016 1,023 41 days 97 days
2017 895 42 days 101 days
2018 1,025 41 days 100 days
2019 956 42 days 120 days
2020 876 41 days 103 days
2021 1,090 46.5 days 118 days
2022 1,045 46 days 140 days
2023 995 46 days 129 days
2024 1,053 42 days 123 days
2025 932 42 days 112 days
2026 440 36.5 days 60 days

The same question, asked of the Dutch register

The Netherlands vehicle register publishes recall actions with the date the manufacturer declared the defect and the date owners were written to. Different regulator, different law, same question.

18 daysMedian wait, Netherlands
105 daysSlowest tenth, Netherlands
3,841Dutch recalls with both dates
Importer or manufacturer Median wait Slowest Recalls
N.V. Subaru Benelux 96 days 388 days 29
Honda Motor Europe Benelux Branche 78 days 1,299 days 87
Klintberg and Way Parts AB 70 days 402 days 24
Jaguar Land Rover Nederland B.V. 54 days 1,438 days 137
Daimler Trucks Nederland B.V. 43 days 265 days 134
Mazda Motor Nederland 42 days 327 days 71
Kia Nederland B.V. 40 days 562 days 59
Mercedes-Benz Nederland B.V. (Cars) 38 days 1,184 days 321
Mercedes-Benz Nederland B.V. (Vans) 37 days 890 days 145
B.V. Nimag 31 days 1,051 days 71
Nissan Nederland 28 days 303 days 91
Hyundai Motor Netherlands b.v. 27 days 448 days 77
Mitsubishi Motor Sales Nederland B.V. 26 days 1,209 days 59
Harley-Davidson Benelux BV 20 days 293 days 35
Volvo Cars Nederland B.V. 18 days 1,225 days 88

The longest waits on record

Every one of these is a defect the regulator knew about while the people driving the vehicles did not.

Campaign Manufacturer Reported Owners told Wait Vehicles
17V567 General Motors 2017-09-14 2021-03-24 1,287 days 38,048
17V348 Pierce Manufacturing 2017-05-30 2020-06-03 1,100 days 225
11V493 Mercedes-Benz USA 2011-10-03 2014-09-12 1,075 days 158
22V420 Nissan North America 2022-06-13 2025-03-26 1,017 days 322,671
16V747 BMW of North America 2016-10-17 2019-07-03 989 days 15,455
19V343 Suzuki Motor of America 2019-05-02 2021-10-29 911 days 21,052
11V445 FORD MOTOR 2011-08-26 2014-01-31 889 days 4,532
19V027 Motor Coach Industries 2019-01-07 2021-05-14 858 days 2,089
15V188 BMW of North America 2015-03-31 2017-07-27 849 days 13,443
17V119 Gillig 2017-02-24 2019-06-07 833 days 17,056
10T001 YOKOHAMA TIRE 2010-01-21 2012-04-27 827 days 6,254
11C002 DOREL JUVENILE GROUP 2011-06-24 2013-09-26 825 days 89,527
18C001 Harmony Juvenile Products 2018-04-17 2020-07-03 808 days 148,165
16V363 Mercedes-Benz USA 2016-05-26 2018-07-31 796 days 258,163
13V099 Daimler Trucks North America 2013-03-18 2015-05-06 779 days 52,376
22V339 Daimler Trucks North America 2022-05-16 2024-06-28 774 days 17
19V370 Daimler Trucks North America 2019-05-14 2021-06-25 773 days 741
11V412 Spartan Motors 2011-08-11 2013-09-12 763 days 313
22V456 Daimler Trucks North America 2022-06-24 2024-06-28 735 days 17
18V368 PACCAR 2018-06-01 2020-05-21 720 days 85,626
21V717 Volvo Bus 2021-09-15 2023-09-01 716 days 860
16V499 Mazda North American Operations 2016-07-01 2018-06-15 714 days 5,038
15V491 DRV Suites 2015-08-05 2017-07-10 705 days 7,465
12V484 General Motors 2012-10-04 2014-09-08 704 days 120,426
12V493 Mercedes-Benz USA 2012-10-10 2014-09-12 702 days 218

How this was worked out

NHTSA publishes the whole American recall register as one flat file. Two of its columns are the date the defect report was received and the date the manufacturer notified owners. We read both, for every campaign, and subtract one from the other.

Step Count
Campaigns in the file 15,232
No owner-notification date recorded 370
No report-received date recorded 0
Owners told before the regulator 615
Dates that contradict the campaign’s own year 4
Used in the figures above 14,858

Medians rather than averages, because a single campaign notified years late would move an average somewhere meaningless. A recall with a date missing is excluded and counted, never filled in with a guess. Read on 9 September 2026 from the file itself.

Be told when your recall changesTake the data

Every figure on this page comes from a table you can have. 141 rows, CSV JSON All 14 datasets

Sixty days later, still no letter — the same sixty days, counted forward instead of back: 175 notices filed in the last three years where the deadline has passed and the record still carries no date for the letter, listed by manufacturer.

A project by A.I.T. Multiverse Consulting Ltd · cars@aitmultiverse.com