Components in recall campaigns and complaints

Equipment is the component group in the most NHTSA recall campaigns: 4,447. Electrical System has the most complaint mentions: 251,288, or 111.2 per 1,000 component mentions. The two orders agree on 2 of the first 5 groups.

Complaint information entered into NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation vehicle owner's complaint database is used with other data sources to identify safety issues that warrant investigation and to determine if a safety-related defect trend exists.
NHTSA publishes these words. Source: NHTSA Datasets and APIs, section Complaints, read on 1 Oct 2026. Data through 23 Oct 2026.

Component groups

NHTSA component groups with 100 mentions or more, by recall campaigns that name the group, most campaigns first
Component group	Recall campaigns	Campaigns, 2024	Campaigns, 2025	Complaint mentions	Per 1,000 mentions
Equipment	4,447	194	144	33,159	14.7
Electrical System	2,937	225	193	251,288	111.2
Steering	2,055	82	31	145,113	64.2
Service Brakes, Hydraulic	1,882	48	44	107,363	47.5
Suspension	1,824	40	38	90,379	40
Structure	1,687	88	100	104,893	46.4
Fuel System, Gasoline	1,503	25	22	56,355	24.9
Power Train	1,485	47	51	220,511	97.5
Exterior Lighting	1,379	55	62	63,287	28
Tires	1,274	35	30	81,508	36.1
Engine and Engine Cooling	1,255	35	33	121,500	53.7
Service Brakes, Air	1,151	18	28	4,567	2
Air Bags	1,145	56	43	157,079	69.5
Seat Belts	1,104	23	35	39,452	17.5
Visibility	936	33	28	53,363	23.6
Seats	846	38	27	29,018	12.8
Wheels	774	13	11	24,760	11
Vehicle Speed Control	631	9	9	85,642	37.9
Equipment Adaptive/Mobility	535	8	24	1,727	0.8
Latches/Locks/Linkages	451	14	15	20,788	9.2
Trailer Hitches	419	12	6	1,034	0.5
Parking Brake	370	16	13	4,944	2.2
Child Seat	291	5	9	16,818	7.4
Back Over Prevention	276	41	67	8,662	3.8
Fuel System, Other	275	7	8	5,935	2.6
Fuel System, Diesel	247	16	13	3,213	1.4
Unknown or Other	192	0	0	119,426	52.8
Engine	140	2	10	171,793	76
Electronic Stability Control (ESC)	121	11	9	21,292	9.4
Service Brakes	115	2	4	79,641	35.2
Forward Collision Avoidance	77	14	13	29,295	13
Hybrid Propulsion System	61	3	1	580	0.3
Service Brakes, Electric	54	3	1	2,647	1.2
Interior Lighting	52	0	2	2,707	1.2
Visibility/Wiper	21	0	0	24,360	10.8
Lane Departure	15	2	1	8,237	3.6
Communication	10	1	1	112	0
Electronic Stability Control	8	0	0	335	0.1
Traction Control System	8	1	1	2,346	1
Fuel/Propulsion System	2	1	1	63,259	28
Carry Handle, Shell, Base	0	0	0	389	0.2
Chest Clip, Buckle, Harness	0	0	0	676	0.3
Firerelated	0	0	0	178	0.1
Insert, Padding	0	0	0	176	0.1
Other/I Am Not Sure	0	0	0	455	0.2
Tether, Lower Anchor (On Car Seat or Vehicle)	0	0	0	157	0.1

How the figures were made

This table shows activity, not quality or safety, and it is not a recommendation.

A campaign counts in a group when one of its components starts with the name of the group. A campaign can name components of 2 groups and then counts in each.

The campaigns include child seat, tire and equipment campaigns, which also name components. A complaint mention is one component name in one complaint. A complaint can name more than one component. A model line with more vehicles on the road gets more complaints.

A program makes this page from the agency files with fixed sentence rules. How the register is made. Data sources and licences.

In earlier editions

This table is in the edition of October 2026, the first edition. Each month adds an edition that keeps the first rows of the table as they were.

Every monthly edition.

Other findings

Cite this page

Recall Register. Components in recall campaigns and complaints. https://recallregister.com/findings/components-in-recalls-and-complaints/. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, recall, complaint and investigation files. Data through 25 Oct 2026.