Recalls and bulletins
Each recall check by VIN, each recall letter and each service bulletin or warranty extension you find, with whether the remedy is available, when it is booked and when it was done.
For a first pass, this sheet is essential: one dated row for a VIN check at NHTSA, even if nothing is open. Repeat it twice a year and when a letter arrives.
Recalls and bulletins
One row per check, even when it finds nothing: a dated "none open" row shows the check was made. One row per recall or bulletin it finds.
How to use this sheet
- One row per check, even when it finds nothing. "NHTSA VIN lookup, none open" with a date is the record that you checked.
- One row per recall or bulletin found. Copy the campaign or bulletin number and the component.
- Remedy available. Some recalls are announced before the repair exists; mark "not yet" and check again.
- Booked and completed. Book an open recall repair at a dealer, and ask about a loaner (recalls).
The example row is the Bells' fictional software recall: a letter arrived, the NHTSA VIN lookup showed the same recall open, and they booked it at the dealer with their next service. Gloria Hernández's fictional VIN check shows none open, which is a row too.
A recall lookup is as complete as the VIN search says it is: NHTSA's leaves out recalls more than 15 years old and some small makers. Whether a repair is free, and for how long, is set by federal law and the recall notice, not by this sheet.