Editorial policy

Data first

Every number on a model-year page comes from public government files: NHTSA for complaints, recalls, service bulletins, investigations and crash-test ratings, and the EPA and Department of Energy for fuel economy. Each page links to the NHTSA record for that vehicle (or to NHTSA’s recall search when the model name cannot be linked directly). Most text is produced from the numbers by fixed templates, so it states what the data contains and nothing more.

AI-written summaries

The “What owners report” section is written with AI from a sample of up to 60 NHTSA complaints for that model year (picked at random, with complaints that state a mileage and recent ones taken first) and labelled as such. Every problem it describes must cite at least four of the sampled complaints; summaries that cite complaints, recalls or bulletins not in the source data, use verdict words or contain personal information are not published. Problems show excerpts of the complaints behind them with their public NHTSA number, so a reader can check the source. Complaint counts, mileage and repair figures for a problem are calculated from all complaints with fixed keyword rules and shown only when they agree with the sample.

Careful wording

A complaint is a report by one person that NHTSA has not verified. We report what owners say (“owners report…”), never that a complaint proves a fault, and we do not name a cause, call a vehicle unsafe or defective, or assign blame to a manufacturer. Comparisons between model years describe complaint counts, not how reliable a vehicle is. Where NHTSA text such as a recall summary is shown, it is NHTSA’s record of what the manufacturer filed.

Privacy of filers

Example complaints are shown only if they pass automated checks: complaints that contain a vehicle identification number, phone number, email address, web link, a city with state and ZIP code, a title such as “Mr” or “Dr”, or wording such as “my name is” or “named” are left out. These checks are automatic and can miss things; if an excerpt identifies someone, tell us and we will remove it. Complaints are identified by their public NHTSA number.

Independence

We take no payment from manufacturers or dealers, and we do not sell leads. The site may carry advertising, which is clearly labelled and kept apart from the data.

Corrections and right of reply

Every model-year page has a “Report an error” link. Owners, manufacturers, dealers and anyone else can use it, or the contact form, to point out a mistake or ask for context to be added. We review every request. If our processing or a summary misstates the source records, we correct the page and note the change; if an example complaint is mis-assigned or reveals personal information, we remove it and keep it on a list that stops it from being shown again after data updates. Errors in NHTSA’s or the EPA’s own data can only be corrected by those agencies, and we will say so and point to the right office.