The 10 Most—and Least—Recalled Vehicles

Modern vehicles are the result of nearly 140 years of innovation and incremental improvement. Today’s cars have thousands of intricate parts working in tandem to keep motorists moving. On well-designed vehicles, these parts usually do their jobs for a long time before something breaks, as long as the owner is diligent about maintenance. But some vehicles fail not because of something wearing out or getting old, but because of one or more design flaws.

When these design flaws create a safety issue with the vehicle, manufacturers such as Hyundai, Nissan and others are required to issue a recall. This involves contacting all owners of the affected model and redesigning parts as needed to get each recalled vehicle fixed. So how do you know which makes and models of cars are most likely to be recalled? The vehicle sale and research site iseecars.com recently published an analysis shedding light on the answer.

How Did ISeeCars Rank Car Models by Recall?

ISeeCars examined vehicle recall data published by the National Highway Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and used it to make educated predictions of the number of recalls various vehicle makes and models will need over a 30-year span.

The NHTSA data includes numbers of recalls for all makes and models over the last decade. This made it easy for ISeeCars to create two lists: vehicles with the most projected recalls and vehicles with the least. The idea of the two lists is to inform car buyers which models are most and least likely to come with the hassle of recalls during 30 years on the road.

That said, it’s worth noting that the lists are essentially educated guesses. Vehicle designs and manufacturing practices change over time, so it’s reasonable to assume that not all these predictions will be accurate. Still, the lists do provide a valuable alternative to uninformed buying.

The Top 10 Most Recalled Cars

The following vehicle models are predicted to have the most recalls issued during a 30-year lifespan. The list is ordered from highest to lowest number of predicted recalls. The numbers range from 62 predicted recalls at the high end to 20 on the low end. It’s worth noting that four of the five top spots on this list are occupied by Tesla recall predictions.

• Tesla Model Y
• Porsche Panamera
• Tesla Model 3
• Tesla Model X
• Tesla Model S
• Lincoln Aviator
• Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport
• Volkswagen Atlas
• Ram 1500
• Ram 1500 Classic

The Top 10 Least Recalled Cars

The following vehicle models are predicted to have the fewest recalls issued during a 30-year lifespan. All of them are expected to be recalled less than once, but the list is ordered from the lowest to the highest chance of recalls.

• MINI Convertible
• Lexus NX 300h
• Lincoln MKZ Hybrid
• Mercedes-Benz CLA
• Lexus RX 450h
• Nissan 370Z
• Hyundai Elantra GT
• Mercedes-Benz GLA
• Mercedes-Benz GLC
• Lexus IS 300