10 Vehicles With the Highest (and Lowest) Recall Rates

Cars and Drivers

Published: May 22, 2018 2:06 pm

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 11:18 pm

When an automaker recalls a vehicle, owners at least have to put up with some amount of lost time they’ll never get back in order to take the vehicle into a dealer and waiting for the repair work to be done. Recalls for safety issues essentially demand that we get the work done as quickly as possible. That’s a good thing.

The more often this happens, though, the less inclined we are to think well of our choice of vehicle. That’s why auto research firm iSeeCars.com looked at recall campaigns for the past five model years (2013 through 2017) and calculated the average recall rate per 100,000 new vehicles sold per year for all models sold in the United States.

The researchers combed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recall database to calculate the recall rate and compared the rate to the Used Car reliability ratings compiled by Consumer Reports magazine.

The researchers found that the 10 vehicles with the highest recall rates were nearly 3.5-times more likely to be recalled while the 10 vehicles with the lowest recall rates were about 5-times less likely to be recalled. The average recall rate for all cars was 0.79 recall campaigns per year per 100,000 vehicles sold and the average Used Car reliability for all cars was 3.4 on a scale of 1 to 5.

Here are the 10 vehicles with the highest recall rates listed in order of average recall rates along with a comparison to the overall average and the Consumer Reports reliability rating.

Mercedes-Benz C-class
Average recall rate: 5.77 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 7.3-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 3.0

GMC Sierra
Average recall rate: 3.25 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 4.1-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 2.4

BMW 3/4 Series
Average recall rate: 2.95 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 3.7-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 3.6

Dodge Durango
Average recall rate: 2.71 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 3.4-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 2.0

Nissan Pathfinder
Average recall rate: 2.0 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 2.5-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 2.4

Ram Pickup
Average recall rate: 1.99 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 2.5-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 2.2

Toyota 4Runner
Average recall rate: 1.98 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 2.5-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 5.0

Dodge Charger
Average recall rate: 1.74 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 2.2-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: n/a

Chrysler 300
Average recall rate: 5.77 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 7.3-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 3.0

Chevrolet Tahoe
Average recall rate: 1.52 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 1.9-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 2.4

Here’s the list of the 10 vehicles with the lowest recall rates.

Hyundai Accent
Average recall rate: 0.1 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 0.1-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: n/a

Chevrolet Equinox
Average recall rate: 0.11 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 0.1-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 4.2

Toyota Corolla
Average recall rate: 0.12 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 0.1-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 4.8

Honda Civic
Average recall rate: 0.14 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 0.2-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 4.2

Honda CR-V
Average recall rate: 0.14 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 0.2-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 4.6

Honda Accord
Average recall rate: 0.16 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 0.23-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 5

Subaru Crosstrek
Average recall rate: 0.18 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 0.2-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 4.0

Toyota Camry
Average recall rate: 0.23 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 0.3-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 5.0

Hyundai Elantra
Average recall rate: 0.23 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 0.3-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 4.2

GMC Terrain
Average recall rate: 0.26 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 0.3-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 4.2