Tesla Recalls
Check open Tesla recalls by VIN. CheckMyVIN queries NHTSA's live recall API on every lookup — no stale snapshots, no signup.
How Tesla recall lookups work
When you enter a Tesla VIN, CheckMyVIN first decodes the vehicle (make, model, model year) against NHTSA VPIC. Those three fields are then sent to the NHTSA recallsByVehicle API, which returns every open campaign on file. Each result shows the official NHTSA campaign number (format: two-digit year, "V" for vehicle, six-digit sequence — e.g. 19V472000), the affected component, a paraphrased plain-English summary, and the dealer remedy. Tesla dealers perform recall work at no charge regardless of who currently owns the vehicle.
Why check Tesla recalls before buying used?
A used-car dealer is not required to complete open recalls before sale in most US states. Run the VIN before the test drive — if a recall is open, you can either ask the dealer to complete it before delivery, negotiate the price, or schedule the free fix at a Tesla authorized dealer after purchase.
Notable past Tesla recall campaigns
A few well-documented campaigns to show the kind of data CheckMyVIN surfaces per VIN. Click any campaign number for the full record on nhtsa.gov. Summaries below paraphrase the official NHTSA records — verify against the source for the authoritative wording.
NHTSA campaign 22V037000
Electrical system: ADAS — autonomous / self-driving software
2016-2022 Model S and Model X, 2017-2022 Model 3, 2020-2022 Model Y
A Full Self-Driving Beta feature allowed the vehicle to perform a "rolling stop" — proceeding through an all-way-stop intersection at low speed instead of fully stopping. Tesla pushed an over-the-air software update to disable the behavior; no dealer visit required.
NHTSA campaign 21V835000
Suspension: critical fasteners (front lateral link)
2019-2021 Model 3, 2020-2021 Model Y
The front-suspension lateral-link fasteners may not have been tightened to specification at the factory, which could allow the link to separate over time and reduce vehicle handling. Tesla dealers inspect and re-torque the fasteners at no charge.
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, via api.nhtsa.gov/recalls. Campaign numbers and components are verbatim from NHTSA; summaries are paraphrased.
What CheckMyVIN does not do
Some recalls are VIN-specific within a model year — only certain build dates or option packages are affected. NHTSA's public API returns the campaign for the year/make/model; for the final "is my exact VIN affected" answer, Tesla also publishes a VIN-specific lookup on their owners site, and you can search any campaign number on the NHTSA recall portal. CheckMyVIN cites every campaign by its official number so you can verify independently.
Want the full spec decode for this Tesla — engine code, assembly plant, model year, body class — alongside its recall history? Run it through the Tesla VIN Decoder; the report covers both the NHTSA specifications and every open recall in a single sticker.
Researching before you have a VIN in hand? Browse the full Tesla recall archive by model year — every NHTSA campaign since 1990, organized by year and model.