NHTSA Weighs Fewer Recall Letters as Over-the-Air Fixes Spread
NHTSA is looking at more flexible recall notices for software fixes. It also offers $1.5 million to states and a bulk VIN tool for fleets.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants more recalled cars actually fixed, and it sees over-the-air software updates as one of the best tools for that. Speaking at the agency’s Recalls Next summit, Administrator Jonathan Morrison said NHTSA is “exploring ways to provide additional flexibility in the manner of notification” for recalls fixed by software, according to Not a Tesla App.
For owners, that could eventually mean fewer paper recall letters arriving for problems their car already fixed itself overnight. NHTSA is taking public comments through Dec. 5, so any change to how notices are delivered would come after that.
Why so many recalls go unrepaired
In 2025, NHTSA oversaw nearly 900 recalls covering more than 29 million vehicles. Millions of vehicles with open safety recalls are still on the road, and Morrison said the agency now judges success by repairs, not mail. “What matters is the number of vehicles repaired,” he said.
The biggest obstacle is hassle. Even when a recall repair costs nothing, getting to a dealer can mean losing a day of work, finding childcare or arranging a ride. About four in 10 owners cited inconvenience as a main reason they never completed a recall, Morrison said.
Over-the-air (OTA) updates skip the dealer visit entirely. The car downloads new software over a cellular or Wi-Fi connection and installs it, the way a phone does. Morrison said these remedies generally reach high completion rates for exactly that reason. NHTSA regulates OTA recalls under the same rules as physical repairs.
What it means for owners
Today an owner whose car was patched remotely can still get a recall letter in the mail weeks later. Tesla drivers have seen this happen. In 2024, Tesla fixed a tire pressure monitoring problem on about 700,000 vehicles with a software update before the recall notice was even published, Not a Tesla App reported. NHTSA began marking software-fixed recalls on its website around then, but the letters kept coming.
Tesla handles most of its recalls with software and asks owners to come in only when a hardware repair is unavoidable or regulators require one. It uses the same approach outside the United States. In China, the company is addressing a recall of nearly 3 million vehicles over emergency door releases mostly with an update that lowers the windows after a crash, plus warning stickers for the manual releases.
Not every recall can be handled this way. Brakes, airbags and other physical parts still need a technician, and those repairs remain free at a franchised dealer. Any owner can check for open recalls by entering the vehicle identification number (VIN) at nhtsa.gov/recalls or with the automaker’s own lookup.
Other recall changes NHTSA announced
The agency is offering $1.5 million in grants to help more states put recall information into vehicle registration renewal notices. Morrison said letters from state motor vehicle departments have sometimes produced repair rates two to three times higher than notices from manufacturers alone. People tend to open mail from the DMV.
NHTSA also launched a bulk VIN lookup that lets dealers and fleet operators check up to 100 vehicles at once. Individual owners can keep using the single-VIN search.
What happens next
Summit sessions also covered how software recalls should work for autonomous vehicles. The comment period on recall notification runs through Dec. 5. Morrison did not give a date for any final rule, so owners should keep reading recall letters for now, even if their car has already updated.
Source: Not a Tesla App
