The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recorded 8,733 vehicle recalls from Jan. 1, 2017, through Oct. 31, 2026, according to NHTSA records analyzed by the Tribune. Two categories of parts appear most often in those records: the electrical system and a category NHTSA calls equipment.

The figures show which parts recalls involve, how many vehicles the recall reports name, and how the counts differ from one year to the next. They help readers place any single recall in a longer record.

What the figures count

The analysis covers vehicle recalls only. It leaves out NHTSA’s separate recalls of equipment, tires and child seats. In the same period, NHTSA’s records list 875 equipment recalls, 115 tire recalls and 37 child seat recalls, none of which are included in the vehicle totals.

Each recall is placed in a year by the date NHTSA received the recall report. The period runs from Jan. 1, 2017, through Oct. 31, 2026, so the 2026 figures cover only part of that year. The Tribune’s stored records start in 2016, but years the records do not cover from January are left out.

The recall reports state how many vehicles may be affected. Added together, those numbers come to 318,755,983 vehicles potentially affected, according to NHTSA’s records. That total is not a count of separate vehicles, because a vehicle recalled more than once is counted each time.

NHTSA also flags some recalls with special warnings. In the period, 164 recalls carried a “Do not drive” flag. Another 102 were flagged “Park outside,” which NHTSA uses when there is a fire risk while a vehicle is parked.

The parts recalled most often

NHTSA sorts each recall into component categories, which are its own names for the parts involved. A recall that names several categories is counted under each one, so the category counts add up to more than the total number of recalls.

The electrical system was the most common category, appearing in 1,407 recalls, or 16.1% of all vehicle recalls in the period, according to NHTSA records analyzed by the Tribune. Equipment followed with 1,387 recalls, or 15.9%. In these figures, equipment is a component category within vehicle recalls, not NHTSA’s separate equipment recalls.

Air bags appeared in 567 recalls, or 6.5%, and structure in 563, or 6.4%. Steering appeared in 446 recalls, or 5.1%. Power train and exterior lighting each appeared in 429, or 4.9%.

The rest of the 10 most common categories were suspension, with 346 recalls, or 4.0%; hydraulic service brakes, with 330, or 3.8%; and seat belts, with 297, or 3.4%.

The categories differ in how often their recalls carried a “Do not drive” flag. Air bag recalls had 38 such flags, steering recalls 22 and suspension recalls 19, according to NHTSA’s records. Seat belt recalls had none in the period.

The largest single recalls show what these categories can involve. The largest by vehicles potentially affected was received May 17, 2018, from FCA US, LLC, for Chrysler vehicles, under the description “Cruise Control cannot be Cancelled.” It covered 4,815,661 vehicles and fell in the electrical system category.

The second largest was received Feb. 20, 2026, from Ford Motor Company and covered 4,381,878 vehicles, also in the electrical system category. NHTSA’s records describe it as “Trailer Lighting and Brakes May Not Function/FMVSS 108.” Other recalls among the five largest involved hydraulic service brakes, the power train and air bags.

How the counts differ by year

The yearly totals of vehicle recalls ranged from 782 in 2020 to 988 in 2021, according to NHTSA records analyzed by the Tribune. NHTSA’s records list 810 recalls in 2017, 912 in 2018 and 879 in 2019. They list 933 in 2022, 894 in 2023, 950 in 2024 and 891 in 2025.

For 2026, the records list 694 recalls through Oct. 31. Because that year is incomplete, its total does not cover the same length of time as the other years.

The flagged recalls also vary by year. “Do not drive” recalls ranged from 11 in 2020 to 23 in 2024. “Park outside” recalls numbered zero in 2017 and one each in 2018 and 2019. The records list 20 in 2023 and 21 in 2026 through Oct. 31.

The leading category has shifted between two groups. Equipment had the most recalls in six of the 10 calendar years shown, and the electrical system had the most in the other four.

Counts for individual categories also differ between the first and last full years in the period. Electrical system recalls numbered 79 in 2017 and 172 in 2025, according to NHTSA’s records. Equipment recalls numbered 168 in 2017 and 114 in 2025, and air bag recalls numbered 93 in 2017 and 39 in 2025.

Structure recalls numbered 38 in 2017 and 76 in 2025. Exterior lighting recalls numbered 27 in 2017 and 49 in 2025. The figures show these counts, not the reasons behind them.

Owners can check whether a vehicle is covered by a recall by entering its vehicle identification number at NHTSA.