Car recall check for Canada
Does the car you are looking at have recalls? Paste its VIN, or pick the year, make and model, and see every Transport Canada recall published for that model year: what is wrong, the safety risk, and what the maker will do about it.
Which car?
Keep going with Uobo
Uobo is your personal car agent. Text it what you need and it does the research and the checks, asks dealerships about availability, condition and price for you, and helps you decide. This is the text you would send:
On a computer? Text (289) 819-4586 from your phone and paste what you copied. Standard message rates apply. Reply STOP any time to stop.
How it works
Transport Canada publishes the vehicle recalls it is told about as open data. We load that list into this page, so the check is quick and runs on your device.
If you enter a VIN, your browser asks the US government's free VIN decoder (NHTSA) which car it belongs to. That gives the year, make and model, and we match them against the recall list. The VIN goes straight from your browser to NHTSA and does not pass through Uobo. If you pick the year, make and model yourself, nothing is looked up outside this page.
Recalls are filed by model and model year, not by individual car. The list shows the recalls that apply to every car of that model year. Whether one particular car had the repair is known only to the maker, which is why the page tells you who to ask.
Example: a 2019 Honda Civic
Pick 2019, Honda and Civic and the list shows 6 recalls. The newest, issued on May 21, 2026, covers a weight sensor in the front passenger seat that may not have been made properly, which could make the airbags deploy when they should not. The others involve wheels and the fuel system. Each one says what the maker will do to fix it.
What this does not cover
- It cannot tell you whether a particular car was repaired. Only the maker's records know. Give the VIN to a dealership of that brand and ask them to check it.
- It covers cars, SUVs, minivans and light trucks and vans from the 2000 model year on. Motorcycles, trailers, heavy trucks and tires are not included.
- The free VIN decoder is US data. It decodes most cars sold in Canada, but it can miss Canada-only trims and models. If it does not know your VIN, pick the year, make and model instead.
- No recall does not mean a good car. A recall is a defect the maker reported. This is not an inspection and not a vehicle history report.
- The list is refreshed about once a month, so a very new recall can be missing for a few weeks.
Common questions
How do I check if a car has a recall in Canada?
Enter its VIN above, or pick the year, make and model. That shows the Transport Canada recalls for that model year. To find out whether this exact car was repaired, give the VIN to the maker or any dealership of that brand.
Is a recall check free?
Yes. This one is free, and so is Transport Canada's own database. The data comes from the government's open data.
Are recall repairs free in Canada?
Safety recall repairs are normally done by the maker's dealerships at no cost to the owner. Ask the dealership to confirm for your car.
Should I buy a used car that has an open recall?
Ask the seller for proof the repair was done, or have a dealership of that brand run the VIN. An unrepaired safety defect matters until it is fixed, and the repair is normally free, so it is something to settle before you pay rather than a reason to rule the car out.
Where do I find the VIN?
On a sticker inside the driver's door frame, at the base of the windshield on the driver's side, and on the registration, insurance papers and any listing. It has 17 letters and numbers and never uses the letters I, O or Q.
Why does the VIN decoder not recognise my car?
It is a US database. Most cars sold in Canada are in it, but some Canada-only models and trims are missing, and a single mistyped character will fail. Check each character, or pick the year, make and model instead.
Where the numbers come from
Last checked against these official pages on 2026-10-07. Rates and rules change, so check the source before you rely on a figure.