§ 573.15 - Public availability of motor vehicle recall information.

§ 573.15 Public availability of motor vehicle recall information.

(a) General - Manufacturers that have manufactured for sale, sold, offered for sale, introduced or delivered for introduction in interstate commerce, or imported into the United States 25,000 or more light vehicles or 5,000 or more motorcycles in the current calendar year or the prior calendar year shall make motor vehicle safety recall information applicable to the vehicles they manufactured available to the public on the Internet. The information shall be in a format that is searchable by vehicle make and model and vehicle identification number (VIN), that preserves consumer privacy, and that includes information about each recall that has not been completed for each vehicle.

(b) Specific requirements - The system that manufacturers use to provide the information as specified in paragraph (a) of this section must also meet the following requirements:

(1) Be free of charge and not require users to register or submit information, other than a make, model, and a VIN, in order to obtain information on recalls;

(2) Have a hyperlink (Internet link) to it conspicuously placed on the manufacturer's main United States' Web page;

(3) Not include sales or marketing messages with the page for entering a make, model, and VIN, or with the page where the results are displayed;

(4) Allow users to search a vehicle's recall remedy status, and report that a recall has not been completed on that vehicle, as soon as possible and no later than the date when the manufacturer includes that vehicle on its list compiled for purposes of 49 CFR 573.8(a);

(5) Ensure safety recalls subject to paragraph (b)(4) of this section are conspicuously placed first, before any other information that is displayed;

(6) For vehicles that have been identified as covered by a safety recall, but for which the recall remedy is not yet available, state that the vehicle is covered by the safety recall and that the remedy is not yet available;

(7) Be updated at least once every seven (7) calendar days. The date of the last update must display on both the page for entering the make, model, and VIN to search for recall completion information and the results page;

(8) Where the search results in identification of a recall that has not been completed, state the recall campaign number NHTSA assigned to the matter; state the date the defect or noncompliance was reported pursuant to Part 573; provide a brief description of the safety defect or noncompliance, including the risk to safety, identified in the manufacturer's information report or owner notification letter filed pursuant to this part; and describe the remedy program;

(9) At a minimum, include recall completion information for each vehicle covered by any safety recall for which the owner notification campaign started at any time within the previous fifteen (15) calendar years;

(10) State the earliest date for which recall completion information is available, either on the search page or on the results page, and provide information for all owner notification campaigns after that date;

(11) Instruct the user to contact the manufacturer if the user has questions or wishes to question the accuracy of any information, and provide a hyperlink or other contact information for doing so;

(12) Ensure, through adherence with technical specifications that NHTSA makes available through a secure area of its Web site http://www.safercar.gov/Vehicle + Manufacturers/RecallsPortal, the secure electronic transfer of the recall information and data required to be made publicly available by this section, to NHTSA for its use in displaying that information and data on its Web sites or other public portals.

[78 FR 51421, Aug. 20, 2013, as amended at 79 FR 43677, July 28, 2014]