How we check facts

Every number on CarBrief comes from a public record kept by a US government agency. Each claim on a page is linked to the fact it rests on, and each fact is linked to its source.

Where the data comes from

• Owner complaints: the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation complaint database. Owners file these reports themselves. NHTSA does not verify each one, and one complaint can name several parts of the car.
• Recalls: NHTSA recall records, including what failed, the risk and the remedy the automaker filed.
• Safety ratings: the NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings program (NCAP).
• Fuel economy: EPA ratings published on fueleconomy.gov by the US Department of Energy and EPA.

How a page is made

1. We load the latest records and match them to one model year. NHTSA and EPA name models differently, so we map the names and keep heavy-duty versions (such as 2500 and 3500 pickups) separate from light-duty ones.
2. A research step lists what the records show and what they cannot tell you.
3. An editing step writes the page in plain English. Every number carries a reference to its fact.
4. A separate review step checks each claim against the records before the page is published.

Limits

Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so they are best used to compare years of the same model. We do not cover oil capacity, towing capacity or tire sizes, because that information lives in automaker manuals we do not republish. Always check open recalls for your own car by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.