When buying, many users start from a clear slogan: that your car does not give you too many headaches. The number of service calls is analyzed by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which closely monitors potential car problems in that country and denounces anomalies found in models of some brands.
Based on the data collected by NHTSA, iSeeCars, the portal specialized in informing and advising the North American consumer, has prepared a study with the most problematic car brands and models between 2014-2023. The worst results come from Tesla, the electric car company led by Elon Musk. Instead, the least problematic manufacturers were Mercedes-Benz and Toyota.
iSeeCars analyzed NHTSA's vehicle safety campaigns for cars from the years 2014-2023. As they explain, in their methodology, the number of recalls for each model was aggregated and projected for an expected lifespan of thirty years, taking into account the general behavior of the automaker and when the notice was issued. The resulting estimates were used to rank the models with the lowest and the highest “number of expected security fixes”.
The study, which excludes transport vehicles, very low production cars and models discontinued before 2020, concludes that the possibility of a recall differs (and a lot) from one vehicle to another. The average would be four calls in thirty years.
However, there are some models and brands of cars that are well above that figure. For 33 vehicles, it is estimated that the average number of recalls will be one or less; for 25 cars, it has been estimated that there will be ten or more recalls; and the 62 calls would be reached in the most problematic model of the report. That's the Tesla Model Y.
The 33 vehicles on the Least Remembered list are projected to experience one or fewer recalls over their lifetime. Mercedes-Benz, Lexus and Toyota are the most prominent brands, but there is also a wide range of models from Chevrolet, Fiat, Ford, Hyundai, Infiniti, Kia, Lincoln, Mazda, Mitsubishi and Nissan.
As a brand, Mercedes-Benz has nine models on the list of least reviewed cars while Porsche and Tesla each have four of the models with the most calls, they note in their analysis.
"For consumers who don't want to deal with a recall, the best models offer substantially less risk than even average models, like the Chevrolet Equinox or Honda Ridgeline, with four lifetime recalls expected," explains the executive analyst. from iSeeCars, Karl Brauer.
They give the example of the Hyundai Elantra GT or the Mercedes CLA, highly qualified models, according to the study. This, they point out in their conclusions, means fewer headaches, as far as repairs are concerned.
Totally different is the Tesla situation. However, they remember that a good part of the calls for revision of the vehicles of this brand do not require a visit to the dealership or the workshop, but are solved with wireless OTA (Over the Air) updates, through corrections in the newly downloaded software.
