Data Sources & Public Records

Name: YearTell Federal Vehicle Safety and Defect Data Sources
Creator: YearTell
License: https://www.usa.gov/publicdomain/label/1.0/

Everything on this site is built from public records published by US federal agencies. Nothing is scraped from third-party sites, purchased from commercial brokers, or submitted by anonymous users.

Federal Datasets

NHTSA Owner Complaints (FLAT_CMPL)

Reports filed by vehicle owners with the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation since January 1, 1995. Public domain under 17 U.S.C. §105.

NHTSA Safety Recall Campaigns (FLAT_RCL)

Manufacturer safety recall campaigns filed with the US Department of Transportation since 1967.

NHTSA Defect Investigations (FLAT_INV)

Formal inquiries opened by the federal regulator into suspected vehicle defects.

US EPA Fuel Economy Catalog

Official miles-per-gallon and powertrain ratings used in the ownership cost calculation tool.

NHTSA vPIC Vehicle Catalog

Reference manufacturer and model catalog for entity validation.

What We Deliberately Do Not Use

No private VIN history reports, no state DMV registration records, no proprietary dealer repair schedules, and no scraped forum commentary.

Attribution & Independence

YearTell is completely independent from NHTSA, the EPA, and all vehicle manufacturers. Manufacturer and model names appear solely for nominative identification.