{
  "name": "ProblemsByVin Data Center",
  "description": "Free, downloadable datasets derived from the US NHTSA owner-complaint and recall record — the derived layer (fleet reliability scores, failure-mileage quartiles, recall gaps, per-family density) you can't get from the raw NHTSA API.",
  "homepage": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
    "attribution": "ProblemsByVin (https://problemsbyvin.com)",
    "source": "US NHTSA owner complaints + recalls (public record), MY 2005–2025"
  },
  "updated": "2026-07-21",
  "update_cadence": "weekly",
  "dataset_count": 9,
  "datasets": [
    {
      "id": "vehicle-reliability-scorecard",
      "title": "Vehicle Reliability Scorecard",
      "description": "One row per vehicle (year + make + model) with its ProblemsByVin reliability score, total NHTSA complaints, recalls, and defect investigations, plus the single component owners complain about most. The master index across the whole tracked fleet — the flat table to join every other dataset to.",
      "methodology": "The reliability score is a TRANSPARENT heuristic on a 1.0 (worst) – 5.0 (best) scale (the site shows it ×2, out of 10). It starts at 5.0 and subtracts log10(complaints + 1) × 0.55, 0.30 per critical recall, and 0.10 per severe recall. It is a complaint-and-recall-VOLUME signal, NOT a per-capita failure rate: we do not yet have sales/registration denominators, so higher-volume models can score lower simply because more of them are on the road. \"top_component\" is the component category with the most complaints for that vehicle. Alleged death/fire counts are sums of unverified consumer allegations across the vehicle’s complaints. Motorcycles are excluded (this site is cars-only).",
      "row_noun": "vehicles",
      "row_count": 5581,
      "columns": [
        {
          "name": "year",
          "description": "Model year"
        },
        {
          "name": "make",
          "description": "Manufacturer"
        },
        {
          "name": "model",
          "description": "Model"
        },
        {
          "name": "reliability_score",
          "description": "1.0 (worst) – 5.0 (best); shown on site as ×2 out of 10"
        },
        {
          "name": "complaints",
          "description": "Total NHTSA owner complaints"
        },
        {
          "name": "recalls",
          "description": "Total NHTSA recalls"
        },
        {
          "name": "investigations",
          "description": "NHTSA ODI defect investigations touching this vehicle"
        },
        {
          "name": "top_component",
          "description": "Component category with the most complaints"
        },
        {
          "name": "top_component_complaints",
          "description": "Complaints in that top component"
        },
        {
          "name": "worst_severity",
          "description": "Highest cluster severity: critical | severe | moderate"
        },
        {
          "name": "alleged_deaths",
          "description": "Complaints alleging a death (unverified)"
        },
        {
          "name": "alleged_fires",
          "description": "Complaints alleging a fire (unverified)"
        },
        {
          "name": "url",
          "description": "Vehicle page on ProblemsByVin"
        }
      ],
      "landing_page": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/#vehicle-reliability-scorecard",
      "formats": {
        "csv": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/vehicle-reliability-scorecard.csv",
        "json": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/vehicle-reliability-scorecard.json"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "failure-mileage-distribution",
      "title": "Failure-Mileage Distribution",
      "description": "For every vehicle + component failure pattern with enough mileage-bearing complaints, the mileage at which owners report the failure — as quartiles (25th / median / 75th percentile). Built from NHTSA’s ODI flat-file, which carries odometer readings the JSON API omits. No other public source aggregates complaint mileage at this resolution.",
      "methodology": "Each row is one (vehicle, component-category) cluster. Mileage is parsed from the NHTSA ODI bulk export and validated to the 1,000–400,000 mi band (data-entry artifacts outside that range are dropped). Quartiles are published only when a cluster has ≥8 mileage-bearing complaints. Complaints are unverified consumer reports.",
      "row_noun": "failure patterns",
      "row_count": 9531,
      "columns": [
        {
          "name": "year",
          "description": "Model year"
        },
        {
          "name": "make",
          "description": "Manufacturer"
        },
        {
          "name": "model",
          "description": "Model"
        },
        {
          "name": "component",
          "description": "Failure category (NHTSA component taxonomy)"
        },
        {
          "name": "complaints",
          "description": "Total NHTSA complaints in this cluster"
        },
        {
          "name": "mileage_samples",
          "description": "Complaints carrying a valid odometer reading"
        },
        {
          "name": "mileage_p25",
          "description": "25th-percentile failure mileage"
        },
        {
          "name": "mileage_median",
          "description": "Median failure mileage"
        },
        {
          "name": "mileage_p75",
          "description": "75th-percentile failure mileage"
        },
        {
          "name": "est_repair_usd",
          "description": "Est. independent-shop repair cost (USD)"
        },
        {
          "name": "severity",
          "description": "critical | severe | moderate"
        },
        {
          "name": "url",
          "description": "Source page on ProblemsByVin"
        }
      ],
      "landing_page": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/#failure-mileage-distribution",
      "formats": {
        "csv": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/failure-mileage-distribution.csv",
        "json": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/failure-mileage-distribution.json"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "post-warranty-failures",
      "title": "Post-Warranty Failure Patterns",
      "description": "Failure patterns whose median reported mileage is past the typical 60,000-mile powertrain warranty — i.e. defects that statistically surface after coverage lapses, leaving owners to pay. Sorted by complaint volume.",
      "methodology": "Subset of the failure-mileage dataset where the median failure mileage exceeds 60,000 mi (the most common US powertrain term, 5yr/60k) and the cluster has ≥8 mileage-bearing complaints. \"miles_past_warranty\" is median minus 60,000. Complaints are unverified consumer reports.",
      "row_noun": "post-warranty failure patterns",
      "row_count": 4953,
      "columns": [
        {
          "name": "year",
          "description": "Model year"
        },
        {
          "name": "make",
          "description": "Manufacturer"
        },
        {
          "name": "model",
          "description": "Model"
        },
        {
          "name": "component",
          "description": "Failure category"
        },
        {
          "name": "complaints",
          "description": "Total NHTSA complaints in this cluster"
        },
        {
          "name": "mileage_median",
          "description": "Median failure mileage"
        },
        {
          "name": "miles_past_warranty",
          "description": "Median minus 60,000-mi warranty"
        },
        {
          "name": "mileage_samples",
          "description": "Complaints carrying a valid odometer reading"
        },
        {
          "name": "est_repair_usd",
          "description": "Est. independent-shop repair cost (USD)"
        },
        {
          "name": "severity",
          "description": "critical | severe | moderate"
        },
        {
          "name": "url",
          "description": "Source page on ProblemsByVin"
        }
      ],
      "landing_page": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/#post-warranty-failures",
      "formats": {
        "csv": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/post-warranty-failures.csv",
        "json": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/post-warranty-failures.json"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "fire-crash-injury-index",
      "title": "Fire / Crash / Injury Complaint Index",
      "description": "Failure patterns where owners alleged a fire, crash, injury, or death in their NHTSA complaint, ranked by alleged deaths then fires. These are UNVERIFIED consumer reports filed with NHTSA, not confirmed incidents — they indicate where owners report the most severe outcomes, not adjudicated causation.",
      "methodology": "Each row is a (vehicle, component-category) cluster carrying ≥1 complaint flagged by NHTSA for crash, fire, injury, or death. Counts are sums of those NHTSA flags across the cluster’s complaints. NHTSA complaints are submitted by consumers and are not verified by NHTSA or ProblemsByVin; treat as allegations.",
      "row_noun": "harm-flagged failure patterns",
      "row_count": 13999,
      "columns": [
        {
          "name": "year",
          "description": "Model year"
        },
        {
          "name": "make",
          "description": "Manufacturer"
        },
        {
          "name": "model",
          "description": "Model"
        },
        {
          "name": "component",
          "description": "Failure category"
        },
        {
          "name": "complaints",
          "description": "Total NHTSA complaints in this cluster"
        },
        {
          "name": "alleged_deaths",
          "description": "Complaints alleging a death (unverified)"
        },
        {
          "name": "alleged_fires",
          "description": "Complaints alleging a fire (unverified)"
        },
        {
          "name": "alleged_injuries",
          "description": "Complaints alleging an injury (unverified)"
        },
        {
          "name": "alleged_crashes",
          "description": "Complaints alleging a crash (unverified)"
        },
        {
          "name": "severity",
          "description": "critical | severe | moderate"
        },
        {
          "name": "url",
          "description": "Source page on ProblemsByVin"
        }
      ],
      "landing_page": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/#fire-crash-injury-index",
      "formats": {
        "csv": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/fire-crash-injury-index.csv",
        "json": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/fire-crash-injury-index.json"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "engine-complaint-density",
      "title": "Engine-Family Complaint Density",
      "description": "Curated problematic engine families (documented defect patterns — class actions, NHTSA investigations, or 100+ fleet complaints), with total NHTSA complaints, recalls, and complaints normalized per model-year entry. Density lets you compare families of different production volumes.",
      "methodology": "Families are the editorial set powering /engines/. For each family we sum complaints/recalls/harm flags across every matching (year, make, model) in the DB. \"complaints_per_modelyear\" = total complaints ÷ model-year entries present. Complaints are unverified consumer reports.",
      "row_noun": "engine families",
      "row_count": 21,
      "columns": [
        {
          "name": "engine_family",
          "description": "Engine family name"
        },
        {
          "name": "manufacturer",
          "description": "Manufacturer"
        },
        {
          "name": "displacement",
          "description": "Displacement"
        },
        {
          "name": "configuration",
          "description": "Engine configuration"
        },
        {
          "name": "years",
          "description": "Production years"
        },
        {
          "name": "modelyear_entries",
          "description": "Matching model-year entries in DB"
        },
        {
          "name": "complaints",
          "description": "Total NHTSA complaints across the family"
        },
        {
          "name": "complaints_per_modelyear",
          "description": "Complaints ÷ model-year entries"
        },
        {
          "name": "recalls",
          "description": "Total recalls across the family"
        },
        {
          "name": "alleged_fires",
          "description": "Complaints alleging fire (unverified)"
        },
        {
          "name": "alleged_deaths",
          "description": "Complaints alleging death (unverified)"
        },
        {
          "name": "url",
          "description": "Source page on ProblemsByVin"
        }
      ],
      "landing_page": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/#engine-complaint-density",
      "formats": {
        "csv": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/engine-complaint-density.csv",
        "json": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/engine-complaint-density.json"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "worst-transmissions-2005-2025",
      "title": "Worst Transmissions 2005–2025",
      "description": "Curated problematic transmission families (DCT, CVT, and conventional automatics with documented defect patterns), ranked by total NHTSA owner complaints across every vehicle that used the unit.",
      "methodology": "Families are the editorial set powering /transmissions/. NHTSA does not expose a standalone \"transmission\" complaint category — transmission complaints bucket under \"powertrain\" — so this dataset aggregates by curated family (matching year/make/model lists), not a category filter. Complaints are unverified consumer reports.",
      "row_noun": "transmission families",
      "row_count": 10,
      "columns": [
        {
          "name": "transmission_family",
          "description": "Transmission family name"
        },
        {
          "name": "manufacturer",
          "description": "Manufacturer"
        },
        {
          "name": "type",
          "description": "Transmission type"
        },
        {
          "name": "years",
          "description": "Production years"
        },
        {
          "name": "modelyear_entries",
          "description": "Matching model-year entries in DB"
        },
        {
          "name": "complaints",
          "description": "Total NHTSA complaints across the family"
        },
        {
          "name": "complaints_per_modelyear",
          "description": "Complaints ÷ model-year entries"
        },
        {
          "name": "recalls",
          "description": "Total recalls across the family"
        },
        {
          "name": "alleged_crashes",
          "description": "Complaints alleging crash (unverified)"
        },
        {
          "name": "url",
          "description": "Source page on ProblemsByVin"
        }
      ],
      "landing_page": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/#worst-transmissions-2005-2025",
      "formats": {
        "csv": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/worst-transmissions-2005-2025.csv",
        "json": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/worst-transmissions-2005-2025.json"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "recall-gap-index",
      "title": "Recall-Gap Index",
      "description": "High-complaint failure patterns that have NO corresponding NHTSA recall — defects owners report in volume that regulators never forced a fix for. Every row is cross-checked against the live NHTSA recalls API, so vehicles that WERE recalled for the component (even when our local DB missed it) are excluded.",
      "methodology": "Candidates are (vehicle, component) clusters with no recall for that component in our DB and ≥ the complaint threshold. Each candidate vehicle is then queried against the live NHTSA recalls-by-vehicle API; any cluster whose component is in fact covered by a real NHTSA recall is REMOVED. Survivors are genuine recall gaps as of the verification date. Complaints are unverified consumer reports; absence of a recall is per NHTSA records on the verification date.",
      "row_noun": "unrecalled failure patterns",
      "row_count": 4287,
      "columns": [
        {
          "name": "year",
          "description": "Model year"
        },
        {
          "name": "make",
          "description": "Manufacturer"
        },
        {
          "name": "model",
          "description": "Model"
        },
        {
          "name": "component",
          "description": "Failure category with no NHTSA recall"
        },
        {
          "name": "complaints",
          "description": "Total NHTSA complaints in this cluster"
        },
        {
          "name": "mileage_median",
          "description": "Median failure mileage (if available)"
        },
        {
          "name": "alleged_deaths",
          "description": "Complaints alleging death (unverified)"
        },
        {
          "name": "alleged_fires",
          "description": "Complaints alleging fire (unverified)"
        },
        {
          "name": "severity",
          "description": "critical | severe | moderate"
        },
        {
          "name": "url",
          "description": "Source page on ProblemsByVin"
        }
      ],
      "landing_page": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/#recall-gap-index",
      "formats": {
        "csv": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/recall-gap-index.csv",
        "json": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/recall-gap-index.json"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "nhtsa-investigations",
      "title": "NHTSA Defect Investigations",
      "description": "Every NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) action touching a tracked vehicle — open and historical. The leading indicator of a recall: a Preliminary Evaluation (PE) can escalate to an Engineering Analysis (EA) and then a recall. Includes the recall campaign number for investigations that became recalls.",
      "methodology": "Parsed from NHTSA’s ODI investigations flat file (FLAT_INV) and matched to our vehicles by year/make/model. One row per NHTSA action number. \"status\" is open when the federal record carries no close date; \"recall_campaign\" holds the NHTSA campaign number when the investigation led to a recall. An investigation is NHTSA examining a pattern — not a confirmed defect.",
      "row_noun": "investigations",
      "row_count": 586,
      "columns": [
        {
          "name": "action_number",
          "description": "NHTSA investigation ID (prefix = type)"
        },
        {
          "name": "type",
          "description": "PE | EA | RQ | DP | AQ — investigation stage"
        },
        {
          "name": "status",
          "description": "open | closed, per the NHTSA record"
        },
        {
          "name": "make",
          "description": "Manufacturer (blank if it spans multiple makes)"
        },
        {
          "name": "model",
          "description": "Model (blank if it spans multiple models)"
        },
        {
          "name": "year_start",
          "description": "Earliest affected model year in our fleet"
        },
        {
          "name": "year_end",
          "description": "Latest affected model year in our fleet"
        },
        {
          "name": "component",
          "description": "NHTSA component under investigation"
        },
        {
          "name": "opened",
          "description": "Investigation open date"
        },
        {
          "name": "closed",
          "description": "Close date (blank if open)"
        },
        {
          "name": "recall_campaign",
          "description": "NHTSA recall campaign # if it led to a recall"
        },
        {
          "name": "nhtsa_url",
          "description": "Official NHTSA record"
        }
      ],
      "landing_page": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/#nhtsa-investigations",
      "formats": {
        "csv": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/nhtsa-investigations.csv",
        "json": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/nhtsa-investigations.json"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "tsb-index",
      "title": "Service-Bulletin (TSB) Index",
      "description": "One row per vehicle (year + make + model) with the number of NHTSA-collected technical service bulletins (TSBs) its manufacturer issued — the automaker's own dealer-facing documentation of a known condition and its fix — plus the component area most bulletined and, for comparison, the vehicle's owner-complaint and recall totals. A TSB is an acknowledgment of a known issue short of a recall; no other public source aggregates TSB counts into a downloadable per-vehicle table.",
      "methodology": "Built from NHTSA's technical service bulletin flat file (manufacturer-to-dealer communications NHTSA collects). \"tsb_count\" is the distinct bulletins mapped to that (year, make, model); \"top_category\" is the NHTSA component area with the most. A TSB documents a known condition and a repair procedure — it is NOT a recall, and bulletin types range from major driveability fixes to minor informational or warranty-extension notes (Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions, Service Campaign, Warranty Program/Extension, Emissions, Over-The-Air). A high count reflects DOCUMENTATION VOLUME, not severity, and partly tracks a model's sales volume and age. Dates are bulletin communication dates. complaint_count and recall_count come from the NHTSA owner-complaint and recall record, for context. Motorcycles excluded.",
      "row_noun": "vehicles",
      "row_count": 6469,
      "columns": [
        {
          "name": "year",
          "description": "Model year"
        },
        {
          "name": "make",
          "description": "Manufacturer"
        },
        {
          "name": "model",
          "description": "Model"
        },
        {
          "name": "tsb_count",
          "description": "Distinct NHTSA technical service bulletins covering this vehicle"
        },
        {
          "name": "top_category",
          "description": "Component area with the most TSBs (NHTSA taxonomy)"
        },
        {
          "name": "top_category_tsbs",
          "description": "TSBs in that top component area"
        },
        {
          "name": "first_tsb",
          "description": "Earliest bulletin communication date (ISO)"
        },
        {
          "name": "last_tsb",
          "description": "Most recent bulletin communication date (ISO)"
        },
        {
          "name": "complaints",
          "description": "Total NHTSA owner complaints, for comparison"
        },
        {
          "name": "recalls",
          "description": "Total NHTSA recalls, for comparison"
        },
        {
          "name": "url",
          "description": "Vehicle page on ProblemsByVin"
        }
      ],
      "landing_page": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/#tsb-index",
      "formats": {
        "csv": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/tsb-index.csv",
        "json": "https://problemsbyvin.com/data/tsb-index.json"
      }
    }
  ]
}