Data Sources & Methodology

Last updated July 30, 2026

Primary sources

Vehicle names and model-year combinations come from NHTSA’s vPIC API. Recall campaigns and manufacturer communications come from records made publicly accessible through NHTSA datasets and APIs. Manufacturer communication PDFs are generally authored by manufacturers and hosted or indexed by NHTSA.

How records are processed

1. A daily job checks NHTSA sources for newly available or changed records.
2. Records are imported through queues and associated with the year, make, and model applications supplied by the source.
3. Automated tools, including Google Gemini, may classify a manufacturer communication and create a short plain-language summary.
4. Potential alert emails enter a review queue before delivery to verified subscribers.

What the results mean

Search results are associations to a vehicle profile, not VIN-level applicability findings. The archive may be delayed, incomplete, duplicated, superseded, or affected by source-data errors. Content created with automated tools may also contain errors. The linked source record controls.

Recall entries are displayed separately from service bulletins. A manufacturer communication connected to an identified recall may be labeled and linked as recall-related. For an individual vehicle’s open recalls, use NHTSA’s VIN lookup.

Reuse and corrections

Dipstick Alerts links to source documents and creates short, original summaries rather than republishing complete manufacturer PDFs. It does not use NHTSA or manufacturer seals and does not claim endorsement. To report a source mismatch, correction, rights concern, or takedown request, email hello@dipstickalerts.com with the record identifier.