Over-the-Air Recalls: How Software Updates Fix Safety Defects

For most of the history of vehicle recalls, the fix meant a trip to the dealer. That is changing. Modern cars run dozens of computers, many defects now live in software, and a growing number of manufacturers can send a corrected program to the car over a cellular or Wi-Fi connection. When that update is the remedy for a safety recall, it is called an over-the-air (OTA) recall. This explainer covers what that means for you as an owner or a buyer, and the one thing that is easy to miss: making sure the update actually landed.

Same recall, different delivery

An OTA recall is legally the same as any other. The manufacturer decides a safety defect exists, files a defect report with NHTSA, the campaign receives an NHTSA number, and owners are notified by first-class mail. The remedy must still be free. The only difference is how the fix reaches the car: a download rather than a technician.

That matters because completion rates are one of the stubborn problems of the recall system. Many owners never bring their car in, and recalls stay open on vehicles for years. A remedy that installs while the car sits in a driveway can reach a large share of the fleet within days, which is why NHTSA records whether a remedy is delivered over the air as a field on each recall.

How common are OTA recalls?

Of the 2,697 recall campaigns in our index, 66 (2.4%) list an over-the-air update as a remedy, issued between 2020 and 2025. They are concentrated among manufacturers whose vehicles were designed around connected software from the start, though traditional manufacturers now use them too. A campaign can cover more than one brand, so the counts below can add up to more than the total.

Counted from NHTSA’s over-the-air flag on each campaign in our index, which covers model years we track rather than every vehicle sold. The table updates with each data refresh.

What kinds of defects get fixed over the air?

Anything that a change of software can correct. In practice that includes rear-view camera images that fail to appear, warning lights or chimes that do not activate, instrument displays that go blank, driver-assistance behaviour, battery-management logic on electric vehicles, and the control of lights and wipers. Some of the largest recalls of recent years were OTA: in 2023 Tesla recalled about two million vehicles to add controls and alerts to its Autosteer feature, and the remedy was a software update.

Physical defects cannot be downloaded away. A cracked weld, a faulty air bag inflator or a fuel pump that wears out early still needs parts and a technician. Sometimes a manufacturer uses software as an interim measure, for example to limit charging or warn the driver, while the hardware fix is prepared. In that case the recall stays open until the physical repair is done, even though an update was installed.

How to confirm the update installed

This is the step owners skip. An update can fail to install if the car is rarely connected, if it lost power during installation, if a connected-services subscription lapsed, or if the owner postponed it and forgot. To check:

1. Read the owner letter. It names the software version or update that contains the remedy.
2. Check the car. Most vehicles show the installed software version and update history in a settings or software menu, and many manufacturers’ phone apps show it too.
3. Run the VIN. Enter it at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Completion is reported by the manufacturer, so allow some time after the update; if the recall still shows as open weeks later, ask the manufacturer to confirm.
4. Ask for a dealer install if needed. Most OTA remedies can also be installed at a dealer, free, if the car will not take the update on its own.

What this means if you are buying used

A used car with a long list of OTA recalls is not necessarily a problem car. Software-heavy vehicles generate more software recalls, and many of them are installed automatically before the car is ever sold on. What matters is whether each one is closed on that VIN. Ask the seller to show you the software screen, run the VIN through NHTSA’s lookup, and check that the car’s connectivity still works, because a car that can no longer receive updates will need a dealer visit for every future software remedy.

On our site, each recall campaign page, reachable from the recall database and from every vehicle report, notes whether NHTSA records an over-the-air remedy. For the wider buying checklist, see buying a used car, and for electric vehicles in particular, buying a used EV.

Sources

• NHTSA: Recalls — campaign records, including the over-the-air remedy flag, and the VIN lookup
• NHTSA: Recalls and defects — how the recall process works