How We Rate Recall Severity

Not all recalls are equally urgent. A brake failure defect and a minor label compliance issue both appear in the same government database with no indication of relative risk. We built our severity system to change that.

The Problem with Official Recall Databases

Transport Canada and NHTSA publish recall notices as plain text descriptions. Neither database provides a standardized severity score or urgency indicator. When you look up your vehicle, a recall that could cause your brakes to fail at highway speed sits next to a recall for an incorrect owner's manual — with no visual distinction between them.

This matters because consumers have limited time and attention. When there are multiple open recalls on a vehicle, owners need to understand which ones demand immediate action and which can wait for a routine service appointment.

Why We Built This

Our goal is to help consumers quickly identify which recalls need urgent attention. With roughly 1 in 5 vehicles in Canada carrying an unresolved recall, the friction between "I have a recall" and "I'm going to the dealer today" is too high. Severity ratings lower that friction by making the most dangerous defects immediately visible.

How Our Rating System Works

Major League Recalls scans the official defect description and risk language from each recall notice using keyword analysis. We look for specific terms that signal different levels of physical risk — words like "fire," "crash," and "brake failure" at the high end; "label," "documentation," and "non-compliance" at the low end.

Based on the presence and combination of these keywords, each recall is assigned a score from 1 (Informational) to 5 (Critical). This score is displayed as a coloured badge on every recall listing.

The Five Severity Tiers