Do-not-drive and park-outside recalls

Can you keep driving a recalled car?

Usually, yes, until the repair. NHTSA's advice for every recall is to follow any interim safety guidance in the manufacturer's letter and book the free fix at a dealer. For most recalls the letter doesn't ask you to stop driving.

A small number are different. The manufacturer tells owners outright not to drive the car, or to park it outside and away from buildings. In NHTSA's recall data for the vehicles on this site, 25 of 2,234 recall campaigns carry a do-not-drive warning, touching 61 of the vehicle-years with a page here. When your car has one of these, the warning is the most important line in the letter.

Do not drive

A do-not-drive warning means the manufacturer and NHTSA judge the risk too high to drive the car at all before it's repaired. There's no "drive gently" version of it.

The best-known examples are old Takata airbag inflators. NHTSA's Takata page lists certain vehicles from Acura, BMW, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, Honda, Infiniti, Mazda, Nissan, Pontiac and Toyota where test data show a far higher risk of rupture than other recalled Takata airbags, and it urges owners not to drive them until they're repaired. When Honda upgraded its oldest Takata Alpha inflators to a do-not-drive warning, NHTSA said those inflators carry a 50% risk of rupturing, and that an inflator rupture can drive metal fragments toward the driver.

Do-not-drive warnings aren't only about airbags. The ones in NHTSA's data for this site's vehicles cover parts like ball joints, axle hubs, wheel studs, steering gear and brake master cylinders:

A new recall can reach back a long way. GM's 26V-289, filed in 2026, covers 2026 trucks and SUVs, and NHTSA's summary adds certain 2015 to 2020 Suburban, Tahoe, Yukon and Escalade models, which is why older years sit in the same row.

Each vehicle links to its recall page, which carries NHTSA's description of the defect and the fix. Whether your own car is included depends on its VIN, so run it at nhtsa.gov/recalls before you worry, or before you relax.

Park outside

A park-outside warning is about fire. It means the car could catch fire while it's parked, so the manufacturer asks owners to leave it outside, away from buildings and other vehicles, until the repair is done.

The Kia Telluride is a typical case, twice over. In 2024 Kia told owners of 462,869 model year 2020 to 2024 Tellurides to park outside and away from structures, because a stuck power seat switch could make the seat motor overheat and start a fire, parked or driving. In July 2026 it recalled the same vehicles again for the same fault. NHTSA's alert on that one says Kia knew of seven seat fires and 11 melted seat motors, and the new fix is an electronic fuse that stops the motor running continuously. The park-outside instruction holds until it's done.

Notice what those alerts didn't say. They asked owners to park outside, and they didn't tell them to stop driving.

What the manufacturer offers

When a manufacturer tells you not to drive, it has to get the car to the fix somehow. In NHTSA's announcements of recent do-not-drive warnings, manufacturers offered more than a free repair:

• Honda offered free towing or mobile repair for its Takata Alpha vehicles, with loaner or rental cars if needed, per NHTSA's alert.
• Ford and Mazda offered free towing, mobile repair and, if necessary, loaner vehicles for their Takata do-not-drive vehicles.

Those offers belong to those campaigns. Other recalls set their own terms, so ask the manufacturer's customer line what's available for yours. The phone number is in the recall letter and on NHTSA's recall page for the campaign. Ask specifically about towing, mobile service and a loaner before you arrange anything yourself.

If parts aren't available yet

A do-not-drive warning with no remedy ready is the worst case, since you can't drive the car and the dealer can't fix it. NHTSA's Takata page notes that parts are available for the vehicles it lists, but that isn't true of every urgent recall. If you're stuck, press the manufacturer for a loaner or alternative transport in writing, keep records of what you're told, and read our guide on what to do when a recall fix isn't available, which covers the 60-day rule in federal law.

Buying or selling a car with one

A car with an open do-not-drive recall can still change hands. The federal rule against selling vehicles with open recalls, in 49 U.S.C. 30120(i), covers new vehicles in a dealer's inventory and rental fleets. If you're buying used, run the VIN before you pay. If a do-not-drive recall comes up, don't drive it home. Ask the seller to have it repaired first, or arrange the tow and repair yourself. Our used-car research guide covers the other checks.

If you're selling, tell the buyer, and ideally get the repair done. It's free, and it takes the worst question off the table.

Don't wait for the letter

Recall letters go to whoever the state has on file as the owner. If you bought the car used or moved, the letter may not reach you. Check the VIN twice a year, as NHTSA suggests, or add the car to NHTSA's free SaferCar app, which sends an alert when a recall hits a vehicle you've entered. NHTSA's email alerts at NHTSA.gov/Alerts work too.