Editorial Policy: How PlainVIN Checks Every Number

These are the rules every PlainVIN page follows. If a page breaks one, it’s an error, and we want to hear about it.

Accuracy

Every number comes from a named official dataset, with the date we retrieved it.
NHTSA’s recall text is shown word for word. We add plain-English labels, never our own version of the defect.
When a dataset has no value, we show none. We don’t estimate, interpolate or invent figures.
Blank decoder fields mean NHTSA has no data, not that a car lacks a feature, and we say so.

Careful language

We never say whether a specific car has an open recall; only NHTSA and the manufacturer know.
Complaint counts are owner reports, not failure rates. We don’t call a car or a model year “unsafe”, “a lemon”, “the best” or “one to avoid”, and we don’t publish reliability scores.
Recent model years are marked as still collecting reports and aren’t ranked against older ones.
Red is used only for recalls and NHTSA’s urgent warnings.

How we write summaries

Each “What this means” summary is drafted from the numbers on that page. An editor then checks every figure against the records, edits for clarity and approves it. The summary shows the reviewing desk and the review date, and is reviewed again whenever its text changes. Until a summary is approved, the page shows a short factual sentence generated directly from the data, labelled “Data summary generated from official records”, and the page isn’t offered to search engines.

Independence

We’re not affiliated with any automaker, dealer or government agency. Advertisers can’t influence what we publish, and ads never appear inside data modules, tools or results.

Privacy of people in the records

NHTSA’s complaint files can contain owners’ locations and other details. We publish counts only and never show personal information from those records.

Corrections

When we get something wrong, we fix it and log the change, with the date, on our Corrections page. Report an error with the link on any page or our contact form.

Use of AI

We use AI tools to help draft reference text and summaries, always from the underlying data and always reviewed by a person before it’s labelled as reviewed. Numbers never come from AI. Details: how we use AI.