Know what breaks before you buy it.
Free reliability reports for the exact year you’re shopping — built from federal complaint data, recall records, and what mechanics actually say. The 2018 and the 2022 CR-V are not the same car. We’ll show you which one to walk away from.
Pick your year & model → read the reportWatching a year? We’ll watch it back.
No spam, no selling your address. A few emails a month, only when something changes or something’s worth reading.
What our reports have found
“Letters mail July 6. We’d have told you in May.”
Honda’s seat-sensor recall (26V-332) covers 2017–2022 CR-Vs. VINs were searchable five weeks before owner letters went out.
“Your free repair expired and nobody told you.”
Honda extended the 2017–18 CR-V engine warranty to 6 years for the oil-dilution defect. That coverage quietly lapsed in 2024 — owners who didn’t claim in time now face a repair that runs to $8,000.
“Recalled. Fixed. Re-recalled.”
Ford recalled the same F-150 lighting defect repeatedly because the fixes kept failing. If a recall shows “completed,” we check whether the fix itself was recalled.
How to use VinCanary
- 01
Researching? Read the free report for every year on your shortlist. Verdict first: Calm, Chirping, Squawking, or Fainted. Then the known issues, the real repair costs, and the 20-minute pre-purchase checklist.
- 02
Found a specific car? The VIN is on the listing. Paste it and we’ll tell you which of that year’s known problems apply to this exact build — engine, transmission, configuration — and whether its recall work was actually done. Free.
- 03
Bought it (or already own one)? Put it in your Garage. We watch the federal feeds, service bulletins, and expiring coverage windows, and interrupt you only when it’s worth money. That part is a few dollars a month — less than one hour of shop labor a year.
The Canary Index.
Frequently asked questions
Are the reports really free?
Yes, all of them, no email wall. The VIN check is free too. Ongoing Garage monitoring is the paid tier — a few dollars a month.
Is my VIN sensitive?
A VIN identifies a vehicle’s configuration, not you. We don’t ask for your name, address, or title info. Privacy policy
Are you affiliated with Ford/Honda/NHTSA?
No. We read public federal data and manufacturer publications so you don’t have to.
I already get recall letters.
Letters lag the data by weeks (sometimes months), don’t cover expiring goodwill programs or investigations, and never warn you about known failures that were never recalled.
Why trust this over a paid history report?
Different job. A history report tells you where one car has been. We tell you where every car like it is going — the failure patterns, costs, and windows that history reports don’t track.