Loaner Car for a Recall Repair: Who Pays and What to Ask

Your recall repair is free by federal law, but a loaner is up to the manufacturer: no federal rule makes the dealer or the manufacturer hand you one. You get one when the manufacturer's program approves it: the recall bulletin at Ford and Toyota, which have approved rentals for do-not-drive recalls and parts delays, or your warranty coverage or the recall bulletin at GM. Before you drop the car off, ask the service advisor what the manufacturer allows for your recall, and get the payer, the daily limit and the number of days in writing.

Free repair by law, loaner by the manufacturer's program

Federal law requires the manufacturer to fix a recalled vehicle without charge, by repairing it, replacing it, or refunding the purchase price minus depreciation. The free remedy covers vehicles first sold no more than 15 years before the recall.

The dealer hands you the car, from its own loaner fleet or a rental agency, and claims the approved days back from the manufacturer. Recent bulletins show where the terms come from:

• Ford's 2026 recall bulletins mark rentals as Yes, No or Conditional and give the pre-approved days: up to 2 for a recall of 2024 Explorers that failed inspection, up to 30 for 2024-2026 Rangers while parts were unavailable. More days need Ford's prior approval.
• Toyota issued an interim notice for a 2025 Tacoma recall before the fix was ready, marked an interim rental as available, and set the dealer's claim at $60 a day.
• GM applies its courtesy transportation rules: a recall repair gets a loaner or other transportation for owners still inside bumper-to-bumper or powertrain warranty coverage, or when the recall bulletin extends it past warranty.

Manufacturers must send NHTSA a copy of every bulletin they send dealers about a recall within 5 days, and NHTSA publishes these documents with the recall.

Coverage ends the day your car is ready: GM makes loaner days after the repair the customer's cost, and Ford's 2024 Explorer bulletin pays only for days the car is at the dealer. Fuel, counter insurance and add-ons are yours under GM's rules.

What to do today

1. Look up your VIN at the NHTSA recall lookup. Write down the NHTSA campaign number (format 25V656000) and the manufacturer's own recall number. The recall summary lists the manufacturer's customer service phone number.
2. Open the dealer bulletin. In the recall's documents on NHTSA.gov, open the most recent Notice to Dealers; older recalls list it as Manufacturer Notices (to Dealers, etc). On a Ford bulletin, read the Rentals line and the Rental Vehicles section.
3. Pull out the owner letter. The letter has to tell you how long the repair takes and whom to contact if you have trouble getting the free remedy. Keep any line that offers a rental or says do not drive.
4. Call the service advisor and ask two things: Is the part in stock for my VIN? How many days will you keep the car?
5. If the advisor says no rental, call the manufacturer's customer care line. Give your VIN, campaign number, dealer and appointment date, ask for a rental for the days the car will be in the shop, and write down the case number.
6. Get the approval in writing by email or text before you sign a rental agreement, covering every point in the checklist below.

The checklist before you hand over the keys

• Who pays: the dealer bills the manufacturer directly, or you pay and get reimbursed. For reimbursement, get the approved rate and receipt rules before you rent.
• Daily limit and car class: the manufacturer reimburses the dealer up to a daily cap ($60 a day on Toyota's Tacoma interim rental, $44 for a GM-branded car from a rental agency), and GM's rules make the dealer pay the rental company. If you ask for a bigger car than the one booked, get any extra daily cost in writing before you take it.
• How many days: the start date and the end, which is the day your car is ready.
• Card hold: if the car comes from a rental agency, ask the hold amount and when it drops off. Most rental companies hold more than the agreed rental cost, and on a debit card with a low balance the hold can get your other purchases declined.
• Fuel and mileage: most rental companies want the tank full at return and charge their own gas price otherwise, usually higher than a station's. Some cap miles on certain car types, so ask for the mileage allowance.
• Insurance: call your auto insurer to confirm your policy covers a loaner or rental before you turn down counter coverage.
• Extension: the name of the person who approves extra days if parts run late. Long stays need the manufacturer's sign-off; GM routes loaners of 7 days or more to GM for authorization.

Where it splits

• If the recall says do not drive, leave the car parked and ask for towing and a rental. Ford's 2025 do-not-drive Bronco bulletin told dealers to tow the car in and provide a rental, and NHTSA's Takata page says Ford and Mazda did the same for 2006 Ranger and B-Series trucks under a do-not-drive warning. Follow a park-outside warning every night until the repair is done.
• If parts are back-ordered, ask the dealer to request a rental from the manufacturer until the part arrives, and call other authorized dealers to see who has the part. Dealer contracts usually require every authorized dealer of your brand to honor the recall at no charge, wherever you bought the car.
• If you already rented on your own, send the receipt, the repair order and your case number to the manufacturer and ask for reimbursement. GM, for one, reviews customer reimbursement requests case by case, so get approval in writing before you rent. If you paid a shop to fix the defect before the recall came out, follow the recall reimbursement steps instead.
• If no rental is approved, ask customer care for an exception, book the first appointment of the day, and ask about a shuttle. GM owners under warranty can claim ride-share or transit receipts for an overnight repair, up to $38 a day ($114 total).

Your leverage if the repair drags on

• The 60-day rule. Once the fix is available, a recall repair still unfinished 60 days after you bring the car in counts as proof it took too long, unless the manufacturer shows otherwise or NHTSA extends the period for good cause. The manufacturer then has to replace the car with an equivalent one or refund the purchase price minus depreciation. Count from a visit on or after the remedy date in your owner letter, or in the follow-up letter the manufacturer must send once a fix that was not ready becomes available. Get the drop-off date on the repair order.
• At day 60, demand a replacement or refund. Write to the manufacturer, cite 49 U.S.C. 30120(c), attach the repair order with the drop-off date, and ask for a replacement vehicle or a refund minus depreciation.
• If the manufacturer refuses, petition NHTSA. Under 49 U.S.C. 30120(e) and 49 CFR Part 557, any interested person can ask NHTSA for a hearing on whether the manufacturer has reasonably met its remedy duty; if NHTSA finds it has not, it must order the manufacturer to act. Write Petition above the text, state the failure and your facts, ask for a hearing, and mail it to the Administrator, NHTSA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. NHTSA tells you whether it grants or denies the petition within 60 days of receiving it.
• The NHTSA hotline. To report a stalled repair, call the Vehicle Safety Hotline at 888-327-4236, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern.
• Small claims court. If a dealer approved a rental in writing and then refused to pay, take that approval to small claims court; a rental bill fits easily under limits such as California's $12,500 for individuals.
• A lawyer. Call a lemon law attorney if the car is under its new-car warranty and has been out of service for repairs about 30 days in total, or keeps going back for the same defect; California, for example, presumes the manufacturer has had enough chances after more than 30 days out of service within 18 months or 18,000 miles. Under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, a consumer who wins can ask the court to award attorney fees.

Message to send when you book

Email or text this to the service advisor:

Hi [advisor name], I am booking the recall repair for my [year, make, model], VIN [VIN], NHTSA campaign [number], for [date]. Please confirm in writing: (1) the part is in stock for my VIN; (2) how many days you expect to keep the car; (3) whether the manufacturer's bulletin for this campaign approves a rental or loaner; (4) who pays and the daily limit; (5) the card hold amount and the fuel and mileage rules; and (6) who approves extra days if parts are delayed. If rentals are excluded, please tell me today so I can ask [manufacturer] customer care. Thank you, [name, phone].

Today

1. Run your VIN through the NHTSA lookup and write down the campaign number.
2. Send the message above to the service advisor.
3. If the answer is no rental, call the manufacturer's customer care line with your VIN and campaign number and get a case number.

What comes back is the advisor's written answer with the rental terms, or a case number with an approved number of rental days. Bring that approval, your driver's license and your insurance card to the drop-off, and return the loaner the day your car is ready.