Italy · NHTSA recalls & complaints
Alfa Romeo VIN decoder
Alfa Romeo is an Italian brand owned by Stellantis, the group formed in January 2021 when Fiat Chrysler Automobiles merged with PSA. Its line-up is compact: the Giulia sports sedan and three SUVs and crossovers, the Stelvio, Tonale and Junior. In a VIN, the brand normally appears as ZAR or ZAS, two Italian codes registered to Alfa Romeo S.p.A.
Enter all 17 characters to see the build details NHTSA holds and the recalls for that model year.
- 6 model pages
- 34 recall campaigns
- 498 owner complaints
- model years 1995–2026
- 2 WMI codes in vPIC
- origin: Italy
| Country of origin | Italy |
|---|---|
| Region | Europe |
| NHTSA recall and complaint data | Yes, model years 1995–2026 |
| WMI codes in NHTSA vPIC | 2 |
| Model pages | 6 |
| Other model names in NHTSA data | 1 |
| Vehicle recall campaigns | 34 |
| Owner complaints | 498 |
| Complaints reporting a crash | 32 (6.4%) |
| Complaints reporting a fire | 7 (1.4%) |
| Complaints reporting an injury | 13 (2.6%) |
| Complaints reporting a death | 0 (0.0%) |
| Data updated | September 25, 2026 |
Most Alfa Romeos are built in Italy. The Giulia comes from Cassino, the Tonale from Pomigliano d'Arco near Naples, and the Junior from Stellantis's plant in Tychy, Poland. Because the international VIN standard ties the manufacturer code to the country of the company's headquarters, a Polish-built Alfa Romeo still carries an Italian Z-prefix code.
Alfa Romeo stopped exporting to the United States in 1995, when the 164 was its last model there. It returned in stages: the limited-production 8C in 2008, the 4C sports car in 2014 and the Giulia for the 2017 model year. Because the brand is sold in the U.S. again, NHTSA holds recall campaigns and owner complaints for its U.S.-market models, and this page summarises them alongside the VIN notes below.
NHTSA’s files hold 34 vehicle recall campaigns and 498 owner complaints for Alfa Romeo vehicles from model years 1995 to 2026, summarised here on 6 model pages. The Giulia has the most complaints (274), followed by the Stelvio (207) and the Tonale PHEV (10). Of those complaints, 32 report a crash, 7 a fire, 13 at least one injury and 0 at least one death; the figures count complaints, not people.
The World Manufacturer Identifier is the first three characters of the VIN. NHTSA’s vPIC database decodes 2 WMIs to Alfa Romeo; this is the complete list, with the manufacturer name, country and vehicle type vPIC records for each.
| WMI | Manufacturer (vPIC) | Country | Vehicle type |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZAR | ALFA ROMEO S.P.A. | Italy | Passenger Car |
| ZAS | ALFA ROMEO S.P.A. | Italy | Multipurpose Passenger Vehicle (MPV) |
See the WMI code guide for how the codes are assigned.
Each model page lists NHTSA’s recall campaigns and owner complaints for that model name, by model year and component. Models are sorted by complaints; the data covers model years 1995–2026.
– means NHTSA has no records of that kind under the model name.
Other Alfa Romeo models in NHTSA data
NHTSA also lists these Alfa Romeo model names, but with no recall campaign and fewer than 25 complaints each, so they have no page of their own: 4C.
Which WMI codes does Alfa Romeo use?
NHTSA's vPIC database lists two world manufacturer identifiers (WMIs) for Alfa Romeo S.p.A.: ZAR for passenger cars and ZAS for multipurpose passenger vehicles (MPVs), the U.S. category that includes most SUVs. Don't use the split to guess the model, though. French government recall notices for the Tonale SUV quote VINs with both prefixes, and a July 2026 notice for the Junior, built in Poland, quotes VINs beginning ZAA, a code that Germany's Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) lists under Stellantis Europe S.p.A. rather than Alfa Romeo.
| WMI | Manufacturer (NHTSA vPIC) | Country | Vehicle type |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZAR | Alfa Romeo S.p.A. | Italy | Passenger car |
| ZAS | Alfa Romeo S.p.A. | Italy | MPV (SUV class) |
Both codes begin with Z, the letter block assigned to Italy. Our WMI code guide explains how the first three characters are allocated and why one manufacturer can hold several of them.
Why can a European Alfa Romeo VIN decode differently?
Alfa Romeos built for the U.S. follow 49 CFR Part 565: position 9 must hold a calculated check digit and position 10 a model-year code. European rules long differed. Until July 2022, EU rules mirrored ISO 3779, which lets the manufacturer decide the content of positions 4 to 9 and requires no check digit. Since 6 July 2022, EU Regulation 2021/535 has required a check digit for new vehicle types, and from 7 July 2026 vehicles without one can no longer be registered in the EU. A model-year code is still optional in Europe. So an older European-market Alfa Romeo may fail a check-digit test, and a newer one may use position 10 differently, without anything being wrong with the car.
In practice, recent European Alfa Romeos often follow the North American layout anyway. Two Tonale recall notices published on France's RappelConso site in January and May 2026 quote ten VINs beginning ZAR or ZAS, and all ten pass the check-digit calculation. For older or imported cars, treat the WMI as reliable and the rest of the decode as indicative; the European VIN decoding guide covers what can be read from a European VIN.
Related Stellantis brands
Can I decode a European-market Alfa Romeo VIN here?
Yes, but expect a partial result. The decoder uses NHTSA's vPIC data, which is most complete for vehicles built for North America. For a car built for Europe you will reliably get the manufacturer from the WMI, while model, engine and trim may be missing.
Where do the Alfa Romeo recall and complaint figures come from?
They come from NHTSA and cover Alfa Romeo models sold in the U.S. They are listed by make, model and model year, not by individual VIN. To check whether one specific car has an open recall, enter its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls or ask an Alfa Romeo dealer.
Does an Alfa Romeo VIN decode show accident or ownership history?
No. A decode describes how the car was built. Title, accident, odometer and ownership records come from licensed vehicle-history providers, and this site does not include them.
Brands mentioned in the notes above, each with its own VIN notes and WMI list.
- Fiat (5) Italy · 24 recall campaigns
- Maserati (14) Italy · 50 recall campaigns
- Peugeot (no NHTSA model pages) France · 1 WMI code
- Citroën (no NHTSA model pages) France
- Opel (no NHTSA model pages) Germany · 6 WMI codes
- Jeep (31) United States · 307 recall campaigns
- Chrysler (37) United States · 208 recall campaigns
- Dodge (58) United States · 436 recall campaigns
- Ram (11) United States · 194 recall campaigns
Data: NHTSA recalls and complaints flat files and NHTSA vPIC, updated September 25, 2026.