What is a good (free) website to find out whether or not there are any recalls on my specific VIN on my car? I know I could call the dealership, but for some reason, I don't trust them....

www.nhtsa.gov

But I'm not sure if that has everything or just the major safety recalls.

I'd love access to the same database that the car dealerships use when you bring your car in for service. For example, I had the transmission fail in my Honda Accord a few years ago, and the dealer pulled up my VIN and noticed it was part of a transmission-recall-thingy where they didn't notify owners, but extended the transmisison warranty to 5 years in case an owner had trouble. That's the thing I want access to. Didn't find it last time I looked.

The nhsta site is just going to have actual recalls. If you want all the bulletins you can sign up for alldata. You can sign up for one car for 25 dollars a year.

http://www.alldatadiy.com/

There is a zipped flat file available at http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/downloads/list.html listing TSB's. Unfortunatly while it can be opened in Excel, there are more than 65k lines.

Edit: on further investigation it takes ~4 sheets to hold all the lines of the flat file.

Does anyone know the difference between recalls and service bulletins? I found out there is a service bulletin on my car, but I thought repair done because of a service bulletin was free. However, the guy I talked to at the GM dealership said a service bulletin was just 'to help diagnose problems with the car' and I would still have to pay the regular price for repair. Is that true (I don't trust most dealerships.)

Yes. My company supplies tools/equipment to auto repair shops (including a lot of dealers). What your GM guy told you was right on.

-Zeke

More specifically:

A recall is a highly publicized affair, where the auto manufacturer sends out letters to all owners, telling them to bring their car in to be fixed for free.

A service bulletin is an item that will be fixed for free, but it is not publicized. The owner only gets the free repair if the fault happens to be discovered for other reasons.

At least that's been my experience. I've never had to pay for a service bulletin item. I guess what's being said in this thread is that sometimes service bulletin items are chargeable. My point is that the biggest difference between recalls and service bulletins is that with the former, they go out of their way to tell you the car needs the repair. With the latter, you've got to bring your car in of your own free will.