Recall has a very strong meaning and there never, ever has been a requirement that the car has to be taken anywhere. It's just that sending the car to the dealer has been the way to fix things.
For example, AFAIK California recall law ...
11) Requires a vehicle manufacturer to provide, upon
request, a consumer seeking to repair a recalled vehicle a
rental or loaner vehicle at no cost until the parts and/or
procedures become available, as specified.
And note that if, for example, a Tesla is unable to load a software fix, Tesla would _have to_ take it into a service center, and depending on the state law, _at its own cost_.
There are tons of consumer product recalls that don't require anybody to return the goods (they just get refunds and instructions on disposal) and nobody has ever complained about the terminology, presumably because they don't have many whiny fanbois.