# US Vehicle Recall Tracker (`afkdigital/us-vehicle-recall-tracker`) Actor

Run live, structured US vehicle recall lookups by make, model, model year, or NHTSA campaign number.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/afkdigital/us-vehicle-recall-tracker.md
- **Developed by:** [AFK Digital](https://apify.com/afkdigital) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 92.6% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.10 / 1,000 nhtsa recall results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## US Vehicle Recall Tracker

Run a live lookup of official U.S. vehicle safety recall records from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Search by make + model + model year, by NHTSA campaign number, or use both query types in one run. Results are structured for downstream datasets and automation.

### Input

Provide either:

- make, model, and modelYear together; or
- campaignNumber, such as 20V314000.

You may provide both. In that case, the Actor queries both NHTSA endpoints, combines the results, removes duplicates, then applies maxResults (default 100, range 1–500).

Example vehicle input:

```
{
  "make": "Honda",
  "model": "Accord",
  "modelYear": 2019,
  "maxResults": 50
}
```

Example campaign input:

```
{
  "campaignNumber": "20V314000",
  "maxResults": 100
}
```

### Output

Each dataset row contains:

- campaignNumber
- affectedVehicle.manufacturer, make, model, modelYear
- problem (NHTSA summary)
- safetyRisk (NHTSA consequence)
- recommendedRemedy (NHTSA remedy)
- reportDate (NHTSA report received date)
- retrievedAt (UTC time this Actor fetched the response)
- officialSourceUrl (NHTSA recall lookup for the campaign)

The Actor does not invent missing recall details. A successful lookup with no matches returns an empty dataset. Network errors, timeouts, non-success HTTP responses, or invalid NHTSA responses fail the run clearly; no older data is substituted.

### Data scope and limitations

The source is NHTSA's official Recalls API:

- Vehicle search: https://api.nhtsa.gov/recalls/recallsByVehicle
- Campaign search: https://api.nhtsa.gov/recalls/campaignNumber

Year/make/model results show campaigns associated with that model combination. They do not determine whether a particular VIN's recall repair is still open or whether a specific vehicle has been repaired. For vehicle-specific status, use NHTSA's VIN lookup. NHTSA coverage and freshness depend on the agency's source data and API availability.

### Pricing

Current Apify Store pricing: $0.0001 per deduplicated recall record returned (USD $0.10 per 1,000 results), charged through the `apify-default-dataset-item` event. A run with no matching records has no result-item charge. The publisher currently pays Apify platform usage costs separately. In the first 6-result cloud test, Apify reported $0.000 total usage (rounded); the Console estimate is about $0.03 per 1,000 results. Actual usage can vary with run conditions.

### Source and attribution

NHTSA is the authoritative source. This independent Actor is not affiliated with or endorsed by NHTSA. The underlying recall records are public government information; this product charges for query execution and structured delivery, not exclusive ownership of the data.

Official source: https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls

# Actor input Schema

## `make` (type: `string`):

Vehicle make, for example Honda. Provide with model and modelYear.

## `model` (type: `string`):

Vehicle model, for example Accord. Provide with make and modelYear.

## `modelYear` (type: `integer`):

Four-digit model year. Provide with make and model.

## `campaignNumber` (type: `string`):

Campaign identifier such as 20V314000. May be used alone or with the vehicle query.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum deduplicated rows returned by this run.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "make": "Honda",
  "model": "Accord",
  "modelYear": 2019,
  "maxResults": 100
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("afkdigital/us-vehicle-recall-tracker").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("afkdigital/us-vehicle-recall-tracker").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call afkdigital/us-vehicle-recall-tracker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,afkdigital/us-vehicle-recall-tracker"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/bfe2Oi7Ea6eBME5Kr/builds/Zvihes5df7K2be5QU/openapi.json