# NHTSA Vehicle Recalls Scraper (`anyxsolutions/nhtsa-scraper`) Actor Scrape US vehicle recalls, owner complaints and NCAP 5-star safety ratings from NHTSA by make, model and year, VIN or recall campaign number. Get defect summaries, remedies, units affected, crash, fire and injury flags, and crash-test ratings. No API key, no login, no proxy. - **URL**: https://apify.com/anyxsolutions/nhtsa-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Anyx Solutions](https://apify.com/anyxsolutions) (community) - **Categories:** Other, Business - **Security:** Limited permissions - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $2.50 / 1,000 results This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have. 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 ![banner](https://anyx.solutions/banners/nhtsa-scraper.png) ## NHTSA Vehicle Recalls Scraper **Every US vehicle recall, owner complaint and NCAP 5-star safety rating NHTSA publishes, by make, model and year or by VIN, as clean JSON.** The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is the US authority for vehicle safety: manufacturers report every safety recall to it, owners file complaints about defects with it, and its New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) crash-tests new cars for the 5-star safety ratings. This Actor scrapes US vehicle recalls, owner complaints and NCAP safety ratings from NHTSA by make, model and model year, by VIN, by recall campaign number, or from any nhtsa.gov vehicle or recall page. Recalls come with the campaign number, component, defect summary, consequence, remedy, report date, units affected, "park it" and "park outside" warnings, over-the-air fixes and every other vehicle the recall covers. Complaints come with the complaint number, incident and filing dates, components, the owner's own account, crash and fire flags, injuries, deaths and the partial VIN. Safety ratings give overall, frontal, side and rollover stars, rollover risk, standard safety equipment, crash-test photos and the counts of complaints, recalls and investigations. Give a make and year without a model to cover every model. No API key, no login and no proxy. Built for used-car dealers and marketplaces, fleet managers, insurers, auto repair shops, lemon-law and product liability attorneys, journalists, and anyone building vehicle-history or VIN-check products. ### ⚡ Quick start ```json { "vehicles": [{ "make": "Honda", "model": "Accord", "modelYear": 2018 }], "dataTypes": ["recalls", "complaints", "safetyRatings"], "maxItems": 5 } ``` ### 🧩 Input | Field | Type | Required | Default | Description | | -------------------- | ------- | -------- | ---------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `startUrls` | array | no | — | nhtsa.gov pages: a vehicle page (`https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2021/FORD/F-150`), a make and year for every model (`https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2018/HONDA`), or a recall page (`https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls?nhtsaId=20V314000`). | | `vehicles` | array | no | — | Vehicles to look up, each `{ "make": "Honda", "model": "Accord", "modelYear": 2018 }`. Leave out `model` to cover every model of that make and year. | | `vins` | array | no | — | 17-character VINs, such as `1HGCV1F35JA123456`. Each is decoded to its make, model and year, which are then looked up. | | `campaignNumbers` | array | no | — | NHTSA recall campaign numbers, such as `20V314000`. Returns the recall once for every vehicle it covers. | | `dataTypes` | array | no | `["recalls"]` | Data to collect for each vehicle and VIN: `recalls`, `complaints`, `safetyRatings`, or several. Campaign numbers always return recalls. | | `maxItems` | integer | no | — | Maximum results per source and data type: up to this many recalls, this many complaints and this many safety ratings per URL, vehicle, VIN or campaign. The input form starts at 5; leave it empty to get all of them. | | `proxyConfiguration` | object | no | `{ "useApifyProxy": false }` | Proxy settings. NHTSA's data is public and needs no proxy. | Add vehicles, VINs, recall campaign numbers, NHTSA URLs, or any mix; each one is a source. Model names are matched the way NHTSA files them: a model listed only under longer names, such as the F-150 under "F-150 SUPER CREW" and "F-150 REGULAR CAB", is read under each of them. A VIN is decoded to its make, model and year, so its rows are the recalls, complaints and ratings of that model and year. They do not say whether that one vehicle's recall repair was done. ### 📤 Output Each row is one recall, one complaint or one safety rating, marked by `itemType`: `recall`, `complaint` or `safetyRating`. A recall row is one recall campaign as it applies to one vehicle; `affectedVehicles` lists every vehicle the campaign covers. A safety rating row is one rated variant, such as "2018 Honda Accord 4 DR FWD". Complaints come newest first, recalls by newest report first. Fields that do not apply to a row's type are absent from it. #### Fields | Field | Type | Description | | ------------------------------- | ------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `itemType` | string | `recall`, `complaint` or `safetyRating`. | | `make` | string | Vehicle make, such as `HONDA`. | | `model` | string | Vehicle model, as NHTSA names it. | | `modelYear` | number | Model year. | | `url` | string | The recall's page on nhtsa.gov, or the vehicle's page for complaints and ratings. | | `source` | string | The URL, vehicle, VIN or campaign number the row was found through. | | `campaignNumber` | string | Recall: NHTSA campaign number, such as `20V314000`. | | `nhtsaActionNumber` | string | Recall: the NHTSA investigation that led to it, such as `EA23002`. | | `manufacturer` | string | Recall and complaint: the manufacturer, such as `Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)`. | | `component` | string | Recall: the component recalled, such as `FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:FUEL PUMP`. | | `summary` | string | Recall: the defect. Complaint: the owner's account. | | `consequence` | string | Recall: what the defect can lead to. | | `remedy` | string | Recall: the fix and when owners are notified. | | `notes` | string | Recall: further notes, such as hotline numbers. | | `reportReceivedDate` | string | Recall: date NHTSA received the manufacturer's report (`YYYY-MM-DD`). | | `potentialUnitsAffected` | number | Recall: number of vehicles the manufacturer estimates are affected. | | `parkIt` | boolean | Recall: `true` when owners are told not to drive the vehicle. | | `parkOutSide` | boolean | Recall: `true` when owners are told to park outside, away from buildings, for fire risk. | | `overTheAirUpdate` | boolean | Recall: `true` when the remedy is an over-the-air software update. | | `affectedVehicles` | array | Recall: every vehicle the campaign covers, each with `make`, `model` and `modelYear`. | | `odiNumber` | number | Complaint: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation complaint number. | | `dateOfIncident` | string | Complaint: date of the incident (`YYYY-MM-DD`). | | `dateComplaintFiled` | string | Complaint: date the complaint was filed (`YYYY-MM-DD`). | | `components` | array | Complaint: components involved, such as `AIR BAGS`. | | `crash` | boolean | Complaint: whether a crash happened. | | `fire` | boolean | Complaint: whether a fire happened. | | `injuries` | number | Complaint: number of people injured. | | `deaths` | number | Complaint: number of deaths. | | `vinPartial` | string | Complaint: the first 11 characters of the vehicle's VIN, when given. | | `vehicleId` | number | Safety rating: NHTSA's id of the rated variant. | | `vehicleDescription` | string | Safety rating: the rated variant, such as `2018 Honda Accord 4 DR FWD`. | | `overallRating` | number | Safety rating: overall stars (1–5). `null` when not rated. | | `overallFrontCrashRating` | number | Safety rating: frontal crash stars. | | `frontCrashDriverSideRating` | number | Safety rating: frontal crash stars for the driver. | | `frontCrashPassengerSideRating` | number | Safety rating: frontal crash stars for the front passenger. | | `overallSideCrashRating` | number | Safety rating: side crash stars. | | `sideCrashDriverSideRating` | number | Safety rating: side barrier stars for the front seat. | | `sideCrashPassengerSideRating` | number | Safety rating: side barrier stars for the rear seat. | | `sideBarrierRating` | number | Safety rating: overall side barrier stars. | | `sidePoleCrashRating` | number | Safety rating: side pole crash stars. | | `rolloverRating` | number | Safety rating: rollover stars. | | `rolloverRisk` | number | Safety rating: chance of rolling over in a single-vehicle crash, from 0 to 1 (`0.093` is 9.3%). | | `dynamicTipResult` | string | Safety rating: result of the dynamic rollover test, such as `No Tip`. | | `electronicStabilityControl` | string | Safety rating: whether electronic stability control is `Standard` or `Optional`. | | `forwardCollisionWarning` | string | Safety rating: whether forward collision warning is `Standard` or `Optional`. | | `laneDepartureWarning` | string | Safety rating: whether lane departure warning is `Standard` or `Optional`. | | `complaintsCount` | number | Safety rating: complaints NHTSA holds for the model. | | `recallsCount` | number | Safety rating: recalls NHTSA holds for the model. | | `investigationCount` | number | Safety rating: defect investigations NHTSA holds for the model. | | `vehiclePicture` | string | Safety rating: a picture of the vehicle, when NHTSA has one. | | `frontCrashPicture` | string | Safety rating: photo of the frontal crash test. | | `frontCrashVideo` | string | Safety rating: video of the frontal crash test. | | `sideCrashPicture` | string | Safety rating: photo of the side crash test. | | `sideCrashVideo` | string | Safety rating: video of the side crash test. | | `sidePolePicture` | string | Safety rating: photo of the side pole crash test. | | `sidePoleVideo` | string | Safety rating: video of the side pole crash test. |
Example output ```json [ { "itemType": "recall", "campaignNumber": "20V314000", "nhtsaActionNumber": null, "make": "HONDA", "model": "ACCORD", "modelYear": 2018, "manufacturer": "Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)", "component": "FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:FUEL PUMP", "summary": "Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Acura NSX, 2019 Acura RDX, RLX and RLX Sport Hybrid, 2018-2019 Honda Accord, Civic Hatchback, Civic Type R and HR-V, 2019-2020 Insight and 2019 Fit vehicles. The low-pressure fuel pump inside the fuel tank may fail.", "consequence": "If the fuel pump fails, the engine can stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.", "remedy": "Honda will notify owners and dealers will replace the fuel pump assembly, free of charge. The recall began July 22, 2020. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138.", "notes": "Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.", "reportReceivedDate": "2020-05-28", "potentialUnitsAffected": 135995, "parkIt": false, "parkOutSide": false, "overTheAirUpdate": false, "affectedVehicles": [ { "make": "ACURA", "model": "NSX", "modelYear": 2018 }, { "make": "ACURA", "model": "NSX", "modelYear": 2019 }, { "make": "ACURA", "model": "RDX", "modelYear": 2019 }, { "make": "ACURA", "model": "RLX", "modelYear": 2019 }, { "make": "ACURA", "model": "RLX HYBRID", "modelYear": 2019 }, { "make": "HONDA", "model": "ACCORD", "modelYear": 2018 }, { "make": "HONDA", "model": "ACCORD", "modelYear": 2019 }, { "make": "HONDA", "model": "CIVIC", "modelYear": 2018 }, { "make": "HONDA", "model": "CIVIC", "modelYear": 2019 }, { "make": "HONDA", "model": "FIT", "modelYear": 2019 }, { "make": "HONDA", "model": "HR-V", "modelYear": 2018 }, { "make": "HONDA", "model": "HR-V", "modelYear": 2019 }, { "make": "HONDA", "model": "INSIGHT", "modelYear": 2019 }, { "make": "HONDA", "model": "INSIGHT", "modelYear": 2020 } ], "url": "https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls?nhtsaId=20V314000", "source": "2018 Honda Accord" }, { "itemType": "complaint", "odiNumber": 11654414, "make": "HONDA", "model": "ACCORD", "modelYear": 2018, "manufacturer": "Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)", "dateOfIncident": "2025-04-08", "dateComplaintFiled": "2025-04-14", "components": ["AIR BAGS"], "summary": "Accident happened April 8th and Drivers airbag system failed me during my accident. Passenger bags went off top and bottom but the drivers foot bag went off also but the one in the steering wheel did not go off . Resulting in neck and head injuries. Car has only been inspected by our insurance claims adjuster. No warning lights on the dash and car has always been well taken care of regarding any recalls", "crash": true, "fire": false, "injuries": 3, "deaths": 0, "vinPartial": "1HGCV1F34JA", "url": "https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2018/HONDA/ACCORD", "source": "2018 Honda Accord" }, { "itemType": "safetyRating", "vehicleId": 12650, "vehicleDescription": "2018 Honda Accord 4 DR FWD", "make": "HONDA", "model": "ACCORD", "modelYear": 2018, "overallRating": 5, "overallFrontCrashRating": 5, "frontCrashDriverSideRating": 5, "frontCrashPassengerSideRating": 5, "overallSideCrashRating": 5, "sideCrashDriverSideRating": 5, "sideCrashPassengerSideRating": 5, "sideBarrierRating": 5, "sidePoleCrashRating": 5, "rolloverRating": 5, "rolloverRisk": 0.093, "dynamicTipResult": "No Tip", "electronicStabilityControl": "Standard", "forwardCollisionWarning": "Standard", "laneDepartureWarning": "Standard", "complaintsCount": 1890, "recallsCount": 6, "investigationCount": 2, "vehiclePicture": null, "frontCrashPicture": "https://static.nhtsa.gov/crashTest/images/2018/v10191P080.jpg", "frontCrashVideo": "https://static.nhtsa.gov/crashTest/videos/2018/v10191C017.wmv", "sideCrashPicture": "https://static.nhtsa.gov/crashTest/images/2018/v10193P104.jpg", "sideCrashVideo": "https://static.nhtsa.gov/crashTest/videos/2018/v10193C013.wmv", "sidePolePicture": "https://static.nhtsa.gov/crashTest/images/2018/v10192P072.jpg", "sidePoleVideo": "https://static.nhtsa.gov/crashTest/videos/2018/v10192C013.wmv", "url": "https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2018/HONDA/ACCORD", "source": "2018 Honda Accord" } ] ```
### 💡 Use cases - **Used-car listings and dealers** — show open recalls, complaint counts and crash-test stars next to every vehicle you sell. - **VIN checks and vehicle history** — turn a list of VINs into the recalls, complaints and safety ratings of each model and year. - **Fleet management** — check every make, model and year in a fleet for new recalls each week. - **Insurance and risk** — compare complaint volumes, crash and injury reports and NCAP ratings across models. - **Legal research** — collect owner complaints and recall histories for lemon-law and product-liability cases. - **Journalism and market research** — follow defect trends by component, manufacturer or model year. ### ❓ FAQ - **Do I need an API key or an account?** No. NHTSA's data is public, and the Actor needs no key, login or proxy. - **Does a VIN tell me whether that car's recall was fixed?** No. A VIN is decoded to its make, model and year, and the rows are the recalls of that model and year. Whether one vehicle's repair was done is only known to its manufacturer; check it on nhtsa.gov. - **Why did a model return nothing?** NHTSA names some models differently in each dataset, and the Actor tries the longer names it lists (the F-150 as "F-150 SUPER CREW" and so on). If nothing matches, the log says so; check the spelling on nhtsa.gov. - **Why do some vehicles have no safety ratings?** NCAP crash-tests a selection of popular new models each year, not every vehicle, and the newest model year is often rated later in the year. - **How far back does it go?** Recalls reach back to the 1949 model year; complaints and safety ratings cover the decades NHTSA has published them for. - **How does Maximum results count?** Per source and data type: with 5, a vehicle returns up to 5 recalls, 5 complaints and 5 safety ratings. For a make and year without a model, the count covers all its models together. - **Why is `potentialUnitsAffected` empty on some recalls?** The manufacturer has not reported a number for that campaign. ### 🔗 More scrapers by Anyx - [AutoScout24 Scraper](https://apify.com/anyxsolutions/autoscout24-scraper) - [Craigslist Scraper](https://apify.com/anyxsolutions/craigslist-scraper) - [Federal Register Scraper](https://apify.com/anyxsolutions/federal-register-scraper) - [SEC EDGAR Scraper](https://apify.com/anyxsolutions/sec-edgar-scraper) ### 🤝 Anyx Solutions We build custom scrapers and data-extraction pipelines. - Email: tantosthor@gmail.com ### 🖼 Image credit Image credit: [nhtsa.gov](https://www.nhtsa.gov/) # Actor input Schema ## `startUrls` (type: `array`): Public nhtsa.gov pages: a vehicle page (https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2021/FORD/F-150), a make and year for every model (https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2018/HONDA), or a recall page (https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls?nhtsaId=20V314000). ## `vehicles` (type: `array`): Vehicles to look up, each with a make, a model and a model year, for example \[{"make": "Honda", "model": "Accord", "modelYear": 2018}]. Leave out the model to cover every model of that make and year. ## `vins` (type: `array`): 17-character vehicle identification numbers, one per line, for example 1HGCV1F35JA123456. Each VIN is decoded to its make, model and year, which are then looked up. ## `campaignNumbers` (type: `array`): NHTSA recall campaign numbers, one per line, for example 20V314000. Returns the recall once for every vehicle it covers. ## `dataTypes` (type: `array`): What to collect for each vehicle and VIN: recalls, owner complaints, NCAP 5-star safety ratings, or several. Recall campaign numbers always return recalls. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of recalls, complaints and safety ratings to return per URL, vehicle, VIN or campaign, counted separately for each. Leave empty to get all of them. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Proxy settings. NHTSA's data is public and needs no proxy. ## Actor input object example ```json { "startUrls": [ { "url": "https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2021/FORD/F-150" } ], "vehicles": [ { "make": "Honda", "model": "Accord", "modelYear": 2018 } ], "dataTypes": [ "recalls", "complaints", "safetyRatings" ], "maxItems": 5, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": false } } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `overview` (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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "startUrls": [ { "url": "https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2021/FORD/F-150" } ], "vehicles": [ { "make": "Honda", "model": "Accord", "modelYear": 2018 } ], "dataTypes": [ "recalls", "complaints", "safetyRatings" ], "maxItems": 5 }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("anyxsolutions/nhtsa-scraper").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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "startUrls": [{ "url": "https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2021/FORD/F-150" }], "vehicles": [{ "make": "Honda", "model": "Accord", "modelYear": 2018, }], "dataTypes": [ "recalls", "complaints", "safetyRatings", ], "maxItems": 5, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("anyxsolutions/nhtsa-scraper").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 '{ "startUrls": [ { "url": "https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2021/FORD/F-150" } ], "vehicles": [ { "make": "Honda", "model": "Accord", "modelYear": 2018 } ], "dataTypes": [ "recalls", "complaints", "safetyRatings" ], "maxItems": 5 }' | apify call anyxsolutions/nhtsa-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,anyxsolutions/nhtsa-scraper" } } } ``` 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 ` 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/HaKZD2AbjCUWIAhYB/builds/cOb3RUuWIg8a3KzTa/openapi.json