# NHTSA Vehicle Recall Search - Cars, Makes & Campaigns (`captainhandsome/nhtsa-vehicle-recall-search`) Actor

Search official NHTSA vehicle safety recalls by year, make and model or campaign number. Export defect, consequence, remedy and urgent-warning data as flat records.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/captainhandsome/nhtsa-vehicle-recall-search.md
- **Developed by:** [Joseph McRell](https://apify.com/captainhandsome) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Other, Open source
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.40 / 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?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## NHTSA Vehicle Recall Search - Cars, Makes & Campaigns

Search the official National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recall API by vehicle year, make and model or by exact campaign number. Export clean records containing the defect, safety consequence, manufacturer remedy, affected component, urgent park warnings, and vehicle combinations.

No API key, login, browser automation, or website scraping is required.

### What data can I extract?

- NHTSA campaign number and manufacturer
- Vehicle year, make, and model
- Affected component and report-received date
- Official defect summary, safety consequence, remedy, and notes
- Potential number of affected units when NHTSA supplies it
- Park-it, park-outside, and over-the-air-update flags
- Reproducible official API URL and total result count

Each row represents one campaign and vehicle combination returned by NHTSA.

### Input example

```json
{
  "make": "Honda",
  "model": "Civic",
  "model_year": 2020,
  "max_items": 10
}
```

For an exact campaign lookup, provide `campaign_number`; it overrides the vehicle fields.

### Output example

```json
{
  "manufacturer": "Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)",
  "campaign_number": "21V215000",
  "report_received_date": "2021-03-25",
  "component": "FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:FUEL PUMP",
  "potential_units_affected": null,
  "summary": "The low-pressure fuel pump inside the fuel tank may fail.",
  "consequence": "Fuel pump failure can cause an engine stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.",
  "remedy": "Dealers will replace the fuel pump assembly free of charge.",
  "model_year": 2020,
  "make": "HONDA",
  "model": "CIVIC",
  "park_it": false,
  "park_outside": false,
  "over_the_air_update": false,
  "search_mode": "vehicle",
  "total_matches": 5
}
```

### Common use cases

- Automotive safety and service research
- Used-vehicle due diligence by year, make, and model
- Fleet maintenance and recall monitoring
- Product-safety journalism and market analysis
- Building recall alerts and internal vehicle datasets

### Use with AI agents and MCP

The stable flat schema lets an agent find safety campaigns, summarize consequences, compare remedies, or identify urgent park warnings without parsing NHTSA's source response. Use an exact vehicle combination for discovery or a campaign number to enumerate affected models.

### Pricing and cost control

Output is billed per result at **$0.002 per result** (about $2.00 per 1,000 results), plus a $0.0005 Actor-start charge billed once per gigabyte of memory at run start. Use `max_items` to cap both output volume and charges. The price shown on the Apify Store listing is authoritative.

### Reliability

The Actor calls NHTSA directly, retries temporary transport, rate-limit, and service failures, validates the response shape, normalizes dates and model years, and never emits more rows than requested. Persistent upstream errors fail visibly instead of becoming false zero-result runs.

### Limitations and responsible use

- NHTSA determines source coverage, corrections, and update timing.
- A year/make/model search is not a VIN-specific open-recall check.
- Potential affected-unit counts are not present on every NHTSA response path.
- Recall applicability can depend on build dates, equipment, and VIN ranges not represented by a model-level match.
- Verify safety-critical decisions against NHTSA or the manufacturer. This Actor does not provide mechanical or legal advice.

### Turn this into a recall monitor

1. Save one bounded Task per vehicle family or campaign-number watchlist.
2. Schedule the Task weekly or monthly according to your fleet's review cadence.
3. Add an `ACTOR.RUN.SUCCEEDED` Task webhook or integration and use `resource.defaultDatasetId` to feed new results into maintenance, notification, or safety-review systems.

Related fleet tools: [Google News Search](https://apify.com/captainhandsome/google-news-search) tracks manufacturer and model coverage, [openFDA Search](https://apify.com/captainhandsome/openfda-search) covers regulated product and device recalls, and [Google Maps Business Search](https://apify.com/captainhandsome/google-maps-business-search) can locate relevant service businesses.

### FAQ

#### Can I check a VIN?

No. This Actor searches model-level recalls or an exact NHTSA campaign. Use NHTSA's consumer VIN lookup for a vehicle-specific open-recall check.

#### Why does one campaign produce several rows?

A campaign can cover multiple makes, models, and model years. NHTSA returns each vehicle combination separately.

#### What is a park-it or park-outside warning?

These are urgent flags supplied by NHTSA. Follow the official recall instructions and manufacturer guidance.

#### Does an empty result prove the vehicle has no recalls?

No. Check the spelling and exact model designation, and use NHTSA's VIN service for vehicle-specific confirmation.

# Actor input Schema

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

Vehicle manufacturer or make, for example Honda.

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

Vehicle model, for example Civic.

## `model_year` (type: `integer`):

Four-digit vehicle model year.

## `campaign_number` (type: `string`):

Exact NHTSA recall campaign number. When supplied, it overrides vehicle fields.

## `max_items` (type: `integer`):

Hard limit on recall rows saved to the dataset.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "make": "Honda",
  "model": "Civic",
  "model_year": 2020,
  "max_items": 10
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One flat row per NHTSA campaign and vehicle combination.

# 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 = {
    "make": "Honda",
    "model": "Civic",
    "model_year": 2020
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("captainhandsome/nhtsa-vehicle-recall-search").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 = {
    "make": "Honda",
    "model": "Civic",
    "model_year": 2020,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("captainhandsome/nhtsa-vehicle-recall-search").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 '{
  "make": "Honda",
  "model": "Civic",
  "model_year": 2020
}' |
apify call captainhandsome/nhtsa-vehicle-recall-search --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/WOxFvtKuuK5Rt9u6c/builds/JUy5nrsi9bhwg2fy2/openapi.json