# NHTSA Vehicle Recalls & Complaints — US Vehicle Safety (`johnatan029/nhtsa-vehicle-recalls-complaints`) Actor

US vehicle safety recalls and owner complaints (crash, fire, injuries, deaths) from the official NHTSA public APIs, per make/model/year in batch. No login. Not affiliated with NHTSA.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/johnatan029/nhtsa-vehicle-recalls-complaints.md
- **Developed by:** [Johnn Mottin](https://apify.com/johnatan029) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $4.00 / 1,000 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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#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 Recalls & Complaints — US Vehicle Safety

**A used car with an open recall is a legal risk a US dealer cannot afford.** Look up **US vehicle safety recalls** and **owner complaints** (crash, fire, injuries, deaths) for a batch of vehicles — make + model + model year — straight from the official NHTSA public APIs. No login, no browser.

**Not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) or the U.S. Department of Transportation.** All data comes from the official public [NHTSA APIs](https://www.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa-datasets-and-apis) and remains subject to NHTSA's terms.

Who it's for:

- **Dealers and used-car marketplaces:** check open recalls before buying, listing, or selling — selling a used car with an open recall is a legal risk for US dealers.
- **Fleets:** batch-audit every vehicle model in the fleet on a schedule.
- **Insurers, warranty and risk teams:** structured complaint signals (crash/fire/injuries/deaths per model) for pricing and triage.

### How it works

You send a list of vehicles; the Actor queries the official API once per vehicle per mode:

- **Recalls** (default): open safety recalls — campaign number, component, summary, consequence, remedy, park-it / park-outside flags.
- **Complaints** (opt-in via `include`): owner complaints filed with NHTSA — ODI number, crash/fire flags, injuries, deaths, components, incident and filing dates.

One vehicle failing (invalid year, API hiccup) never kills the batch: it becomes a controlled entry in `STATS.vehicleSummary` and the rest continues. **You are only charged for records actually written to the dataset** — complaints discarded by the per-vehicle cap or date filter cost you nothing.

### Input

Copy-paste ready:

```json
{
  "vehicles": [
    { "make": "honda", "model": "civic", "modelYear": 2024 },
    { "make": "toyota", "model": "corolla", "modelYear": 2023 }
  ],
  "include": ["recalls", "complaints"],
  "maxComplaintsPerVehicle": 50,
  "complaintsFiledDaysBack": 365,
  "maxResults": 1000
}
```

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `vehicles` | array | required | 1–200 `{make, model, modelYear}` objects. Case-insensitive duplicates skipped; invalid entries become `INVALID_VEHICLE` in `STATS.vehicleSummary` without stopping the batch |
| `include` | array | `["recalls"]` | `recalls`, `complaints`, or both. Complaints are opt-in: one popular vehicle can carry hundreds (877 measured on a single 2022 model) |
| `maxComplaintsPerVehicle` | int 1–2000 | `100` | Newest complaints first; the cap keeps bills predictable. Discarded = never billed |
| `complaintsFiledDaysBack` | int 1–3650 | — | Optional: only complaints filed in the last N days (by `dateComplaintFiled`). Discarded = never billed |
| `maxResults` | int 1–10000 | `1000` | Run-wide hard cap of written records |

**Rate etiquette:** the NHTSA API publishes no numeric rate limit, so the Actor is deliberately polite — 2 concurrent requests with pacing and exponential backoff on 429/5xx, one request per vehicle per mode. A 200-vehicle recalls-only batch takes roughly 2–4 minutes. For bigger jobs, split across scheduled runs.

### Output (missing = `null` / `[]`, never invented)

Every record carries the **same complete key set** (single normalized contract); fields that don't apply to the record type are `null`. Real recall record (Honda Civic 2024 — official public data):

```json
{
  "recordType": "RECALL",
  "vehicleIndex": 0,
  "inputMake": "honda",
  "inputModel": "civic",
  "inputModelYear": 2024,
  "make": "HONDA",
  "model": "CIVIC",
  "modelYear": "2024",
  "manufacturer": "Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)",
  "campaignNumber": "23V704000",
  "component": "STEERING:RACK AND PINION",
  "summary": "Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2022-2024 Civic...",
  "consequence": "A damaged tire can fail and increase the risk of a crash or injury.",
  "remedy": "Dealers will inspect and replace the electric power steering rack...",
  "reportReceivedDate": "2023-10-19",
  "reportReceivedDateRaw": "19/10/2023",
  "parkIt": false,
  "parkOutside": false,
  "overTheAirUpdate": false,
  "scrapedAt": "2026-07-30T12:00:00.000Z"
}
```

| Field group | Fields | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Correlation | `recordType`, `vehicleIndex`, `inputMake`, `inputModel`, `inputModelYear` | ties every record back to your input list |
| Vehicle identity | `make`, `model`, `modelYear`, `manufacturer` | as returned by NHTSA |
| Recall | `campaignNumber`, `actionNumber`, `component`, `summary`, `consequence`, `remedy`, `notes`, `reportReceivedDate` (+`Raw`), `parkIt`, `parkOutside`, `overTheAirUpdate` | core fields¹: `campaignNumber`, `component`, `summary`, `reportReceivedDate` |
| Complaint | `odiNumber`, `crash`, `fire`, `numberOfInjuries`, `numberOfDeaths`, `dateOfIncident` (+`Raw`), `dateComplaintFiled` (+`Raw`), `vin`, `components`, `componentsList[]`, `products[]`, `summary` | core fields¹: `odiNumber`, `dateComplaintFiled`, `components` |
| Meta | `scrapedAt`, `vinTruncatedBySource`, `vinMaskedByActor` | |

¹ Core fields are watched by the built-in health check: if more than 50% come back null the run **fails loudly naming the record type and dead field** (`DEAD_FIELDS`) — never a silent broken dataset.

#### Dates — source formats preserved

The NHTSA recalls endpoint returns dates as `DD/MM/YYYY` and the complaints endpoint as `MM/DD/YYYY` (both verified against real records). The Actor emits clean ISO dates (`reportReceivedDate`, `dateComplaintFiled`, `dateOfIncident`) parsed with the correct per-endpoint format, and always keeps the original string in the matching `*Raw` field. An unparseable date is `null` — never guessed.

#### VIN privacy

NHTSA itself publishes complaint VINs **truncated to 11 characters** — the 6-character serial suffix that identifies the individual unit is removed at the source (100% of the measured sample). The Actor passes that value through unchanged and records `vinTruncatedBySource: true`. As a defensive privacy measure, if the API ever returns a longer VIN, the Actor masks everything beyond the 11-character descriptive prefix with `*` and sets `vinMaskedByActor: true`. The Actor never reconstructs or guesses serial numbers.

### Run health

`STATS` (key-value store) records per-vehicle outcomes (`vehicleSummary`: `OK`, `NO_RESULTS`, `INVALID_VEHICLE`, `FAILED`, `DUPLICATE_SKIPPED`, `SKIPPED_MAX_RESULTS`), HTTP counters, retries, discard counters, `vinTruncatedBySourceRate` and per-type field completeness. `ERRORS` records failures with stable codes (`INVALID_INPUT`, `INVALID_VEHICLE`, `HTTP_UNAVAILABLE`, `HTTP_TIMEOUT`, `HTTP_RATE_LIMITED`, `API_CONTRACT_CHANGED`, `DEAD_FIELDS`, `ALL_VEHICLES_FAILED`).

- A vehicle with zero recalls/complaints is a **legitimate** `NO_RESULTS` — flagged in `STATS.legitimateNoResults`, never a fake failure.
- A batch where **no** vehicle completes fails loudly with `ALL_VEHICLES_FAILED`.
- An invalid vehicle/year answers HTTP 400 at the source (verified) → controlled `INVALID_VEHICLE` for that entry only.

### API usage examples

Run and get items in one call:

```bash
curl -s "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/<YOUR_USERNAME>~nhtsa-vehicle-recalls-complaints/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>" \
  -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"vehicles":[{"make":"honda","model":"civic","modelYear":2024}],"include":["recalls"]}'
```

Fleet recall audit on a weekly schedule (Console → Schedules):

```json
{
  "vehicles": [
    { "make": "ford", "model": "transit", "modelYear": 2022 },
    { "make": "ram", "model": "promaster", "modelYear": 2023 }
  ],
  "include": ["recalls"]
}
```

Insurer signal feed — fresh complaints only:

```json
{
  "vehicles": [{ "make": "tesla", "model": "model 3", "modelYear": 2023 }],
  "include": ["complaints"],
  "complaintsFiledDaysBack": 90,
  "maxComplaintsPerVehicle": 200
}
```

### Schedule it (recommended — cloud, not your desktop)

Fleet audits are a weekly habit. **Use Apify's own Schedules, not a local scheduler** — configure it once and it runs in the cloud whether or not your machine is on.

1. Save your input as a **Task** (Console → this Actor → *Create task*), e.g. every model in your fleet with `include: ["recalls"]`.
2. Console → **Schedules → Create schedule**, add the Task, set the cron (e.g. Mondays 6am → `0 6 * * 1`).
3. Route the dataset to Slack, Sheets, your CRM or webhook via Apify integrations.

Recalls only grow over time, so a weekly audit catches new campaigns on vehicles you already own or list.

### Pricing

Billed per record written to the dataset (Pay Per Event) — the Pricing tab on this page is always the authoritative source for current rates and for any per-run fee. Records discarded by caps or filters are never billed. Use `include`, `maxComplaintsPerVehicle`, `complaintsFiledDaysBack` and `maxResults` to control exactly what you pay for.

### Honest limits

- **Lookup is by make + model + model year** — not by VIN. (NHTSA's per-vehicle APIs are keyed that way; VIN decoding is a separate NHTSA service and out of scope for this version.)
- Complaints volume varies wildly: 0 for some vehicles, hundreds for popular ones — that's why the per-vehicle cap defaults to 100 (newest first).
- Recalls are the official historical record: they only grow; complaints reflect what owners filed with NHTSA, not verified defects.
- No numeric rate limit is published by NHTSA; the Actor's pacing is deliberately conservative. Batches cap at 200 vehicles per run.
- Data freshness follows the official recalls.gov / NHTSA ODI databases.

### FAQ

**Do I need an account or API key for NHTSA?** No. The Actor reads the official public NHTSA APIs without logging in.

**Why are VINs truncated?** Because NHTSA publishes them that way. Complaint VINs arrive truncated to 11 characters at the source — the serial suffix that identifies an individual vehicle is already removed. The Actor passes that through unchanged and, as a defensive measure, masks anything longer. See "VIN privacy" above; the Actor never reconstructs or guesses serial numbers.

**What exactly am I charged for?** Per record written to the dataset (Pay Per Event) — everything discarded by caps or filters costs you nothing. The Pricing tab on this page is always the authoritative source for current rates and for any per-run fee.

**Can I schedule it?** Yes — that is the intended use. See "Schedule it" above.

**Is this affiliated with NHTSA or the DOT?** No. This is an unofficial community Actor, not affiliated with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or the U.S. Department of Transportation; all data comes from their official public APIs and remains subject to NHTSA's terms.

# Actor input Schema

## `vehicles` (type: `array`):

1–200 vehicles as { "make", "model", "modelYear" } objects. Case-insensitive duplicates are skipped. An invalid entry becomes a controlled INVALID\_VEHICLE in STATS.vehicleSummary without stopping the batch.

## `include` (type: `array`):

recalls = open safety recalls (few per vehicle). complaints = owner complaints incl. crash/fire/injuries/deaths (can be hundreds per vehicle — see maxComplaintsPerVehicle). Default: recalls only.

## `maxComplaintsPerVehicle` (type: `integer`):

Newest complaints first. A single popular vehicle can have hundreds of complaints (877 measured on one 2022 model) — this cap keeps runs predictable. Discarded complaints are never billed.

## `complaintsFiledDaysBack` (type: `integer`):

Optional: keep only complaints filed in the last N days (by dateComplaintFiled). Useful for monitoring. Discarded complaints are never billed.

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

Hard cap of records written to the dataset across the whole batch.

## `debug` (type: `boolean`):

Verbose logging.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "vehicles": [
    {
      "make": "honda",
      "model": "civic",
      "modelYear": 2024
    }
  ],
  "include": [
    "recalls"
  ],
  "maxComplaintsPerVehicle": 100,
  "maxResults": 1000,
  "debug": false
}
```

# 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 = {
    "vehicles": [
        {
            "make": "honda",
            "model": "civic",
            "modelYear": 2024
        }
    ],
    "include": [
        "recalls"
    ],
    "maxComplaintsPerVehicle": 100,
    "maxResults": 1000
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("johnatan029/nhtsa-vehicle-recalls-complaints").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 = {
    "vehicles": [{
            "make": "honda",
            "model": "civic",
            "modelYear": 2024,
        }],
    "include": ["recalls"],
    "maxComplaintsPerVehicle": 100,
    "maxResults": 1000,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("johnatan029/nhtsa-vehicle-recalls-complaints").call(run_input=run_input)

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

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

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "vehicles": [
    {
      "make": "honda",
      "model": "civic",
      "modelYear": 2024
    }
  ],
  "include": [
    "recalls"
  ],
  "maxComplaintsPerVehicle": 100,
  "maxResults": 1000
}' |
apify call johnatan029/nhtsa-vehicle-recalls-complaints --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=johnatan029/nhtsa-vehicle-recalls-complaints",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/LMnCHtbrMmH9nouaP/builds/qieXjRxlIUGiRw2qR/openapi.json