Bulk VIN Decoder + Recalls (NHTSA official data)

Decode thousands of VINs at once with NHTSA's official vPIC database: make, model, year, trim, body, doors, drive, engine (cylinders, liters, HP), fuel, electrification, transmission, GVWR, plant and manufacturer, plus every safety recall for that make/model/year (campaign, date, component, summary, remedy, park-it flag) and optionally the owner-complaint count. For dealers, fleets, insurers, marketplaces and buyers. No API key.

What you can use it for

• Dealers and auctions: decode an inventory list into make/model/trim/engine columns in one run
• Fleets and insurers: open recalls per vehicle, including park-it recalls
• Marketplaces and classifieds: validate VINs and auto-fill listings
• Buyers and researchers: recall and complaint history before a purchase

Why this one

• NHTSA's official vPIC decoder (the same database manufacturers file into) and the official recalls and complaints APIs; no key, no third-party reseller
• Batch decoding 50 VINs per request, so 10,000 VINs take minutes
• Recalls are matched by make/model/year and cached, with campaign number, date, component, summary, consequence, remedy and park-it/park-outside flags
• Pay only for results: $1.00 per 1,000 VINs decoded. No subscription.

Input

• VINs (vins): 17-character VINs, one per line (partial VINs with * work for decoding, not for recalls).
• Include recalls for the make/model/year (includeRecalls) Default: true.
• Include owner-complaint count (includeComplaintsCount) Default: false.
• Max VINs (maxResults) Default: 50000.

Output

One row per vin decoded in the dataset (JSON, CSV, Excel, or through the API). Sample:

[
 {
  "vin": "1HGCM82633A004352",
  "make": "HONDA",
  "model": "Accord",
  "year": "2003",
  "trim": "EX-V6",
  "series": null,
  "bodyClass": "Coupe",
  "vehicleType": "PASSENGER CAR",
  "doors": "2",
  "driveType": null,
  "engineCylinders": "6",
  "engineDisplacementL": "2.998832712",
  "engineHp": "240",
  "fuelType": "Gasoline",
  "fuelTypeSecondary": null,
  "electrification": null,
  "transmission": "Automatic",
  "transmissionSpeeds": "5",
  "gvwr": "Class 1C: 4,001 - 5,000 lb (1,814 - 2,268 kg)",
  "plantCity": "MARYSVILLE",
  "plantState": "OHIO",
  "plantCountry": "UNITED STATES (USA)",
  "manufacturer": "AMERICAN HONDA MOTOR CO., INC.",
  "manufacturerId": "988",
  "abs": null,
  "esc": null,
  "airbagsFront": "1st Row (Driver and Passenger)",
  "errorCode": "0",
  "errorText": "0 - VIN decoded clean. Check Digit (9th position) is correct",
  "decoded": true,
  "recallCount": 24,
  "recalls": [
   {
    "campaign": "19V182000",
    "date": "06/03/2019",
    "component": "AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE",
    "summary": "Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling specific 2003 Acura 3.2CL, 2013-2016 ILX, 2013-2014 ILX Hybrid, 2003-2006 MDX, 2007-2016 RDX, 2002-2003 3.2TL, 200…",
    "consequence": "An explosion of an inflator within the driver frontal air bag module may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver, front seat passenger or other occu…",
    "remedy": "Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's air bag inflator with an alternate inflator, free of charge.  The recall began April 10, 2019.  …",
    "parkIt": false,
    "parkOutside": false
   },
   {
    "campaign": "19E068000",
    "date": "10/10/2019",
    "component": "VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL:ACCELERATOR PEDAL",
    "summary": "Dorman Products, Inc.  (Dorman) is recalling certain Accelerator Pedal Assemblies part numbers 699-114 and 825-5029-1, sold as replacement parts for 2003-2006 A…",
    "consequence": "If the accelerator pedal binds, the engine may not quickly return to idle after the pedal is no longer pressed, increasing the risk of a crash.",
    "remedy": "Dorman will notify owners, and qualified service facilities will replace the affected accelerator pedal assemblies, free of charge.  The recall began December 9…",
    "parkIt": null,
    "parkOutside": null
   },
   {
    "campaign": "19V499000",
    "date": "27/06/2019",
    "component": "AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE",
    "summary": "Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2003 Acura 3.2CL, 2002-2003 3.2TL, 2003-2006 MDX, 2001-2007 Honda Accord, 2001-2005 Civic, 2003-2005 Civic…",
    "consequence": "An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.",
    "remedy": "Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver frontal air bag inflator, free of charge.  The recall began August 12, 2019.  Owners may contact H…",
    "parkIt": false,
    "parkOutside": false
   },
   {
    "campaign": "19V501000",
    "date": "27/06/2019",
    "component": "AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE",
    "summary": "Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2003-2006 Acura MDX, 2005-2012 RL, 2003-2007 Honda Accord, 2001-2005 Civic, 2003-2005 Civic Hybrid, 2001-2…",
    "consequence": "An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.",
    "remedy": "Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal airbag inflator, free of charge.  The recall began August 12, 2019.  Owners may contact…",
    "parkIt": false,
    "parkOutside": false
   },
   {
    "campaign": "18V268000",
    "date": "26/04/2018",
    "component": "AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE",
    "summary": "Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2003-2012 Honda Accord and Pilot, 2010 Accord Crosstour, 2001-2011 Civic, 2002-2011 CR-V, 2003-2004, 2006-…",
    "consequence": "An incorrectly installed air bag may deploy improperly in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury.",
    "remedy": "Honda will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and, if necessary, replace the passenger frontal air bag module assembly, free of charge.  The recall began J…",
    "parkIt": false,
    "parkOutside": false
   },
   {
    "campaign": "17V220000",
    "date": "30/03/2017",
    "component": "AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE",
    "summary": "Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2003 Honda Accord Coupe vehicles, equipped with a four-cylinder engine.  If the passenger frontal air bag …",
    "consequence": "An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.",
    "remedy": "Honda will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the vehicle and replace any Takata inflator used in the passenger frontal air bag module, free of charge.  Th…",
    "parkIt": false,
    "parkOutside": false
   },
   {
    "campaign": "15V320000",
    "date": "28/05/2015",
    "component": "AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE",
    "summary": "Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain model year 2001-2007 Accord, 2001-2005 Civic, 2001-2004 Honda Civic GX, 2003-2005 Honda Civic Hybrid, 2002…",
    "consequence": "In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other o…",
    "remedy": "Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver frontal air bag inflator, free of charge.  The recall began on July 1, 2015.  Owners may contact H…",
    "parkIt": false,
    "parkOutside": false
   },
   {
    "campaign": "14V700000",
    "date": "04/11/2014",
    "component": "AIR BAGS",
    "summary": "American Honda Motor Co. (Honda) is recalling certain model year 2001-2005 Honda Civic, 2003-2004 Civic CNG and Element, 2002-2005 CR-V, 2002-2004 Odyssey, 2003…",
    "consequence": "In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger’s frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupa…",
    "remedy": "Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger side air bag inflator, free of charge.  The recall began January 26, 2015.  Owners may contact …",
    "parkIt": false,
    "parkOutside": false
   }
  ],
  "hasParkItRecall": null,
  "complaintCount": 2013
 }
]

Tips

• decoded is true when the VIN resolved to a make and model; errorText explains partial or bad VINs (wrong check digit, unregistered manufacturer).
• Recalls are by make/model/year, which is how NHTSA publishes them; whether a specific VIN was already repaired is not public data.

Integrations and API

Run it on a schedule, trigger it from the API or a webhook, and send results to Google Sheets, Zapier, Make, Slack, a database or your own code with the platform's standard integrations.

Data and fair use

This tool reads only public sources (official APIs, public feeds or pages the publisher makes available to everyone) and respects robots.txt and rate limits. You are responsible for using the data in line with the source's terms and applicable law.

How much it costs

You pay per result (pay-per-event), nothing per month and nothing when a run returns nothing. The price is $1.00 per 1,000 VINs on the Free plan, with automatic discounts on paid plans (Bronze −5%, Silver −10%, Gold −15%, Platinum −20%).

Worked examples:

• 100 VINs → $0.10
• 1,000 VINs → $1.00
• 10,000 VINs → $10.00
• Plus $0.001 per run start.

Platform usage (compute, storage) is included in the price: the actor runs at a small memory setting by default, so a typical run of 1,000 VINs finishes in well under a minute.

FAQ

Where does the data come from?

NHTSA's official vPIC decoder and recalls APIs (US Department of Transportation). Free, public and allowed for automated use.

Why are some fields empty?

A field is null when the source does not publish it for that row. The output keeps every column so your spreadsheet or integration always sees the same shape.

Can I run it on a schedule?

Yes. Use Apify Schedules (daily, hourly, cron) and connect the run to Make, Zapier, n8n, Google Sheets, a webhook or the API. Each run writes a dataset you can download as JSON, CSV or Excel.

Is there a free trial?

The Apify Free plan includes $5 of monthly platform credit, enough to try this actor on a few hundred results at no cost. There is no subscription for the actor itself.

Can an AI agent use this?

Yes. The actor is available through Apify's MCP server and the API, so LLM agents (Claude, ChatGPT, LangChain, CrewAI) can call it as a tool with the same input.

What happens if something fails?

Runs log every skipped item with a reason. If the source is down, the actor stops cleanly and you are only charged for the results it returned.

Changelog

• 2026-10-18 — Lower price with Bronze/Silver/Gold discounts; smaller default memory (cheaper runs); clean table view of results; FAQ and cost examples; first release; default limit 5,000.

Support

Found a problem or need a field added? Open an issue on the Issues tab; it is read and answered.