# Vehicle Recall Tracker — NHTSA Safety Recalls by Make/Model (`m_ctim/vehicle-recall-tracker`) Actor

Search official NHTSA safety recalls for a specific vehicle make, model, and model-year range. Get the campaign number, component, defect summary, consequence, and free remedy for each recall. For dealers, fleet managers, and shoppers checking a vehicle's safety history.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/m\_ctim/vehicle-recall-tracker.md
- **Developed by:** [Timothy Kelvin](https://apify.com/m_ctim) (community)
- **Categories:** Travel
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per usage

This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have.

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

## 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

## Vehicle Recall Tracker — NHTSA Safety Recalls by Make/Model

Search official NHTSA safety recalls for a specific vehicle make, model,
and model-year range. Get the campaign number, affected component, defect
summary, consequence, and free remedy for each recall.

Built for dealers, fleet managers, mechanics, and shoppers who want a
vehicle's full safety-recall history in one call instead of digging
through NHTSA.gov by hand.

### Input

```json
{
  "make": "Honda",
  "model": "Accord",
  "yearFrom": 2018,
  "yearTo": 2022,
  "maxResults": 50
}
```

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `make` | string | Vehicle manufacturer, e.g. `"Honda"`, `"Ford"`, `"Toyota"`. |
| `model` | string | Vehicle model, e.g. `"Accord"`, `"Explorer"`, `"Camry"`. |
| `yearFrom` | number | Earliest model year to search (inclusive). Default `2018`. |
| `yearTo` | number | Latest model year to search (inclusive). Default `2026`. Range capped at 15 years. |
| `maxResults` | number | Max recalls to return, most recent first. Default `50`, max `200`. |

### Output

One record per recall campaign:

```json
{
  "campaignNumber": "20V771000",
  "manufacturer": "Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)",
  "make": "HONDA",
  "model": "ACCORD",
  "modelYear": "2020",
  "component": "ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:BODY CONTROL MODULE:SOFTWARE",
  "summary": "Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018-2020 Accord Sedan, Accord Hybrid, and 2019-2020 Insight vehicles. A software error may cause intermittent or continuous disruptions in communication between the Body Control Module (BCM) and other components.",
  "consequence": "Various system malfunctions such as inoperative windshield wipers, defroster, rearview camera, or exterior lighting can increase the risk of a crash.",
  "remedy": "Honda will notify owners, and dealers will update the BCM software, free of charge.",
  "notes": "Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236.",
  "reportReceivedDate": "2020-12-10",
  "parkIt": false,
  "parkOutside": false,
  "overTheAirUpdate": false
}
```

A search with no matching recalls returns no items but is still billed
once for the search.

### How it works

Direct calls to the official [NHTSA Recalls
API](https://www.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa-datasets-and-apis) (`api.nhtsa.gov`),
one request per model year in the requested range, deduplicated by
recall campaign number (a single recall can span multiple model years
and would otherwise show up once per year). No proxy, no key, no
scraping — public-domain U.S. government data.

### Pricing note

Billed per **search**, not per recall returned — one charge whether the
search spans one model year or fifteen, and whether it returns 0 recalls
or 200.

### Related products

- [Product Recall Alert](https://github.com/timmKal01/product-recall-alert) — the FDA equivalent for drug, food, and medical device recalls
- [Vehicle Complaint Tracker](https://github.com/timmKal01/vehicle-complaint-tracker) — raw owner complaints from the same NHTSA data family, the "before" to this actor's "after"

# Actor input Schema

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

Vehicle manufacturer, e.g. "Honda", "Ford", "Toyota". Matches NHTSA's make spelling; not case-sensitive.

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

Vehicle model, e.g. "Accord", "Explorer", "Camry". Matches NHTSA's model spelling; not case-sensitive.

## `yearFrom` (type: `integer`):

Earliest model year to search (inclusive).

## `yearTo` (type: `integer`):

Latest model year to search (inclusive). Must be within 15 years of "Model year from" — NHTSA charges one API call per model year searched.

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

Maximum number of recalls to return, most recent first.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "make": "Honda",
  "model": "Accord",
  "yearFrom": 2018,
  "yearTo": 2026,
  "maxResults": 50
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (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 = {
    "make": "Honda",
    "model": "Accord"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("m_ctim/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 = {
    "make": "Honda",
    "model": "Accord",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("m_ctim/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 '{
  "make": "Honda",
  "model": "Accord"
}' |
apify call m_ctim/vehicle-recall-tracker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,m_ctim/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/SkZRhobVTiIvBmscu/builds/kdNnGg2HYXd1kgEeJ/openapi.json