# Car Safety Ratings & Complaints: NHTSA 5-Star Crash Test Data (`pankajbhatia/car-safety-ratings-complaints`) Actor

Official NHTSA 5-Star crash test ratings (overall, frontal, side, rollover), driver-assist features and owner complaints (crashes, fires, injuries, components, narrative) for any car, truck or SUV by year, make and model.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/pankajbhatia/car-safety-ratings-complaints.md
- **Developed by:** [Pankaj Bhatia](https://apify.com/pankajbhatia) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Other
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.50 / 1,000 records

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/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

## Car Safety Ratings & Complaints: NHTSA 5-Star Crash Test Data

Get official **NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings** and **owner complaint reports** for any car, truck, SUV or van sold in the US. Enter vehicles as "YEAR MAKE MODEL" (for example `2022 Toyota Camry`), or "YEAR MAKE" to cover every rated model of a brand. The tool matches NHTSA's model names for you, so `F-150` finds the Regular Cab, SuperCab and SuperCrew versions. Rating rows include the overall, frontal (driver and passenger), side, side-barrier, side-pole and rollover stars, rollover risk, standard driver-assist features (stability control, forward collision warning, lane departure warning), complaint, recall and investigation counts, and crash-test photos. Complaint rows include the NHTSA ODI number, filing and incident dates, components, crash, fire, injury and death flags, and the owner's description. Partial VINs are not returned. No login or API key is needed.

### Who is it for?

- **Car dealers, marketplaces and comparison sites** that show safety stars.
- **Insurers, fleet managers and lenders** assessing vehicle risk.
- **Auto journalists, lawyers and researchers** studying defects and complaint trends.
- **Car buyers** comparing models.

### How to use it

1. Enter **vehicles**, for example `2022 Toyota Camry` (the default), `2021 Ford F-150` or `2024 Honda`.
2. Choose **data**: safety ratings, complaints or both.
3. Optionally keep only **serious complaints** (crash, fire, injury or death), filter by **component** (AIR BAGS, BRAKES) or by **filing date**.
4. Click **Start**. Note that NHTSA's API can take 10–20 seconds per request.

### Input example

```json
{"vehicles": ["2021 Ford F-150", "2024 Honda"], "data": ["ratings", "complaints"], "onlySeriousComplaints": true, "maxComplaintsPerVehicle": 20}
```

### Output example

```json
{"recordType": "safety-rating", "vehicle": "2024 HONDA ACCORD HYBRID", "vehicleDescription": "2024 Honda ACCORD HYBRID 4 DR FWD", "overallRating": 5, "frontalCrashRating": 5, "sideCrashRating": 5, "rolloverRating": 5, "rolloverRiskPct": 9.5, "forwardCollisionWarning": "Standard", "complaintsCount": 78}
```

### How much does it cost?

Pay-per-event: a small fee **per record (rating or complaint)** returned, plus a tiny per-run start fee. There is no subscription and no separate platform usage cost. For example, 1,000 records cost about $0.50. Searches with no matches and error rows are **not charged**. Use **Max complaints per model** or **Maximum cost per run** to cap your spending.

### Use it through the API, integrations or AI agents

Run it from the Apify API, on a schedule, or connect it to Make, Zapier, n8n or Google Sheets. AI agents can find and call it through the Apify MCP server. Output is clean JSON with the same fields on every run.

### FAQ

**Is it legal?** Yes. NHTSA publishes ratings and complaints through its public API at api.nhtsa.gov. It is U.S. government public data. Complaints are anonymous, and the tool drops the partial VIN.

**Why does a vehicle have no star rating?** NHTSA does not crash-test every model and year. Complaints are often still available.

**Are complaints verified?** No. They are owner reports to NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation and are not confirmed defects.

**Does it include recalls?** It includes the recall count. For full recall details, use our Product Recalls tool.

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# Actor input Schema

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

YEAR MAKE MODEL, e.g. 2022 Toyota Camry, or YEAR MAKE for every rated model (2024 Honda).

## `data` (type: `array`):

What to fetch.

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

Newest first.

## `onlySeriousComplaints` (type: `boolean`):

Skip other complaints.

## `componentContains` (type: `string`):

e.g. AIR BAGS, BRAKES, ENGINE, ELECTRICAL.

## `complaintsFiledSince` (type: `string`):

Optional, YYYY-MM-DD.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "vehicles": [
    "2022 Toyota Camry"
  ],
  "data": [
    "ratings",
    "complaints"
  ],
  "maxComplaintsPerVehicle": 50,
  "onlySeriousComplaints": false,
  "componentContains": ""
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

One row per vehicle variant rating or owner complaint.

# 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": [
        "2022 Toyota Camry"
    ],
    "data": [
        "ratings",
        "complaints"
    ],
    "maxComplaintsPerVehicle": 50,
    "componentContains": ""
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("pankajbhatia/car-safety-ratings-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": ["2022 Toyota Camry"],
    "data": [
        "ratings",
        "complaints",
    ],
    "maxComplaintsPerVehicle": 50,
    "componentContains": "",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("pankajbhatia/car-safety-ratings-complaints").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 '{
  "vehicles": [
    "2022 Toyota Camry"
  ],
  "data": [
    "ratings",
    "complaints"
  ],
  "maxComplaintsPerVehicle": 50,
  "componentContains": ""
}' |
apify call pankajbhatia/car-safety-ratings-complaints --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,pankajbhatia/car-safety-ratings-complaints"
        }
    }
}
```

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/YH5udKDvepUpJosAg/builds/DAK2JRMAggm7tIGVp/openapi.json