# Vehicle Recalls Monitor (NHTSA Open Data) (`revenuepilot/vehicle-recalls-monitor`) Actor

Get official US vehicle safety recalls by make, model and year from the public NHTSA API: campaign number, component, summary, consequence, remedy, park-it and OTA flags.

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

## Pricing

$2.00 / 1,000 recall 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

## Vehicle Recalls Monitor (NHTSA Open Data)

Get US vehicle safety recalls as clean, structured JSON, straight from the official
NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) public API. Check which recalls
affect a make, model and model year, or scan whole makes and get one row per recall
campaign: campaign number, component, summary, consequence, remedy, park-it and
over-the-air-update flags.

No API key, login or proxy needed. The data is US government open data.

### Why use it?

- **Used-car dealers and auction buyers:** check a VIN-less stock list (make, model, year)
  for open recalls before you buy or list a car.
- **Parts sellers and body shops:** watch new recalls on the components you sell or repair
  (`AIR BAGS`, `BRAKES`, `FUEL SYSTEM`, `STEERING`).
- **Fleet and leasing managers:** monitor every model in your fleet and get alerted to
  "park it" or "park outside" recalls.
- **Insurers' data teams, journalists, researchers:** build a recall dataset by make and year.
- **Automations:** schedule weekly with `reportedAfter` set, and feed new recalls to Make,
  Zapier, n8n, Google Sheets, Slack or an AI agent.

### What it does

- Looks up recalls for explicit vehicles (`make` + `model` + `modelYear`).
- Or scans whole makes: give `makes` and `modelYears` and the Actor lists every model with
  recalls for those years, then fetches all of them.
- Filters by report date (`reportedAfter`) and by component text (`componentContains`).
- De-duplicates campaigns per vehicle and stops at `maxResults`.

### Input example

```json
{
  "vehicles": [{ "make": "Toyota", "model": "Camry", "modelYear": 2020 }],
  "makes": ["Tesla"],
  "modelYears": ["2023"],
  "reportedAfter": "2022-01-01",
  "componentContains": "AIR BAGS",
  "maxResults": 100
}
```

### Output sample

One dataset row per recall campaign and vehicle (text shortened here):

```json
{
  "campaignNumber": "20V682000",
  "make": "TOYOTA",
  "model": "CAMRY",
  "modelYear": 2020,
  "manufacturer": "Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing",
  "reportReceivedDate": "2020-11-04",
  "component": "FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:FUEL PUMP",
  "summary": "Toyota is recalling certain 2018-2020 Camry ... The low-pressure fuel pump inside the fuel tank may fail.",
  "consequence": "If the fuel pump fails, the engine can stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.",
  "remedy": "Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel pump assembly ... free of charge.",
  "notes": "Owners may also contact the NHTSA Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 ...",
  "parkIt": false,
  "parkOutside": false,
  "overTheAirUpdate": false,
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls?nhtsaId=20V682000",
  "fetchedAt": "2026-10-21T12:11:53+00:00"
}
```

### Output fields

`campaignNumber`, `make`, `model`, `modelYear`, `manufacturer`, `reportReceivedDate`
(ISO date), `component`, `summary`, `consequence`, `remedy`, `notes`, `parkIt`,
`parkOutside`, `overTheAirUpdate`, `sourceUrl` (NHTSA recall page), `fetchedAt`.

### Pricing

Pay per event: **$0.002 per recall record** pushed to the dataset ($2 per 1,000 records).
No charge for empty lookups and no monthly rental. Set a maximum cost per run in Apify
to cap spending; the run stops cleanly when the limit is reached.

### Data source and limits

- Data comes from the public NHTSA recalls API (`api.nhtsa.gov`), US government open data.
  Coverage is US-market vehicles only. For Canada see the sister Actor
  *Canada Vehicle Recalls Monitor (Transport Canada Open Data)*.
- The Actor reads public data only, calls the API politely (small delay between requests,
  retries on temporary errors) and stores no personal data.
- Not affiliated with or endorsed by NHTSA. This is not legal or safety advice; always
  confirm a recall on nhtsa.gov or with the manufacturer.

### Search terms

NHTSA recalls API, vehicle recall lookup, car recall checker, safety recall database,
recall by make model year, auto recall monitor, airbag recall, fleet recall alerts,
used car recall check, US vehicle recalls dataset.

### AI transparency

The Actor performs deterministic querying, filtering and formatting. It does not call
a generative AI model. Its source and listing were prepared with AI assistance (Claude)
and reviewed by the publisher. Issues and feature requests are welcome in the Actor's
Issues tab.

# Actor input Schema

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

List of {"make", "model", "modelYear"} objects, e.g. \[{"make": "Toyota", "model": "Camry", "modelYear": 2020}].

## `makes` (type: `array`):

Optional. Every model with recalls for these makes and the model years below is scanned, e.g. Tesla, Jeep.

## `modelYears` (type: `array`):

Model years used with Makes, e.g. 2022, 2023. Max 10.

## `reportedAfter` (type: `string`):

Only recalls whose NHTSA report date is on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD). Use it to monitor new recalls.

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

Optional case-insensitive filter on the component, e.g. AIR BAGS, BRAKES, FUEL SYSTEM.

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

Maximum number of recall records to return (and be charged for).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "vehicles": [
    {
      "make": "Toyota",
      "model": "Camry",
      "modelYear": 2020
    },
    {
      "make": "Ford",
      "model": "F-150",
      "modelYear": 2021
    }
  ],
  "maxResults": 100
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (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 = {
    "vehicles": [
        {
            "make": "Toyota",
            "model": "Camry",
            "modelYear": 2020
        },
        {
            "make": "Ford",
            "model": "F-150",
            "modelYear": 2021
        }
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("revenuepilot/vehicle-recalls-monitor").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": "Toyota",
            "model": "Camry",
            "modelYear": 2020,
        },
        {
            "make": "Ford",
            "model": "F-150",
            "modelYear": 2021,
        },
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("revenuepilot/vehicle-recalls-monitor").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": [
    {
      "make": "Toyota",
      "model": "Camry",
      "modelYear": 2020
    },
    {
      "make": "Ford",
      "model": "F-150",
      "modelYear": 2021
    }
  ]
}' |
apify call revenuepilot/vehicle-recalls-monitor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,revenuepilot/vehicle-recalls-monitor"
        }
    }
}
```

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/cXxL6jgaynaDeRhB6/builds/pokXD0D790IO6Uq2m/openapi.json