VIN Decoder + Vehicle Recalls & Ratings (NHTSA, no key)

US vehicle data from NHTSA, behind a clean HTTP API (and MCP tool). Decode a VIN into make, model, year, engine, body and more, and look up safety recalls, NCAP crash-test star ratings and consumer complaints by make/model/year. No API key. Pay per query.

• 🔎 Decode VIN — turn a 17-character VIN into a full vehicle spec (make, model, year, engine, drivetrain, body, plant…).
• ⚠️ Recalls — open safety recalls: campaign number, component, summary, consequence and remedy.
• ⭐ Safety ratings — NHTSA NCAP crash-test stars (overall, frontal, side, rollover).
• 🗣️ Complaints — consumer complaints with crash/fire/injury flags and summaries.
• 💵 Pay per query · no key · official NHTSA data.

The use case it was built for

Car marketplaces, dealers, insurers and agents need to validate a VIN and check a vehicle's safety history. This API does both without a key: decode the VIN, then pull recalls, ratings and complaints for that make/model/year.

Sample output (recalls, Honda Accord 2018)

{
  "ok": true, "make": "Honda", "model": "Accord", "year": 2018, "count": 6,
  "recalls": [
    { "campaign": "20V314000", "component": "FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:FUEL PUMP",
      "summary": "…", "consequence": "…", "remedy": "…", "reportDate": "28/05/2020",
      "manufacturer": "Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)" }
  ]
}

How to use

• HTTP API (Standby): POST or GET /decode-vin, /recalls, /safety-ratings, /complaints. GET / returns help. Example: GET /decode-vin?vin=1HGCV1F3XJA000000.
• Normal run: pass { operation, vin } or { operation, make, model, year }; results land in the dataset + key-value store.
• MCP tool: expose it to your agent via Apify's MCP server.

Input

• operation — decode-vin · recalls · safety-ratings · complaints.
• vin — for decode. make / model / year — for recalls/ratings/complaints. limit — cap complaints.

Pricing

Per query from $0.005 (down to $0.002 on higher tiers). One call = one query.

Related Actors

• openFDA API — the same idea for FDA drug/device recalls.

FAQ

Do I need a key? No. NHTSA's vPIC and safety APIs are keyless.

Partial VINs? Yes — use * for unknown positions; decoding still returns what it can.

Coverage? US-market vehicles. Ratings exist only for tested vehicles; not every model has an NCAP rating.

Notes & limits

Data from NHTSA (vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov and api.nhtsa.gov). Complaints are unverified consumer submissions.