# NHTSA Vehicle Safety Scraper - Recalls & Complaints (`thirdwatch/nhtsa-vehicle-safety-scraper`) Actor

Export official U.S. vehicle recalls and owner complaints by year, make, and model. Get campaign IDs, components, defects, remedies, incidents, injuries, and source links.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/thirdwatch/nhtsa-vehicle-safety-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Thirdwatch](https://apify.com/thirdwatch) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Education
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

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

## NHTSA Vehicle Safety Scraper

> Export official vehicle recalls and owner complaints by year, make, and model with defects, remedies, incidents, injuries, and source links.

### What you get

Check several vehicle configurations in one run and produce one clean row per official recall campaign or consumer complaint. Recall rows explain the affected component, safety consequence, and remedy; complaint rows add incident, crash, fire, injury, death, and filing details when published.

### Output fields

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `record_type` | `recall` or `complaint` |
| `record_id` | Campaign or complaint identifier |
| `manufacturer` | Published manufacturer name |
| `make` / `model` / `model_year` | Vehicle identity |
| `component` | Affected component |
| `summary` | Recall or complaint narrative |
| `consequence` / `remedy` | Recall consequence and corrective action |
| `report_received_date` / `notes` | Recall reporting fields |
| `park_it` / `park_outside` / `over_the_air_update` | Published urgent-action indicators |
| `incident_date` / `filed_date` | Complaint dates |
| `crash` / `fire` | Complaint incident indicators |
| `injuries` / `deaths` | Published complaint counts |
| `vehicle_query` | Input vehicle that produced the row |
| `source_url` / `source` | Official NHTSA source and attribution |

### Example output

```json
{
  "record_type": "recall",
  "record_id": "24V128000",
  "manufacturer": "Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing",
  "make": "TOYOTA",
  "model": "CAMRY",
  "model_year": "2024",
  "component": "SEATS",
  "vehicle_query": "2024|Toyota|Camry"
}
```

### Input parameters

| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `vehicles` | No | Vehicles as `YEAR|MAKE|MODEL`. |
| `recordTypes` | No | Any combination of `recalls` and `complaints`. |
| `maxResultsPerVehicle` | No | Maximum rows for each vehicle/type pair. Defaults to 10. |

### Use cases

- Fleet teams: monitor recalls across standardized year/make/model inventories.
- Dealers and marketplaces: add safety-history evidence to vehicle workflows.
- Insurers and legal researchers: compare complaint incidents across models.
- Automotive analysts: build source-linked recall and defect datasets.

### Export NHTSA recalls and complaints without a VIN

Query one or more year, make, and model combinations to collect official model-level safety records. The Actor deliberately excludes VINs and retains campaign or complaint identifiers for source verification.

### Limitations

This search uses year, make, and model rather than a complete VIN-specific eligibility check. A campaign may apply only to certain production dates or configurations. Complaints are consumer reports and are not proof of a defect. Always confirm vehicle-specific safety actions with NHTSA and the manufacturer.

### Compared to alternatives

Compared with `fortuitous_pirate/nhtsa-recalls-scraper`, this Actor supports several vehicles and both recalls and complaints in one run. Compared with `scrapers_lat/nhtsa-recalls-scraper`, it uses a low default cap and keeps urgent recall indicators alongside complaint incident counts. Store pricing and features can change.

### FAQ

#### Can this check whether my exact VIN is recalled?

No. It identifies campaigns for a year, make, and model. Use the official VIN recall lookup for a vehicle-specific answer.

#### Are complaints verified defects?

No. They are reports submitted to NHTSA and should be interpreted separately from recall campaigns.

#### What input format should I use?

Use `YEAR|MAKE|MODEL`, for example `2024|Toyota|Camry`.

Explore more at [thirdwatch.dev](https://thirdwatch.dev). Related Actors: [CPSC Product Recalls Scraper](https://apify.com/thirdwatch/cpsc-product-recalls-scraper), [FDA Recalls Scraper](https://apify.com/thirdwatch/fda-recalls-scraper), and [Google News Scraper](https://apify.com/thirdwatch/google-news-scraper).

Last verified: 2026-07

# Actor input Schema

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

Vehicles as YEAR|MAKE|MODEL, for example 2024|Toyota|Camry.

## `recordTypes` (type: `array`):

Choose official recalls and/or owner complaints.

## `maxResultsPerVehicle` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many unique records for each vehicle and selected record type.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "vehicles": [
    "2024|Toyota|Camry"
  ],
  "recordTypes": [
    "recalls"
  ],
  "maxResultsPerVehicle": 10
}
```

# 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 = {
    "vehicles": [
        "2024|Toyota|Camry"
    ],
    "recordTypes": [
        "recalls"
    ],
    "maxResultsPerVehicle": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("thirdwatch/nhtsa-vehicle-safety-scraper").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": ["2024|Toyota|Camry"],
    "recordTypes": ["recalls"],
    "maxResultsPerVehicle": 10,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("thirdwatch/nhtsa-vehicle-safety-scraper").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": [
    "2024|Toyota|Camry"
  ],
  "recordTypes": [
    "recalls"
  ],
  "maxResultsPerVehicle": 10
}' |
apify call thirdwatch/nhtsa-vehicle-safety-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,thirdwatch/nhtsa-vehicle-safety-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

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/E4cz5uVqBq44wjOyJ/builds/F7bvjTZ9ysqgdBzLs/openapi.json