VIN Decoder & Recall Check — Official NHTSA Vehicle Data

Independent tool, not affiliated with NHTSA or the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Decode vehicle identification numbers against the official NHTSA vPIC database — the same source dealers and insurers use. Get make, model, year, fuel type, assembly plant and World Manufacturer Identifier, plus open safety recalls from the NHTSA recall database, in one flat record per VIN. Official government open data, no API key, no login.

Why VIN Decoder?

• 🚗 Official data only — decoded straight from NHTSA vPIC, not scraped third-party sites.
• 🔧 Recall awareness built in — open safety recalls (campaign number, component, summary) ride along with every decode.
• ⚡ Batch-friendly — decode up to 500 VINs per run in one go.
• 📋 Flat output — one record per VIN, ready for CRM import, listings, or a Google Sheet.
• 💰 Capped costs — PPE pricing at $1.25/1k vehicles with a hard maxTotalChargeUsd cap.

Use cases

Used-car listing enrichment · fleet and dealership inventory checks · insurance and claim workflows · recall compliance sweeps · VIN validation at lead intake

What data you get?

🏷️ Field	Description
🆔 vin	The vehicle identification number
🚙 make	Manufacturer (e.g. Honda, BMW)
🏷️ model	Model name
📅 year	Model year
⛽ fuelType	Primary fuel type (gasoline, diesel, electric, hybrid...)
🏭 plant	Assembly plant city, if reported
🔤 wmi	World Manufacturer Identifier (VIN chars 1–3)
🔧 recalls.count	Number of open recalls found
🔧 recalls.items	Top recalls: campaign number, component, summary

How to use

1. Add the actor to your Apify account and click Run.
2. Paste VINs into vinList (up to 500 per run).
3. Optionally set modelYear if a VIN needs a year hint to decode.
4. Export results as JSON, CSV or Excel.

Input

{
  "vinList": ["1HGCM82633A004352", "WBA3B1C50DF464919"],
  "modelYear": null
}

Field	Type	Default	Description
vinList	array	— (required)	VINs to decode, max 500
modelYear	integer	null	Optional model year applied to all VINs

Output

{
  "vin": "1HGCM82633A004352",
  "make": "HONDA",
  "model": "Accord",
  "year": 2003,
  "fuelType": "Gasoline",
  "plant": null,
  "wmi": "1HG",
  "recalls": {
    "count": 3,
    "items": [
      {
        "campaign": "19V182000",
        "component": "AIR BAGS:FRONTAL",
        "summary": "Honda will notify owners..."
      }
    ]
  }
}

Support

Open an issue on the actor's GitHub page or contact the developer via the Apify Store listing.