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NHTSA Vehicle Recall Crawler - Safety & Recall Data

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NHTSA Vehicle Recall Crawler

Scrapes vehicle safety recall data from the NHTSA public API. Returns full recall records — campaign numbers, components, summaries, consequences, remedies, and safety advisories — for any make, model, and year you specify.

NHTSA Recall Crawler Features

  • Queries the official NHTSA recall API — no third-party aggregator, no auth required
  • Returns 15 structured fields per recall including campaign number, component, and full text of summary, consequence, and remedy
  • Supports multiple vehicle queries in a single run — batch 10 vehicles or 10,000, the actor handles them sequentially
  • Flags safety-critical advisories: park_it, park_outside, and over_the_air_update fields surface the serious ones
  • Respects maxItems across all vehicle queries — useful for testing and cost-capping runs
  • Pure API scraping — no browser, no proxy required, no Cloudflare to worry about

What Can You Do With NHTSA Recall Data?

  • Automotive dealers — Screen used vehicle inventory against open recalls before listing or purchasing
  • Fleet managers — Run your entire fleet through the API to surface outstanding safety issues before they become insurance claims
  • Insurance underwriters — Feed recall history into risk models as a vehicle safety signal
  • Consumer apps — Power a "check your recall status" feature without licensing proprietary data
  • Journalists and researchers — Track recall patterns by manufacturer, component, or year for investigative reporting
  • Compliance teams — Monitor manufacturer recall campaigns and remedies for regulatory reporting

How NHTSA Recall Crawler Works

  1. You supply a list of vehicles — each with a make, model, and model year.
  2. The crawler queries the NHTSA API once per vehicle and collects all matching recalls.
  3. Records are transformed into a consistent schema with normalized field names and ISO-formatted dates.
  4. Results are saved to the Apify dataset, capped at maxItems if you set one.

Input

{
  "vehicles": [
    { "make": "Toyota", "model": "Camry", "modelYear": 2020 },
    { "make": "Ford", "model": "F-150", "modelYear": 2022 }
  ],
  "maxItems": 50
}
Field Type Default Description
vehicles array — Required. List of vehicles to query. Each entry needs make (string), model (string), and modelYear (integer).
maxItems integer 15 Maximum records to return across all vehicles. Set to 0 for no cap.
proxyConfiguration object { useApifyProxy: false } Proxy settings. Not needed for the NHTSA API.

NHTSA Recall Crawler Output Fields

{
  "nhtsa_campaign_number": "20V682000",
  "manufacturer": "Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing",
  "make": "TOYOTA",
  "model": "CAMRY",
  "model_year": 2020,
  "report_received_date": "2020-04-11",
  "component": "FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:FUEL PUMP",
  "summary": "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 with an improved one, free of charge.",
  "notes": "Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236.",
  "park_it": false,
  "park_outside": false,
  "over_the_air_update": false,
  "url": "https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/recalls#20V682000"
}
Field Type Description
nhtsa_campaign_number string NHTSA campaign number (e.g., 20V682000)
manufacturer string Vehicle manufacturer name
make string Vehicle make (e.g., TOYOTA)
model string Vehicle model (e.g., CAMRY)
model_year number Vehicle model year
report_received_date string Date NHTSA received the recall report (YYYY-MM-DD)
component string Vehicle component involved in the recall
summary string Description of the recall defect
consequence string Potential consequence of the defect
remedy string Remedy/fix for the defect
notes string Additional notes about the recall
park_it boolean Do not drive advisory issued
park_outside boolean Park outside advisory issued (fire risk)
over_the_air_update boolean Recall can be resolved via OTA software update
url string NHTSA recall detail page URL

FAQ

How do I look up recalls for a specific vehicle?

NHTSA Recall Crawler takes a vehicles array in your input. Add one object per vehicle with make, model, and modelYear. The actor queries the NHTSA API once per vehicle and returns all matching recalls in a single run.

How much does NHTSA Recall Crawler cost to run?

The actor uses pay-per-event pricing at $0.10 per start plus $0.001 per record. A batch of 50 vehicles returning 200 total recalls costs roughly $0.30. That's the price of public data delivered clean.

Does NHTSA Recall Crawler need proxies?

It does not. The NHTSA API is a public government service — no IP restrictions, no anti-bot measures. Set useApifyProxy: false (the default) and the actor connects directly.

What vehicles does NHTSA have recall data for?

NHTSA tracks recalls for vehicles sold in the US going back decades — cars, trucks, motorcycles, trailers, and more. The database covers all manufacturers that have issued safety recalls through the agency.

Can I check multiple vehicles in one run?

Yes. The vehicles array accepts as many entries as you need. The actor processes them sequentially and applies the global maxItems cap across all queries.

Need More Features?

Need recalls by campaign number, date range, or component type? File an issue or get in touch.

Why Use NHTSA Recall Crawler?

  • Official source — Data comes directly from the NHTSA API, the same database powering the federal government's recall search tool
  • Batch-ready — Query any number of vehicles in a single run with consistent, structured output for every record
  • Affordable — $0.001 per record. At that price, checking your entire fleet twice costs less than a cup of coffee
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