NHTSA APIs
Complaints
Office of Defects Investigation
Complaint information entered into NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation vehicle owner's complaint database is used with other data sources to identify safety issues that warrant investigation and to determine if a safety-related defect trend exists. Complaint information is also analyzed to monitor existing recalls for proper scope and adequacy.
Dataset Summary
Agency: Department of Transportation
Sub-Agency/Organization: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Category: 23, Transportation
Date Released: December 16, 2002
Time Period: 1949 to present
Frequency: Daily
Dataset Information
Data.gov Data Category Type: Raw data
Specialized Data Category Designation: Enforcement
Keywords: Phone, Paper, Email
Unique ID: 81
Contributing Agency Information
Citation: N/A
Agency Program Page: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/downloads/index.cfm
Agency Data Series Page http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/downloads/folders/Complaints/FLAT_CMPL.zip
Dataset Coverage
Unit of Analysis: Vehicles, Tires, Child Safety Seats, Equipment
Granularity: United States
Geographic Coverage: N/A
Data Description
Collection Mode: Web, Phone
Data Collection Instrument: N/A
Data Dictionary/Variable List: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/downloads/folders/Complaints/CMPL.txt
Dataset Quality
Data Quality Certification: Yes
Privacy and Confidentiality: Yes
Applicable Information Quality Guideline Designation: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Additional Dataset Documentation
Technical Documentation: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/downloads/folders/Complaints/Import_Instructions.pdf
Additional Metadata: N/A
Approach A: Get by Model Year, Make, Model
Make the request to get the complaints for the required combination of Model Year, Make and Model.
- Syntax: api.nhtsa.gov/complaints/complaintsByVehicle?make={MAKE}&model={MODEL}&modelYear={MODEL_YR}
- Example: https://api.nhtsa.gov/complaints/complaintsByVehicle?make=acura&model=rdx&modelYear=2012
Response Fields: Response is a list of complaints for the given Model Year, Make and Model
Working Sample: JSON
Approach B: Get by Model Year, Make, Model
Step 1: Get all Model Years
Request a list of available Model Years for a given product type (Vehicle).
- Syntax: api.nhtsa.gov/products/vehicle/modelYears?issueType=c
- Example: https://api.nhtsa.gov/products/vehicle/modelYears?issueType=c
Response Fields: Response is a list of available Model Years in the repository. Use a Model Year from this list to use in the next step.
Working Sample: JSON
Step 2: Get all Makes for the Model Year
Request a list of vehicle Makes by providing a specific vehicle Model Year.
- Syntax: api.nhtsa.gov/products/vehicle/makes?modelYear={year}&issueType=c
- Example: https://api.nhtsa.gov/products/vehicle/makes?modelYear=2021&issueType=c
Response Fields: Response is a list of vehicle Makes for that Model Year. Use the Model Year and a Make from this list to use in the next step.
Working Sample: JSON
Step 3: Get all Models for the Make and Model Year
Request a list of vehicle Models by providing the vehicle Model Year and Make.
- Syntax: api.nhtsa.gov/products/vehicle/models?modelYear={year}&make={make}&issueType=c
- Example: https://api.nhtsa.gov/products/vehicle/models?modelYear=2010&make=acura&issueType=c
Working Sample: JSON
Step 4: Get all complaints for the selected Model Year, Make, Model
Now that you have all three key pieces of information (Model Year, Make, Model), make the request to get the complaints for the required combination.
- Syntax: api.nhtsa.gov/complaints/complaintsByVehicle?make={MAKE}&model={MODEL}&modelYear={MODEL_YR}
- Example: https://api.nhtsa.gov/complaints/complaintsByVehicle?make=acura&model=rdx&modelYear=2012
Response Fields: Response is a list of complaints for the given Model Year, Make and Model
Working Sample: JSON
Approach C: Get by ODI Number
Request a list of complaints by providing ODI number.
- Syntax: api.nhtsa.gov/complaints/odinumber?odinumber={odinumber}
- Example: https://api.nhtsa.gov/complaints/odinumber?odinumber=11184030
Response Fields: Response is a list of complaints for the specified ODI number.
Working Sample: JSON
Color codes to understand each part of the request URL:
- Red: Method Name
- Green: Applicable parameters
Request parameters and method names are case sensitive
Recalls
Office of Defects Investigation
Manufacturers who determine that a product or piece of original equipment either has a safety defect, or is not in compliance with federal safety standards, are required to notify NHTSA within five business days. NHTSA requires that manufacturers file a defect and noncompliance report as well as quarterly recall status reports, in compliance with Federal Regulation 49 (the National Traffic and Motor Safety Act) Part 573, which identifies the requirements for safety recalls. NHTSA stores this information and the data can be used to search for recall information related to specific NHTSA campaigns and product types.
Dataset Summary
Agency: Department of Transportation
Sub-Agency/Organization: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Category: 23, Transportation
Date Released: December 16, 2002
Time Period: 1949 to present
Frequency: Daily
Dataset Information
Data.gov Data Category Type: Raw data
Specialized Data Category Designation: Research
Keywords: Phone, Paper, Email
Unique ID: 83
Contributing Agency Information
Citation: N/A
Agency Program Page: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/downloads/index.cfm
Agency Data Series Page: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/downloads/folders/Recalls/FLAT_RCL.zip
Dataset Coverage
Unit of Analysis: Vehicles, Tires, Child Safety Seats, Equipment
Granularity: United States
Geographic Coverage: N/A
Data Description
Collection Mode: N/A
Data Collection Instrument: N/A
Data Dictionary/Variable List: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/downloads/folders/Recalls/RCL.txt
Dataset Quality
Data Quality Certification: Yes
Privacy and Confidentiality: Yes
Applicable Information Quality Guideline Designation: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Additional Dataset Documentation
Technical Documentation: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/downloads/folders/Recalls/RCL.txt
Additional Metadata: N/A
Approach A: Get by Model Year, Make, Model
Make the request to get the recalls for the required combination of Model Year, Make and Model.
- Syntax: api.nhtsa.gov/recalls/recallsByVehicle?make={MAKE}&model={MODEL}&modelYear={MODEL_YR}
- Example:https://api.nhtsa.gov/recalls/recallsByVehicle?make=acura&model=rdx&modelYear=2012
Response Fields: Response is a list of recalls for the given Model Year, Make and Model.
Working Sample: JSON
Approach B: Get by Model Year, Make, Model
Step 1: Get all Model Years
Request a list of available Model Years for a given product type (Vehicle).
- Syntax: api.nhtsa.gov/products/vehicle/modelYears?issueType=r
- Example: https://api.nhtsa.gov/products/vehicle/modelYears?issueType=r
Working Sample: JSON
Step 2: Get all Makes for the Model Year
Request a list of vehicle Makes by providing a specific vehicle Model Year.
- Syntax: api.nhtsa.gov/products/vehicles/makes?modelYear={year}&issueType=r
- Example: https://api.nhtsa.gov/products/vehicle/makes?modelYear=2021&issueType=r
Response Fields: Response is a list of vehicle Makes for that Model Year. Use the Model Year and a Make from this list to use in the next step.
Working Sample: JSON
Step 3: Get all Model for the Make and Model Year
Request a list of vehicle Models by providing the vehicle Model Year and Make.
- Syntax: api.nhtsa.gov/products/vehicle/models?modelYear={year}&make={make}&issueType=r
- Example: https://api.nhtsa.gov/products/vehicle/models?modelYear=2010&make=acura&issueType=r
Working Sample: JSON
Step 4 : Get all Recalls for the selected Model Year, Make, Model
Now that you have all three key pieces of information (Model Year, Make, Model), go ahead and make the request to get the recalls for the required combination.
- Syntax: api.nhtsa.gov/recalls/recallsByVehicle?make={MAKE}&model={MODEL}&modelYear={MODEL_YR}
- Example: https://api.nhtsa.gov/recalls/recallsByVehicle?make=acura&model=rdx&modelYear=2012
Response Fields: Response is a list of recalls for the given Model Year, Make and Model.
Working Sample: JSON
Approach C. Get by NHTSA Campaign Number
Get all recalls as part of a NHTSA recall campaign number
Request a list of recalls by providing the NHTSA recall campaign number
- Syntax: api.nhtsa.gov/recalls/campaignNumber?campaignNumber ={campaignNumber}
- Example: https://api.nhtsa.gov/recalls/campaignNumber?campaignNumber=12V176000
Response Fields: Response is a list of recalls for the specified NHTSA recall campaign number.
Working Sample: JSON
Color codes to understand each part of the request URL:
- Red: Method Name
- Green: Applicable parameters
Request parameters and method names are case sensitive