Vehicle recall check: decode a VIN and find the official source

Enter a 17-character VIN to identify a vehicle, or type its make, model and year. In the United States the tool lists the NHTSA safety recall campaigns for that model. In Canada it points to the official Transport Canada database.

Method and limitations

The VIN is checked in your browser: 17 characters, letters and digits without I, O or Q. The check digit is not tested because it is only valid for North American vehicles. The VIN is then sent to the NHTSA vPIC decoding service, which returns the make, model and model year when it has them. This identifies the vehicle; it does not say whether this vehicle has an open recall. United States: the make, model and year are sent to the NHTSA recalls service, which returns the campaigns that concern that model, not necessarily this vehicle. To know whether your own vehicle has an unrepaired recall, enter its VIN at www.nhtsa.gov (there is no link that carries the VIN over). Canada: the Transport Canada database cannot be queried from a browser, so the tool only links to it; a VIN is checked with the manufacturer. When a service does not answer in time or answers in an unexpected format, the tool says so and never reports that no recall exists. Privacy: the VIN you enter is sent to the NHTSA decoding service and to nobody else; this site stores nothing. Sources: www.nhtsa.gov ; vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov ; www.nhtsa.gov ; wwwapps.tc.gc.ca ; wwwapps.tc.gc.ca

Sources

• Recalls: check a vehicle by VIN — National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2026-11-11
• Vehicle Product Information Catalog (vPIC) API — National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2026-11-11
• Report a safety problem — National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2026-11-11
• Motor vehicle recalls database — Transport Canada, 2026-11-11
• Report a vehicle defect — Transport Canada, 2026-11-11