Recalls

Look up U.S. recall records for a given make, model, and model year

GET Request

~300ms response (cached)

1 credit per request

Endpoint

GET https://api.carapi.dev/v1/recalls

Query Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
make	string	Required	Vehicle manufacturer (e.g. `TOYOTA`). Case-insensitive, URL-encoded.
model	string	Required	Vehicle model (e.g. `RAV4`). Case-insensitive, URL-encoded.
modelYear	string	Required	4-digit year as a string (e.g. `2020`).
token	string	Required	API authentication token

Request Examples

cURL

curl -X GET \
  "https://api.carapi.dev/v1/recalls?make=TOYOTA&model=RAV4&modelYear=2020&token=YOUR_API_KEY"

JavaScript

const params = new URLSearchParams({
  token: 'YOUR_API_KEY',
  make: 'TOYOTA',
  model: 'RAV4',
  modelYear: '2020'
});

const response = await fetch(
  `https://api.carapi.dev/v1/recalls?${params.toString()}`
);
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

Python

import requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://api.carapi.dev/v1/recalls",
    params={
        "token": "YOUR_API_KEY",
        "make": "TOYOTA",
        "model": "RAV4",
        "modelYear": "2020",
    },
)
print(response.json())

Response Examples

Recalls found (200)

{
  "count": 2,
  "hasRecalls": true,
  "recalls": [
    {
      "manufacturer": "Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing",
      "reportReceivedDate": "23/01/2020",
      "component": "FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE",
      "summary": "Affected vehicles may have a fuel pump that fails ...",
      "consequence": "A fuel pump failure can cause an engine stall ...",
      "remedy": "Dealers will replace the low-pressure fuel pump, free of charge.",
      "modelYear": "2020",
      "make": "TOYOTA",
      "model": "RAV4",
      "parkIt": false,
      "parkOutside": false,
      "overTheAirUpdate": false
    }
  ]
}

No recalls (200)

{
  "count": 0,
  "hasRecalls": false,
  "recalls": []
}

Error Response (400)

{
  "error": "make, model, and modelYear query params are required"
}

Response Fields

Field	Type	Description
count	number	Number of recall records (upstream-reported, falls back to recalls.length)
hasRecalls	boolean	True when at least one recall was found for the given make/model/year
recalls	Recall[]	Array of recall records
recalls[].manufacturer	string	Manufacturer that issued the recall
recalls[].reportReceivedDate	string	Date the recall report was received (upstream-formatted, e.g. "23/01/2020")
recalls[].component	string	Affected vehicle component (e.g. "AIR BAGS")
recalls[].summary	string	Free-text summary of the defect
recalls[].consequence	string	Safety consequence of the defect
recalls[].remedy	string	Remedy / fix description
recalls[].modelYear	string	Model year
recalls[].make	string	Vehicle make
recalls[].model	string	Vehicle model
recalls[].parkIt	boolean	"Park it" advisory - vehicle should not be driven until repaired
recalls[].parkOutside	boolean	"Park outside" advisory - vehicle should be parked outside due to fire risk
recalls[].overTheAirUpdate	boolean	True when the remedy is delivered as an OTA software update

Error Codes

400

Bad Request

Missing make, model, or modelYear

403

Forbidden

Invalid or missing API token

502

Bad Gateway

Failed to fetch recalls upstream

500

Internal Server Error

Server encountered an error processing the request

Important Notes

•An empty array with hasRecalls: false is the expected "all clear" response - it is not an error.
•The parkIt and parkOutside flags signal severe defects (do-not-drive, fire risk) - surface them prominently to end users.
•Each request consumes 1 API credit from your monthly allowance.