How to get NHTSA Vehicle Recall Lookup in Looker Studio

Look up NHTSA vehicle safety recalls by make, model, and year or by VIN (vPIC decode). A run saves one row per result.

Set up the Apify actor

Apify is where this run is collected. An actor is the program that collects the rows. A task is that program saved with your settings, so the next section can ask for the latest rows. You need a free Apify account.

01
Open NHTSA Vehicle Recall Lookup and click Try for free. Create an Apify account if you do not have one. The Free plan does not ask for a card.

You are on the input form. Keep the sample for this first run.

{
    "make": "Honda",
    "model": "Civic",
    "modelYear": 2020,
    "vins": [],
    "maxItems": 5
}

03
Leave the proxy setting as it is. Click Start and wait until the run says Succeeded.
04
Open Storage, then Dataset. You should see NHTSACampaignNumber, Manufacturer, Make, Model.
05
When you want the real list, raise maxItems. The sample cap is only there so the first run stays small.
06
Go back to the input and choose Save as a new task. Name it after this list.
07
Open the task. Copy the task ID from the address bar. Excel, Sheets, Power BI, and the other guides ask for this ID.
08
On the task, open Schedules and add a weekly run if you want fresh rows. Each run pays the start charge and the charge for the rows. The amounts are in the price list on this page.
09
Open Settings, then API & Integrations, and copy an API token. Excel, Sheets, and the other guides put this token in a download link. Anyone with that link can download the rows, so treat it like a password.

How to set up in Looker Studio

Use the task ID and the API token from Set up the Apify actor, above.

01
The simplest path is the Google Sheet from the Sheets guide. In Looker Studio, choose Create, Report, then Google Sheets, and pick that sheet.
02
Or upload an export: on a finished run, choose Export, then connect File upload.
03
The weekly schedule from Set up the Apify actor, above, is what keeps the Sheet, and the report, current.

Schema

Examples come from the actor sample, not a live result.

Name	Description	Example
`NHTSACampaignNumber`	Campaign number	`21V215000`
`Manufacturer`	Manufacturer	`Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)`
`Make`	Make	`HONDA`
`Model`	Model	`CIVIC`
`ModelYear`	Model year	`2020`
`Component`	Component	`FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:FUEL PUMP`
`Summary`	Summary	`Honda is recalling certain 2019-2020 ... fuel pump may fail.`
`parkIt`	Park it	`false`
`sourceUrl`	Source URL	`https://api.nhtsa.gov/recalls/recallsByVehicle?...`
`scrapedAt`	Scraped at	`2026-09-09T10:00:00+00:00`

NHTSACampaignNumberCampaign number21V215000
ManufacturerManufacturerHonda (American Honda Motor Co.)
MakeMakeHONDA
ModelModelCIVIC
ModelYearModel year2020
ComponentComponentFUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:FUEL PUMP
SummarySummaryHonda is recalling certain 2019-2020 ... fuel pump may fail.
parkItPark itfalse
sourceUrlSource URLhttps://api.nhtsa.gov/recalls/recallsByVehicle?...
scrapedAtScraped at2026-09-09T10:00:00+00:00