See exactly what the federal government's own public databases return for a given vehicle identification number — nothing typed in beyond the vehicle identification number itself. It automatically queries NHTSA's vPIC database for factory specs, NHTSA's Recalls API for recall campaigns on file, NHTSA's Owner Complaints API for consumer-filed problem reports, NHTSA's 5-Star Safety Ratings API for crash-test scores, the EPA's FuelEconomy.gov database for fuel economy and emissions, and the Federal Reserve's FRED database for a national auto-loan-rate benchmark and the Bureau of Labor Statistics' used-vehicle price index. It shows every field it gets back and marks anything missing as "not provided" rather than guessing. For title-brand history (salvage, flood, odometer rollback) — the one thing none of those free APIs can check on an individual-vehicle basis — it links out to the official DOJ NMVTIS lookup instead of guessing at it.
Curious how we source and label numbers across the site? See our full methodology. And if you want to know what's normally required on a manufacturer's own window sticker, read our Monroney label guide.
Run a lookup
Excludes the letters I, O, and Q, which vehicle identification numbers never use. No other input is needed — both government lookups below run automatically from this vehicle identification number alone.
How to read this report: Section 1 (factory specs) below is decoded from this exact vehicle identification number. Recalls, owner complaints, and 5-star safety ratings have no vehicle identification number parameter in NHTSA's public data, so those three sections are matched by make, model, and model year only — not verified against this exact vehicle's production run. The EPA fuel-economy match is a best-effort narrowing using this vehicle's decoded engine, battery, and drivetrain, also not specific to this exact vehicle. Section 1A and Section 7 are hand-maintained reference data for this model in general (towing capacity, common features, typical maintenance costs) — not decoded from this VIN and not a live lookup. Section 5 now pulls real listing data automatically when this VIN currently matches a Clear Auto Choice EV Inventory listing; otherwise it honestly stays "not provided." Each section's own note below covers what's unique to it.
Printable summary — styled like a window sticker, not one
1. Factory ground truth — complete NHTSA vPIC record
Every attribute NHTSA's API returned for this vehicle, not a curated subset. Most vehicles leave many of these blank — that's NHTSA's own data, not something this tool trimmed.
Attribute
Value NHTSA returned
Lineage
2. Official safety recalls — NHTSA Recalls API
View full recall detail
Cross-check a campaign number at nhtsa.gov/recalls if you want to verify one directly with NHTSA.
Ask the dealer — recall inquiry script
The recall lookup above only tells you a recall campaign is on file — NHTSA's public data has no way to confirm whether the remedy was actually performed on this specific vehicle. Only a franchised dealer can check that, by running the vehicle identification number through the manufacturer's own service system. Below is a ready-to-use script built from this vehicle's own decoded details and the recall data already shown above — copy it into an email, or read it over the phone to a dealer's service advisor.
Check this exact VIN — manufacturer & NHTSA lookup
Everything above is matched by make, model, and model year — not this exact vehicle. Two free official sources check recall status against this specific vehicle identification number: NHTSA's own VIN lookup (covers every manufacturer, sourced from manufacturer-reported completion data), and this vehicle's own manufacturer service portal where one is known.
2A. Owner-reported complaints — NHTSA Complaints API
This only ever shows what someone chose to report: a low count doesn't mean a car is problem-free, and a high one doesn't mean this specific vehicle is affected.
2B. Title-brand & salvage/theft history — official lookups
Junk, salvage, rebuilt, flood, odometer-rollback, and stolen-vehicle status aren't in this report — neither has a free government API this page could call automatically, so both are a quick manual check instead.
Title brand — NMVTIS
The DOJ-run National Motor Vehicle Title Information System. No free public check exists; an approved provider's report runs about $3–$10 one-time (not the $30–$50/month some sites push).
Insurance-industry-reported total-loss/salvage and stolen-vehicle status. Free, takes about a minute — narrower than NMVTIS since it only catches claims actually filed with an insurer.
Two other sources sometimes come up for a vehicle this thorough a buyer might want checked, and neither belongs here as an automated feature, at any price: state title and lien records (gated to the buyer of record or a licensed dealer, not queryable by a website); and insurance claims-history databases like CLUE (restricted to the vehicle's current or prior owner — though as a consumer, that owner is legally entitled to one free CLUE disclosure per year from LexisNexis under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, so it's worth asking the seller to pull theirs). These are manual steps for the buyer to take directly, not gaps this tool can close.
3. NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings
NHTSA sometimes files a model under a more specific body-style or cab-style name than the one vPIC decoded above, so this tool also searches close name variants when the exact name isn't found — the lineage column and the note below say which happened.
Configuration
Overall
Front
Side
Rollover
Lineage
4. EPA fuel economy & emissions — FuelEconomy.gov
The EPA's FuelEconomy.gov database has no vehicle identification number parameter either, and often splits one vPIC model name across several drivetrain or trim variants (for example, a hybrid and a non-hybrid version of the same model name). This tool narrows to a single matching configuration using the vehicle's own decoded engine size and cylinder count where possible, and reports honestly when it can't narrow to exactly one. Tailpipe CO2, annual petroleum consumption, the EPA's 1–10 smog rating, and SmartWay certification status all come from the same matched EPA record as the fuel-economy figures above — no separate lookup. A SmartWay badge only appears for a vehicle EPA's own data actually certifies; it's never shown as "not certified" for anything else, since that specific negative isn't spelled out in EPA's public field documentation the way the certified tiers are. For a plug-in hybrid specifically, EPA also publishes a separate blended gas+electric MPGe rating (distinct from the gasoline-only city/highway/combined MPG above it) and a 240V charge time — both shown below when the matched record is a genuine PHEV, "Not provided" for anything else. EPA also tracks a PHEV's gasoline range and electric-only range as two separate numbers (a real Prius Prime's real record: 640 mi gasoline, 25 mi electric-only) — the "EV range" row below shows the genuine electric-only figure for a PHEV and the vehicle's own real range for anything else, with the PHEV's gasoline-side figure broken out into its own row rather than the two being conflated.
Attribute
Value
Lineage
5. Seller-stated listing data
Listing field
Stated value
Lineage
This tool takes no manual input beyond the vehicle identification number. When this VIN currently matches a Clear Auto Choice EV Inventory listing, these fields are pulled live from that listing — nothing simulated. Otherwise they honestly stay "not provided" rather than guessing.
6. Financial parameters
Sales tax rate and down payment have no automated public source and stay honestly "not provided," same as Section 5. Financing APR is looked up live from the Federal Reserve's public FRED database (a national 60-month new-auto average, not a quote for this specific buyer or vehicle). Used-vehicle price trend is the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Used Cars and Trucks CPI, also pulled through FRED (which mirrors BLS's published index) — a national pricing benchmark, not this specific vehicle's value. Both read "not provided" if the underlying lookup has no fresh reading, rather than a guess.
Parameter
Value
Lineage
Factory values are exactly what NHTSA's database has on file for this vehicle — they are not re-verified against this specific vehicle's actual condition. Trim and body-class detail in particular can be incomplete or approximate for some vehicles, especially older or lower-volume ones.