No VIN handy? No problem. Enter a plate and state and we'll identify the vehicle and open its full report — specs, photos and every open NHTSA recall campaign — free.
Recall data comes from NHTSA and is matched by the vehicle's year, make and model. PlateToVIN is not a consumer reporting agency; results may not be used for FCRA-regulated purposes such as employment, credit or insurance eligibility decisions.
We resolve the plate and state to the vehicle's 17-character VIN — the same conversion behind our commercial API.
The VIN is decoded to its exact year, make and model using our self-hosted vehicle database.
The vehicle is matched against every open NHTSA recall campaign, including do-not-drive and park-outside advisories.
Yes. Enter the plate and the state it's registered in — we resolve the plate to the vehicle's VIN, decode it, and match it against open NHTSA recall campaigns for that year, make and model.
Yes. Recall data comes from NHTSA, the US government's vehicle safety agency, and this tool is free with a small daily limit per visitor. Developers who need recall checks at volume can use our API.
A recall means the manufacturer or NHTSA identified a safety defect or non-compliance in that vehicle configuration. The manufacturer must fix it for free. Some recalls carry "do not drive" or "park outside" advisories — those are flagged in the results above.
NHTSA publishes recall campaigns by year, make and model. Whether your individual car has already had the remedy completed is manufacturer-held data — a dealer can confirm it from your VIN.
Check a VIN's check digit and see what every position means.
Plate formats, series and lookup guides for all 50 states.
POST /api/recalls — recall checks by VIN or year/make/model, free per call on any plan.
Dealers, fleets and marketplaces run plate → VIN → recalls in two API calls. Recall lookups are free on every plan.