Vehicles
ReadTheVIN: a free VIN decoder and recall lookup for U.S. vehicles
ReadTheVIN, in development, will turn any 17-character VIN into a plain-English summary of the vehicle, and show the recalls, complaints and safety ratings that NHTSA publishes for its make, model and year.
Questions or ideas? Write to support@readthevin.com
What to expect
- VIN decoderYear, make, model, trim, body, engine, transmission, drive type, fuel, plant and safety equipment, in plain English, with a copy-summary button.
- Typo checksCheck-digit validation, and helpful errors for common slips like O for 0 and I for 1.
- Recalls, complaints and ratingsFrom NHTSA for the vehicle’s make, model and year, grouped by severity, summarized in plain English and linked to the official record.
- Browse by make and modelA page for each make, model and year, built from real NHTSA data: recall counts, common complaint areas and safety ratings.
- Recall alertsSave a vehicle and get an email when a new recall campaign is issued for it, if you opt in.
- Plain guidesHow to read a VIN, what to do about a recall, a used-car checklist and the window sticker explained.
Who it’s for
U.S. used-car shoppers, owners, small dealers and fleets.
Good to know
- ReadTheVIN will use public data from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). It is not affiliated with NHTSA.
- NHTSA lists recalls by make, model and year. To check whether a specific car has an unrepaired recall, use the VIN lookup at nhtsa.gov/recalls or ask the manufacturer or a dealer.
- It isn’t a vehicle history report: NHTSA data doesn’t cover accidents, title records or past owners.
Status
- Stage
- In development. No launch date yet; when it’s ready, this page becomes ReadTheVIN.
- Cost
- Free to use, supported by ads. An optional Fleet Pro plan for bulk lookups is planned.
- Address
- readthevin.com
- Questions
- support@readthevin.com
- Made by
- Tayari Labs LLC.