Vehicle Data API — VIN decode, recalls, safety ratings, MPG & value

Pricing

100 free calls with every new key. After that, $5.00 buys 1,000 calls ($0.005 each). Credits never expire. You are only charged for successful lookups — errors and VINs we can't decode are free.

Quick start

Send your key as a bearer token:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY" \
  https://carlogs.xyz/api/v1/vehicle/3HGGK5H41JM732361

Endpoints

GET /api/v1/vehicle/{VIN}

Decode, equipment, base MSRP, recalls, complaints, safety ratings, fuel economy, market value, cost to own.

GET /api/v1/model/{make}/{model}/{year}

The same model-level data without a VIN, e.g. /api/v1/model/honda/civic/2015.

GET /openapi.json

Machine-readable spec (no key needed) — import into your HTTP client or give it to an AI agent.

Example response

{
  "vin": "3HGGK5H41JM732361",
  "vehicle": { "year": 2018, "make": "Honda", "model": "Fit", "trim": "LX", "base_msrp_usd": 16190, ... },
  "equipment": { "standard": ["Anti-lock brakes (ABS)", "Backup camera", ...], "optional_on_this_build": [...] },
  "recalls": { "count": 4, "scope": "model_year", "campaigns": [ { "campaign": "...", "component": "...", "summary": "...", "remedy": "..." } ] },
  "complaints": { "count": 112, "top_areas": [ { "area": "Forward Collision Avoidance", "reports_in_sample": 5 } ] },
  "safety_ratings": { "overall": 5, "frontal": 5, "side": 5, "rollover": 4, "scale": "1-5 stars" },
  "fuel_economy": { "combined": 33, "city": 31, "highway": 37, "unit": "mpg", "annual_fuel_cost_usd": 1850 },
  "market_value": { "low_usd": 13995, "typical_usd": 17261, "high_usd": 19995, "sample_size": 42 },
  "ownership_cost_5yr": { "fuel_usd": 9250, "depreciation_usd": 5200, "total_usd": 14450, "per_mile_usd": 0.19 },
  "sources": { "recalls": "NHTSA", "fuel_economy": "U.S. EPA / DOE fueleconomy.gov", ... },
  "notice": "Vehicle data only. CarLogs never provides owner or keeper information."
}

Errors

401

Missing or invalid API key.

402

Out of credits. The JSON body includes a top_up URL and price.

404

VIN or model year not found. Not charged.

429

More than 60 requests per minute. Check Retry-After.

Every successful response carries an X-Credits-Remaining header.

What the data is — and isn't

Specifications come from NHTSA vPIC; recalls, complaints and crash-test ratings from NHTSA; fuel economy from the U.S. EPA; value ranges from CarLogs listing data. Recalls are campaigns for the model year — the API does not say whether an individual car has had the repair done.

The API returns vehicle data only. It never returns owner, keeper or registration-holder information, and it does not include title, salvage or odometer history.