Disclaimer
PlateVIN shows public NHTSA data. It is not a vehicle history report, not a statement that a car is free of recalls, and not professional advice.
Information, not advice
PlateVIN and its guides give general information taken from NHTSA’s public data and from the text of federal regulations that are linked on each page. They are not legal, safety or purchasing advice. If a decision matters, check the source or ask a qualified person.
Recalls
The recall list on a result is for the make, model and model year, because that is what NHTSA’s public API answers. It does not show whether a campaign is open on a specific vehicle, and an empty list does not mean a vehicle is free of recalls. Always check the exact VIN on NHTSA’s recall page and with a franchised dealer.
Recalls are filed by manufacturers and NHTSA continuously. A campaign filed after a snapshot was taken does not appear on the make, model and year pages until the next refresh.
Decoded data
A decode describes how the manufacturer says the vehicle was built. It can be incomplete, and a missing value means NHTSA has no data, not that a feature is absent. A decode does not prove that a vehicle exists, that its VIN has not been altered, or that its parts are original.
Dimensions and weights
The figures on model-year pages come from NHTSA’s Canadian vehicle specifications dataset and are listed per variant. They are not manufacturer brochures, and they can differ between trims and from the car in front of you.