The Used Car Index

NHTSA complaints, recalls, investigations and manufacturer communications for about 68,000 used vehicles by make, model and year, plus daily dealer listing…

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What it can do

  • Vehicle Risk: Look up the recorded risk facts for one make, model and model year: NHTSA complaint counts by system and subsystem, recalls, investigations, manufacturer communications, an optional veri
  • Compare Vehicles: Compare recorded facts for several vehicles side by side, with factual orderings by complaints, recalls and available verified complaints-per-100k-sold rates. Unknown vehicles come b
  • Listing Changes: List observed dealer listing changes (new, price drop, relisted, delisted) with VIN, price, mileage, dates, source and link, filtered by vehicle, event type or date. Collector status

What data it sees

Do you need an account

No: the server works without sign-in

NHTSA complaints, recalls, investigations and manufacturer communications for about 68,000 used vehicles by make, model and year, plus daily dealer listing changes. Free read-only tier with no API key; paid keys raise limits.

How to connect

How to connect The Used Car Index to Claude

The server address to paste into Claude settings:

https://feed--theusedcarindex.run.tools

  1. Open Claude (claude.ai or the desktop app).
  2. Go to Settings → Connectors.
  3. Click Add custom connector.
  4. Paste the server address copied below into Remote MCP server URL and click Add.
  5. In a chat, click + → Connectors and switch the new connector on.

Custom connectors are available on Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans (Free is limited to one). On Team and Enterprise an organization Owner adds the connector first under Organization settings → Connectors.

Authorization

After you click Add, a sign-in window for the service opens. Sign in with your own account and approve access. Claude never sees your password.

How to connect The Used Car Index to ChatGPT

The server address to paste into ChatGPT settings:

https://feed--theusedcarindex.run.tools

  1. Open ChatGPT in a browser (chatgpt.com). A Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise or Edu plan is required.
  2. Turn on developer mode once: Settings → Apps → Advanced settings → Developer mode.
  3. Open Settings → Connectors and click Create.
  4. Fill in the form: Name (anything), Description (one line about what the service does), MCP server URL (copy it below).
  5. Under Authentication choose OAuth if the service requires sign-in, otherwise None. Click Create.
  6. In a new chat open + → Apps/Connectors and enable the connector.

OpenAI has renamed this section before (Connectors → Apps/Plugins). If the label differs, search settings for "developer mode". On Business/Enterprise workspaces an admin must allow custom connectors first.

Authorization

On first use ChatGPT opens the service's sign-in window. Sign in and approve access.

How to connect The Used Car Index to Cursor

The server address to paste into Cursor settings:

https://feed--theusedcarindex.run.tools

Fastest: click Open in Cursor below and confirm the prompt.

Manually:

  1. In Cursor open Settings → Cursor Settings → MCP and click Add new global MCP server.
  2. Paste the JSON copied below into ~/.cursor/mcp.json (per project: .cursor/mcp.json in the repo root).
  3. Save the file. The server appears in the MCP list; authorize it there if asked.

Authorization

If the service needs sign-in, an authorize button appears next to the server in the MCP list.

Server tool list (3)

Raw names from tools/list. Only developers need these.

vehicle_riskLook up the recorded risk facts for one make, model and model year: NHTSA complaint counts by system and subsystem, recalls, investigations, manufacturer communications, an optional verified complaints-per-100k-sold rate and source coverage. Separately labeled Jev model tags (model years 2012 and newer; about 43 percent of all complaints are tagged) carry per-label counts, shares and model confidence, which is not accuracy. Spellings and aliases resolve to the stored vehicle. A zero is confirmed only when coverage_complete is true. These are observed records, not a prediction, safety rating, verdict, repair advice or an individual vehicle history.
compare_vehiclesCompare recorded facts for several vehicles side by side, with factual orderings by complaints, recalls and available verified complaints-per-100k-sold rates. Unknown vehicles come back with database suggestions and unrated vehicles stay explicitly unrated. Counts reflect source coverage; no recommendation, verdict or safety ranking. The free tier compares up to 2 vehicles per call, paid plans up to 5.
listing_changesList observed dealer listing changes (new, price drop, relisted, delisted) with VIN, price, mileage, dates, source and link, filtered by vehicle, event type or date. Collector status separates an inactive feed from observed events. No photos or dealer-written text; delisted only means the listing was no longer observed, not that a sale completed. The free tier returns at most 10 events per call with no paging, paid plans up to 200 with cursors.