get_complaints
Get the owner-complaint signal for a vehicle by its id: an aggregate (totals by component and year, plus crash/fire/injury counts) and the most-recent complaints. Requires a Pro plan or higher.
LABSCO SUMMARY
Every answer resolves to a vehicle id first, which is what makes it citable.
Search turns a year, make and model into an id, and every other vehicle call takes that id — so a recall or a complaint attaches to one specific vehicle rather than to a make in general. The trouble-code lookup is the exception and stands on its own.
What it is
A vehicle data server over the CarVector API, run from npx or reached as a hosted endpoint. Vehicles are addressed by an opaque id that search returns.
What you get
- search_vehicles — vehicles matching a year, make and model, each with its id and specifications
- get_vehicle — full specifications for one vehicle: engine, drivetrain, body, a representative image and a recall count
- get_recalls — federal recall campaigns, each with component, summary, consequence and remedy
- get_complaints — the owner-complaint signal: totals by component and year, plus the most recent complaints
- get_tsbs — the manufacturer's technical service bulletin index, the fix a dealer already knows about
- get_investigations — federal defect investigations, which often run ahead of a recall
- lookup_dtc — an OBD-II trouble code's title, category, severity and its safety and emissions flags
Requirements
A CarVector API key in CARVECTOR_API_KEY, from a free tier that takes no card. Complaints are on the Pro plan; bulletins and investigations are on Business. Run it from npx, or point a client at the hosted endpoint with a bearer token instead.
Setup effort
One command plus a key — npx -y carvector-mcp --key <YOUR_CARVECTOR_API_KEY>, then supply credentials
USE CASES
01
Deciding whether to buy a used car
Resolve the vehicle, read its specifications, then the recalls and the complaint pattern behind it.
02
Making sense of a warning light
Look the code up for severity and whether it touches safety or emissions, then check whether the manufacturer has already published a fix.
03
Checking whether a fault is a known pattern
Read the complaint totals by component and the open federal investigations, which often move before a recall does.
04
Confirming a specification the model would otherwise guess
Resolve the exact vehicle and read the engine and drivetrain figures from the record instead of from memory.
05
Finding out what the dealer already has a fix for
Read the service bulletin index alongside the recall campaigns for the same vehicle.
7 tools
Counted once with only startup setup. Other versions, modes or optional credentials may expose a different list.
get_investigations
Get federal defect investigations for a vehicle by its id — a leading indicator that often precedes recalls. Returns each action with subject, component, open/close dates, and status. Requires a Business plan or higher.
get_recalls
Get federal recall campaigns for a vehicle by its id. Returns each campaign with component, summary, consequence, and remedy.
get_tsbs
Get the manufacturer technical service bulletin (TSB) index for a vehicle by its id — bulletin metadata (id, date, type, affected components, summary), not the documents themselves. Requires a Business plan or higher.
get_vehicle
Get full specifications for one vehicle by its id (an opaque token returned by search_vehicles). Returns engine, drivetrain, body details, a representative image, and recall count.
lookup_dtc
Look up an OBD-II diagnostic trouble code (e.g. P0420). Returns the code title, category, severity, and safety/emissions flags. Reference only — does not include repair cost estimates.
search_vehicles
Search the CarVector catalog by year, make, and/or model. Returns matching vehicles with their id and specs. Use this first to resolve a vehicle id, then call get_vehicle or get_recalls with that id.
BEFORE YOU INSTALL
What to know first
Tools you get
7 tools when we connected. get_complaints needs the Pro plan, and get_tsbs and get_investigations need Business; the free tier covers search_vehicles, get_vehicle, get_recalls and lookup_dtc.
Requires
- npx on PATH
- CARVECTOR_API_KEY in your environment
Where it runs
Of the 2 documented setups, 1 runs the server on your machine and 1 connects to a hosted endpoint.
CONTEXT COST
Light Standing cost
Rated by the size of the 7 tool definitions that ride along on every turn, not by how many there are
INSTALLATION
Connect your client
Server setup
npx
TERMINAL
npx -y carvector-mcp --key <YOUR_CARVECTOR_API_KEY>Hosted endpoint
ENDPOINT URL
https://api.carvector.io/v1/mcpAdd this hosted endpoint to your MCP client using the credentials listed under Requirements.
MCP Clients
Any MCP client — npx
ANY MCP CLIENT — NPX · JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"carvector": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"carvector-mcp"
],
"env": {
"CARVECTOR_API_KEY": "<YOUR_CARVECTOR_API_KEY>"
}
}
}
}Any MCP client — remote
ANY MCP CLIENT — REMOTE · JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"carvector": {
"url": "https://api.carvector.io/v1/mcp",
"headers": {
"Authorization": "Bearer <YOUR_CARVECTOR_API_KEY>"
}
}
}
}
