Vehicle (YMM/VIN) Data APIs
NHTSA vPIC API vs. Fitzy for Tire & Wheel Shops
A free, official U.S. government API from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for decoding VINs and vehicle specifications.
NHTSA vPIC API is a real, legitimate vehicle (ymm/vin) data apis provider — this page isn't claiming otherwise. It's not a full storefront, so the fair comparison isn't feature-for-feature; it's what you'd still need to build (or buy) around it to sell tires and wheels online, versus what Fitzy already includes in one platform.
| What It Takes | Fitzy | NHTSA vPIC API |
|---|---|---|
| What it actually is | A complete ecommerce platform | A data feed / API / standard |
| Includes a customer-facing storefront | Yes | No — data only |
| Includes live, purchasable supplier inventory | Yes, 75+ suppliers | No — you'd still need to source and connect inventory separately |
| Includes checkout, financing, and fulfillment | Yes | No |
| Requires developer integration to use for ecommerce | No — ready to use | Typically yes |
| Ongoing engineering maintenance | Fully managed by Fitzy | Your responsibility |
Common Questions
Is NHTSA vPIC API a competitor to Fitzy?
Not directly — NHTSA vPIC API provides vehicle (year/make/model or VIN) data, which is one ingredient in a tire and wheel ecommerce platform. Fitzy already includes accurate fitment data as part of a complete storefront, live inventory, checkout, and fulfillment system.
Do I still need NHTSA vPIC API if I use Fitzy?
No. Fitzy's fitment engine and product data are already built in and tied to live, purchasable supplier inventory, so there's nothing separate to license or integrate.
What would it take to build a store around NHTSA vPIC API on my own?
You'd need to license the data, hire or contract developers to integrate it, then separately build (or buy) a storefront, checkout, supplier connections, and fulfillment — the full scope is broken down on our Build vs. Buy page.
Is NHTSA vPIC API's data accurate?
We have no reason to doubt the accuracy of NHTSA vPIC API's data for its intended use case. This comparison isn't about data quality — it's about the difference between a data source and a complete, ready-to-sell ecommerce platform.