Vinny is a lightweight, privacy-focused web application that helps car buyers instantly decode VINs, check for safety recalls, and generate professional PDF reports—all for free.
- Instant Decoding: Powered by the NHTSA vPIC API for official manufacturer data.
- Safety First: Automatically checks for active safety recalls.
- PDF Reports: Generate a clean, one-page spec sheet for any vehicle.
- Smart History: Remembers your last 5 searches using local browser storage (no database needed!).
- Deep Links: One-click access to full vehicle history reports.
- Backend: Python / Flask
- Frontend: Bootstrap 5 / JavaScript (ES6)
- PDF Engine: FPDF2
- Data Source: NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) API
If you want to run Vinny on your own machine:
- Clone the repo:
git clone [https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/vinny.git](https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/vinny.git) cd vinny pip install -r requirements.txt python app.py Visit http://127.0.0.1:5000 in your browser.