carVertical’s 2024 in review: striding towards a better market

Every car has a story, but not all of them are easy to uncover. That's why we’ve spent 2024 making our reports smarter and easier to use, all while helping drivers and dealers better understand used car markets with insightful research.

Curious about our key achievements in 2024? Take a look at what we were up to last year!

Report features and improvements – more than just vehicle history

VIN checks go far beyond uncovering a car’s history. In 2024, we made real progress towards creating reports that provide users with a much richer insight into the cars they buy and sell. Here’s a look at the new features we introduced over the past year.

AI Damage

At carVertical, we’re always exploring new ways to enhance our services, and the AI Damage feature is a great addition to our vehicle history reports. This advanced AI model analyses historical photos of the car, alerting users to potential damage. You’ll find the AI photo analysis conveniently in the Damage section of the report.

We’ve also enhanced this section further by upgrading car models from 2D to 3D. This improvement provides a clearer, more intuitive way to understand the extent of a car’s damage.

Natural disasters

As climate change leads to an increase in flooding worldwide, thousands of cars are being affected each year. A vehicle with water damage is something no one wants in their garage and should be avoided at all costs.

Our Natural disasters feature helps identify if a car was in a flood-affected area. While this doesn’t guarantee the car was damaged, it’s a strong signal that a water damage inspection is crucial.

Safety

Have you ever wondered how safe a particular car model is for drivers, passengers, and other road users? With our latest update, users can now access safety ratings from trusted assessment programmes like EURO NCAP directly within the report.

The Safety section now includes vital information on recalls, too. Users can view when a recall was issued, its status (solved, unsolved, or unknown), the date, and a brief description, giving a complete overview of the car’s safety history.

Maintenance schedule

Keeping up with proper car maintenance can be a challenge for both seasoned drivers and those new to the road. To make things easier, we’ve introduced a new section called Maintenance schedule.

This section provides recommendations on when future maintenance should be performed and highlights which parts need servicing. When buying a car, understanding its past maintenance and upcoming jobs is crucial to avoid unexpected costs down the line.

Typical mileage and Vehicle inactivity

We try to go beyond the basics to provide valuable insights. In the Odometer section, users can compare a vehicle’s mileage against the typical mileage of that model. For example, cargo vans generally rack up higher mileage, so a much lower figure might be a red flag worth looking into further.

Vehicle inactivity is another key insight. This feature highlights when a car may not have been in use, prompting buyers to verify the reasons with the seller. Understanding whether inactivity was due to damage or other factors can offer important clues about a car’s condition.

Ownership section

A car that has passed through multiple countries or owners could be hiding some unwelcome surprises. That’s why we introduced the Ownership section, which reveals how many owners the car has had and how many countries it’s travelled through since leaving the assembly line.

Making carVertical more user-friendly for individuals and businesses

In 2024, we also introduced a range of updates to enhance the user experience, simplifying navigation for both personal and business users. Here’s an overview of the key improvements.

• Developer portal. Allows businesses to generate PDF reports seamlessly using carVertical’s API.
• carVertical subscriptions and My subscription page. Instead of manually reordering when credits run out, users can choose a subscription plan that renews automatically every month (or sooner if needed). Subscription details are conveniently accessible from the sidebar or drop-down menus. A brand new My subscription section offers options to cancel, reactivate, edit payment methods, and enable auto-refill, all from a single place in the user zone.
• Saved card details at checkout. To streamline purchases, users can now save their credit card details at checkout, eliminating the need to re-enter them.
• Account security with OTP. Users have gained extra protection for their accounts with a one-time password feature. This ensures that only the account owner has access, providing added peace of mind.
• New report header. Our redesigned report header packs more information into a compact layout, giving users critical decision-making details both before and after purchasing a report.
• Revamped user zone. The user zone has been given a fresh new look, enhancing usability for our returning users and redefining how they interact with the platform.
• Multiple VIN checks. Checking multiple cars has never been easier! Users can now enter up to 10 VINs at once and receive all the reports with a single click.

What we’ve learned about the used car market – a year in research

Our extensive work with automotive data gives us unique insights into the used car market. It would be a shame to keep these findings to ourselves, wouldn’t it? By analysing millions of history reports, we’ve gained a deep understanding of driver habits, market trends, and levels of transparency across different countries. Here are the key research highlights we shared last year.

• Market Transparency Index 2024. The carVertical Market Transparency Index evaluates the used car market transparency in 30 countries, factoring in odometer clocking, damage history, and import rates.
• Most clocked cars. This research explores odometer tampering in the used car market, highlighting specific models which are more likely to have their mileage altered.
• Data sources. An in-depth look at how carVertical creates vehicle history reports by using the VIN to collect data from over 900 sources across 40+ countries.
• Clocking fines. A comparative analysis of penalties for odometer fraud, showcasing stark differences between countries. While some impose steep fines and prison sentences, others offer minimal penalties or lack specific regulations.
• Average mileage per year. Reviewing the average annual car mileage across different European countries and the US.

What’s next?

Last year was just the beginning. At carVertical, we’re constantly looking for new ways to connect with our users through data. This year, we’re gearing up to provide even more data-driven insights in our reports, delivering value to both car buyers and sellers. Backed up by hard facts from over 900 data sources, these updates will make our services even more user-friendly and impactful.

We’re committed to transforming our reports into even better advisors for both individual and business users, while increasing transparency in the used car market. carVertical was born out of frustration with the countless people getting scammed every day.

Buying or selling a car shouldn’t be a stressful experience, but there’s still much work to be done in this ongoing fight for fairness.