Privacy and terms

Privacy

We do not require an account. A VIN or plate you enter is used to request data from the relevant vehicle data providers and may be cached on our server. VIN result pages can appear in the recent-lookups list and in search engines. Do not submit an identifier that you do not want to appear on a public result page. We do not sell lookup or contact information.

Optional analytics: if you accept analytics cookies, we use Google Analytics 4 to count views of public guides and catalogue pages and clicks on their carVertical links. Analytics is disabled on individual VIN and plate results, contact pages and URLs containing query parameters. Google Analytics sets cookies and collects usage data (such as pages visited, approximate location derived from IP, and device/browser information) as described in Google's privacy policy. Analytics is not loaded until you accept it. Your choice is remembered in this browser; you can change it using “Cookie choices” in the footer. The decoder works without analytics. An affiliate click is not a confirmed purchase.

The server keeps access logs for operation and abuse prevention. These can include IP addresses, requested URLs, timestamps and response codes. Lookup results are normally reused for 30 days before a new visit triggers a refresh. Published VIN results can remain stored for longer. If a refresh fails, a useful saved report may be shown with its earlier retrieval date.

If you use the contact form, the message, optional page link and optional email are stored privately for the site team to review. Contact messages are not published in lookup results or sent as analytics events. Old messages may be removed after 90 days; backups can retain an older copy until they are replaced. Do not include identity documents, payment details or passwords.

An unfinished contact message may be kept in this browser tab’s session storage so it can be restored after a form error. It is cleared after successful submission or when the tab session ends.

Terms of use

The information here is aggregated from open and public sources and is provided "as is", for reference only, with no warranty of accuracy or completeness. Do not rely on it as the sole basis for a purchase or any decision. Model names decoded from a VIN pattern are heuristic, not official records.

Links to carVertical are affiliate links. If you buy a report through it we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.

Data sources

Vehicle data comes from the open sources credited in the footer, used under their respective licenses (public domain, CC0, CC BY, CC BY-SA, OGL and NLOD).

Contact

For questions, corrections or a request about your information, use the contact form and select the relevant topic. Include a reply email if you want a response. For a lookup-page request, include its URL and explain what needs correcting or removing; do not send identity or ownership documents.