For consumers buying used cars, knowing that vehicle’s history is a must. Knowing if there were prior accidents or scams like odometer rollbacks or title issues can impact a vehicle’s value and safety. Fortunately VIN history reports can offer detailed insights into these potential issues before they become major headaches.
While consumers would get this information via third-party platforms like Carfax, businesses in the automotive, financial and insurance areas can enjoy real-time access by integrating this data directly into their system by using APIs or Application Programming Interfaces.
Think of an API as a bridge or gateway that connects data to a computer or platform and presents it in a way that’s user-friendly and easy to understand. VIN history reports can have a significant impact on automotive businesses who know where to get the data and how to use it successfully.
What is a VIN History API?
A VIN history API lets developers integrate vehicle history data into their existing systems or applications. This technology uses a vehicle’s unique 17-character identifier (theVIN) to get detailed information about its history, including:
- Details of reported accidents, including the date the accident happened and its severity
- The number of previous owners of the vehicle, how the vehicle was used (for personal or commercial use or as part of a fleet) and the geographic location
- Any title issues such as salvage titles, rebuilt titles or flood damage
- Odometer issues including historical readings to spot any potential rollbacks
- Service records where available, including maintenance and repair history
Through an API, businesses can access this information in real-time without needing external platforms or having to manually look up the data.
How Businesses Can Use VIN History APIs
Different businesses in the automotive sector can use VIN history APIs in different ways.
Dealerships
Automotive dealers can use VIN history APIs to help increase transparency and improve the overall customer experience at their dealership. When a potential customer is interested in a vehicle, the salesperson can instantly pull up the car’s history, taking the time to answer any questions about its condition or to justify the asking price.
Insurance Companies
Insurance companies rely on VIN history data to accurately assess risk. For instance, a vehicle with multiple prior accidents or flood damage will likely have a higher probability of future claims, which in turn affects underwriting decisions.
Lenders
Financial institutions use MarketCheck’s API to verify the collateral value of vehicles before approving auto loans. Having accurate history data prevents lending against high-risk assets.
Fleet Managers
Fleet managers can evaluate vehicles before adding them to their fleet. Having a clean vehicle history helps reduce long-term maintenance costs and makes sure that the vehicle is reliable.
Why Use MarketCheck’s VIN History API?
As a leader in automotive data collection and integration, MarketCheck is uniquely positioned to help automotive businesses in various sectors take advantage of the latest in API technology and the wealth of data available. By accessing MarketCheck’s VIN History API, businesses are assured of:
Greater Accuracy and Transparency
Because MarketCheck pulls data from over 85,000 trusted sources across the U.S., Canada and the U.K., businesses can always count on having the most accurate and up-to-date information. This reliability and accuracy helps build trust with customers and stakeholders alike.
Improved Efficiency vs. Manual Lookups
Manual VIN lookups are tedious and time-consuming. By automating the process with an API, automotive businesses help speed up their overall workflow so that they can focus on core activities that generate profits like sales and marketing.
Greater Cost Savings
By using MarketCheck’s API, businesses avoid the high costs associated with buying individual VIN reports from regular consumer platforms. Bulk API use equals considerable savings over the long term.
Improved Customer Experience
Offering instant access to VIN history helps build confidence among customers. Whether it’s a buyer at a dealership or a borrower applying for a loan, knowing the history of a vehicle creates trust and promotes transparency.
Greater Scalability
MarketCheck’s APIs are uniquely designed to handle high volumes of requests, delivering reliable and consistent performance for businesses, such as insurance companies or nationwide dealership chains.
Getting Started with MarketCheck’s VIN History API
It’s easy to get started using MarketCheck’s VIN History API or any of our other APIs or data products. By integrating real-time VIN history reports into existing operations, dealers, insurers and lenders alike can improve customer satisfaction and operations speed.
Data-driven decision-making is only going to grow, so taking steps today to adopt API technology isn’t something that’s “nice to have”. Sooner, rather than later, it will become a necessity. For this reason, the data professionals at MarketCheck are here to support our partners in the automotive industry with comprehensive API documentation.
Creating an Account
Through the detailed documentation, developers can find a complete walkthrough of how to use the APIs, plus examples and resources to take advantage of the VIN history details to the fullest. To get started, simply register for an account on MarketCheck.com and request access to the VIN history API. Once approved, you’ll receive an API key to include in your requests.
About API Endpoints
The VIN History API includes endpoints for accessing different types of vehicle history data. For example, some of the endpoints for MarketCheck’s VIN History API include things like a VIN lookup, accident records, and ownership history. Each endpoint also comes with documentation, including an endpoint URL, request parameters, response format, and different examples.
This information is designed for developers, however, should you have any questions or need assistance integrating the VIN history data into your own systems or dashboard, our experts are ready to help. Simply contact us with information on your specific needs. We can generate individual reports, give FTP access for bulk data downloads and much more. The data we collect is designed to be flexible and easy to work with, and there’s no better time to get started than now.
Visit us at MarketCheck.com to learn more.
