Can I show this data to consumers?

No. This data is licensed for business use only and cannot be displayed to consumers or resold as a consumer report. If you need a consumer-facing report, Carfax and AutoCheck are the products built for that.

Does an empty response mean the vehicle is clean?

No. An empty or missing array means we received no records of that type for that VIN. It is not a finding that no such event occurred, and it should not be shown to a user as a clean result.

Does it include accident or police reports?

No. The response carries title, brand, junk and salvage, insurance and odometer records. Collision shows up only where a jurisdiction applied it as a title brand. There are no police reports or repair orders.

How often are records updated?

Records arrive as reporting entities file them, so a salvage event or a title transfer appears once the jurisdiction or entity has reported it. There is no fixed refresh interval to quote.

How does pricing work?

You are billed per successful lookup, and history is priced above the decode endpoints because the underlying records cost more. Current per-call rates are on the pricing page.

Six record groups per VIN

Vehicle History API

Title, brand, salvage and odometer records by VIN.

Junk and salvage events with reporting entity
Title brands: salvage, rebuilt, flood, taxi
Title history, issuing state and odometer
VIN-change flag and insurance records

Test API Documentation

Our benefits

The raw records, not a consumer report.

Six record groups, raw

Junk and salvage, insurance, title brands, VIN-change flag, current title and full title history, each returned as its own array.

Integrate in minutes

One VIN, one GET, JSON back. Copy the request from the panel below, add your key, and the first report runs in minutes.

People who know the records

A free sandbox, a documented response shape, and support that can tell you what a given jurisdiction actually reports before you design around it.

Your rules, not our verdict

You get the records themselves, not a score or a pass and fail. Your own underwriting rules decide what a salvage brand or an odometer gap means.

For developers

Read the record groups yourself.

The panel on the right is a real request for VIN WBAFR7C57CC811956 and the response it returns, including a Copart salvage record and a branded title. Scroll it to see each record group, then copy the request and swap in a VIN of your own.

Every group is an array: junkAndSalvageInformation, insuranceInformation, brandsInformation and currentTitleInformation are all arrays.
Empty is not clean: An empty or missing array means we received no records of that type, not that none exist.
Odometer carries its unit: VehicleOdometerReadingMeasure pairs with VehicleOdometerReadingUnitCode, where M is miles.

Request

curl -G https://api.carsxe.com/history \
  -d key=YOUR_API_KEY \
  -d vin=WBAFR7C57CC811956

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "vin": "WBAFR7C57CC811956",
  "junkAndSalvageInformation": [
    {
      "ReportingEntityAbstract": {
        "ReportingEntityCategoryText": "Junk and Salvage",
        "EntityName": "Copart, Inc.",
        "LocationCityName": "Dallas",
        "LocationStateUSPostalServiceCode": "TX"
      },
      "VehicleObtainedDate": "2016-12-06T00:00:00.000Z",
      "VehicleDispositionText": "TO BE DETERMINED"
    }
  ],
  "insuranceInformation": [],
  "brandsRecordCount": 2,
  "brandsInformation": [
    { "name": "Salvage", "code": "50", "description": "Vehicle branded salvage" }
  ],
  "vinChanged": false,
  "currentTitleInformation": [
    {
      "TitleIssuingAuthorityName": "CA",
      "TitleIssueDate": { "Date": "2015-06-11T00:00:00.000Z" },
      "VehicleOdometerReadingMeasure": "000024806",
      "VehicleOdometerReadingUnitCode": "M"
    }
  ]
}

For AI agents

Built into the AI tools you already use

Point your coding agent at the CarsXE MCP server and it can call the API on its own, no client library, no glue code. The same tools are available to chat agents over plain HTTP.

Claude Code
Cursor
GitHub Copilot
Grok Bot
Codex
Gemini
Hermes Agent
OpenClaw
opencode
& more

Explore integrations

One command. Register the CarsXE MCP server with your editor.

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http carsxe https://mcp.carsxe.com/mcp \
  --header "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

View the docs

Then just ask. The agent picks the right CarsXE tool and returns structured vehicle data.

Prompt

Check VIN WBAFR7C57CC811956 for salvage records

Agent onboarding. Are you an AI agent? Fetch this skill to get an API key and start pulling vehicle data.

SKILL.md

curl -s https://carsxe.com/agent-onboarding/SKILL.md

View the skill

Fair billing

No data, no charge

A lookup we cannot resolve comes back as a 404 and costs you nothing. You are billed only when the API returns data.

Data found200 OK

Data found

{ "success": true, "vin": "WBAFR7C57CC811956", "brandsRecordCount": 2, "brandsInformation": [ { "name": "Salvage", "code": "50" } ], "vinChanged": false }

Billed. One lookup.

No match404 Not Found

No match

{
  "success": false,
  "message": "No data found for this VIN"
}

No charge.

Priced per answer, not per request.

Deepest in North America

Robust international support

Records are deepest in the United States, with Canada and Mexico less complete. Coverage depends on what each jurisdiction reports.

United States

Canada

Mexico

Customer stories

Companies love building with CarsXE

How teams build on CarsXE vehicle data.

“

CarsXE offers MotorTango's customers accurate and reliable vehicle data across many makes and models. Their VIN decoder and specs API are second to none.

Andy Liakos

CTO, MotorTango

“

The API is super easy to work with...it's a damn good API. And trust me, I deal with a lot of third parties and you're the creme de la creme. It's great. Documentation is sound, the result sets are sound. I have nothing to say but, man, it's too easy to work with.

Alan Deitch

Senior Engineering Leader, SpotHero

“

When a customer calls a dealership, we know they have an open recall instantly. That changes what the call is worth. Our agents book the recall alongside whatever the customer originally called about, and the dealer captures service work that used to walk out the door unnoticed. CarsXE's recall data is what makes that possible on every call, at every rooftop we run.

Samee Khan

Founder & CEO, PAM

“

With their VIN decoder and images, we can accurately document what's needed to perform repairs and ADAS calibrations, and we do it much more efficiently — saving dozens of minutes on every single repair. The result is consistent, reliable service at scale for all of our customers, backed by data we trust. CarsXE has become a critical part of our workflow and our ability to grow.

Philip Brossy

Founder & CEO, ADAS Safe

Same key, more endpoints

Keep building from the vehicle record

Vehicle Specifications

Full factory specs from a 17-character VIN

Market Value

Wholesale and retail values by VIN

Lien & Theft Check

Open liens and theft records by VIN

Ownership

Owner and address lookup, enterprise only

Plate Decoder

Vehicle identity from a license plate

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Can't find the answer you're looking for? Reach out to our customer support team.

Junk and salvage events, insurance records, title brands such as salvage, rebuilt and flood, a VIN-change flag, the current title with its odometer reading, and historical title activity, each as its own array.

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