Editor's Review
A used-car listing tells you what the seller chose to disclose. carVertical works the other side of that gap, taking a vehicle identification number and assembling whatever it can find in insurance files, workshop entries, auction listings, registration records and stolen-vehicle databases across a long list of countries.
How the app is used:
You type or scan the VIN and the app returns a free preview showing how many records exist for that car. Buying the full report unlocks the detail: recorded mileage readings over time, damage and repair entries, photographs from past sales listings where they survive, and flags for theft or write-off status. The mileage timeline is the part most buyers pay for, because a rolled-back odometer is hard to spot in person and obvious in a graph.
The catch:
Coverage is uneven, and it is the single thing that decides whether the purchase was worth making. Cars that spent their lives in Germany, Poland or the United States generally return thick reports; cars from markets with thin data-sharing return very little, and you find out which you have after paying. That mismatch drives a large share of the complaints behind the 3.73 average, along with subscription bundles that renew unless you cancel them.
Treated as one check among several, alongside an independent mechanic and a careful look at the paperwork, it is a reasonable spend on a car costing thousands. Treated as proof of a good car, it is not.
Features
VIN entry by typing or camera scan
Free preview showing how many records exist before you pay
Mileage timeline built from recorded odometer readings
Damage, repair and write-off entries where they were reported
Theft and stolen-vehicle database checks
Archived sales photos and listings for some vehicles
Pros
The free preview tells you whether a report is worth buying
Mileage graphs expose odometer tampering that a test drive cannot
Covers many European markets rather than a single country
Cons
Report depth varies wildly by country and by car
A thin report costs the same as a rich one
Subscription bundles renew unless cancelled
Absence of records is not evidence that a car is clean
Questions people ask
Is the app free?
The app and the record preview cost nothing. The full history report is a paid purchase, sold either singly or as a bundle, and the price is shown before you commit to it.
What if the report comes back almost empty?
That usually means the car's home market shares little data, not that the vehicle is faultless. The preview screen indicates how many records exist, so check it before paying.
Does it replace a mechanic's inspection?
No. It covers paperwork history, not present mechanical condition. Buyers generally use it to screen out bad candidates before booking an inspection on the ones that survive.
