Why a CarVertical report can’t replace an on-site expert inspection

What a CarVertical report actually shows

The service aggregates data from many sources: registration authorities, mileage records, insurance events, theft databases, recall campaigns, technical inspections, estimated market values and sometimes even archive photos after accidents.

First, let’s look at which data CarVertical normally provides. This international online service collects vehicle information from multiple databases worldwide. In a typical report you may find:

• ✔️ Registrations and owners — Countries and dates of registration, number of previous owners, year of manufacture and other basic details.
• ✔️ Mileage history — Odometer readings recorded in different years (for example at inspections, servicing, auctions). If the mileage history doesn’t add up, the report flags a possible odometer rollback.
• ✔️ Accidents / damage — CarVertical lists registered insurance claims: accidents, floods, hail damage and so on, often with an estimated damage cost. Sometimes you even get photos of the car after a serious crash where available, plus a list of damaged parts.
• ✔️ Theft / restrictions — Checks if the car is reported stolen or if it has legal encumbrances (such as finance liens, registration bans).
• ✔️ Extras — For example participation in recall campaigns, customs records, inspection results and an approximate market value. CarVertical can also list factory equipment and safety ratings (crash tests) for the model.

At first glance this looks very complete – and it is genuinely useful. A VIN report can protect you from obviously problematic cars. If you see the car has been heavily damaged or the mileage doesn’t match, you save time by immediately rejecting that option.

But you must understand the limits of CarVertical. A report costs relatively little (around 20–30 EUR), so many buyers are tempted to “save money” and skip professional help. That decision can easily lead to much higher losses later.

Database limits and inaccuracies

Unfortunately, the VIN history of a car is rarely 100% complete:

• ⚠️ Not everything ends up in the databases. A CarVertical report is built from official registrations, insurance claims and workshop data. If the car was in minor accidents that were repaired without insurance, or serviced “in a backyard garage”, these events may never appear in any database. In Germany there is no central mandatory system for recording mileage and accident history (unlike some other countries). Vehicle data is treated as personal data and is often only shared with the owner’s consent. That means a significant part of the story may simply never reach the report. A “clean” CarVertical report does not guarantee the car never had problems – it only means that available sources don’t show them.
• ⚠️ Privacy rules in Germany. There is no statutory nationwide mileage/accident database; much of the data is protected and can only be shared under strict conditions. As a result, VIN reports for German cars are often less detailed than buyers expect.
• ⚠️ Possible errors and misinterpretations. Large databases contain billions of records and are not immune to mistakes. Enthusiast forums have examples where CarVertical interpreted a normal workshop visit as an “accident” or accidentally mixed data from a similar VIN. Simple data-transfer errors can also confuse the algorithms, so a normal mileage jump might be flagged as “suspicious”. The service is improving constantly, but you should never treat it as 100% accurate.
• ⚠️ The report is already out of date the moment you download it. CarVertical shows the past – not the present. The report might look perfect, but between the last recorded event and today anything could have happened: a major mechanical failure, an unrecorded crash, overheating, improper tuning, etc. None of that shows up in the report. Without live diagnostics these issues remain completely invisible.

What’s missing from a digital report

A VIN report is a collection of dry facts. You won’t find the following in it:

• ❗ Current technical condition. CarVertical does not tell you in which condition the engine, gearbox, brakes, suspension or electronics are today. That requires diagnostics and an expert’s eye. A car can have a “no accidents recorded” status and at the same time suffer from severe oil consumption, low compression or a gearbox that jerks on every shift – these things can only be found on a test drive and during a proper check.
• ❗ Visual bodywork assessment. No digital service can replace a human walking around the car. Signs of repairs (distorted panel gaps, filler under the paint, twisted metal) will only be spotted by a person with a paint thickness gauge and experience. Sometimes a car has no recorded accidents, but a specialist finds that half of the body has been repainted – clear evidence of previous damage that was handled “off the books”.
• ❗ Electronics and equipment checks. A VIN report will not test every sensor, control unit and button. A real inspection includes a scan with professional diagnostics: reading error codes from all modules, checking actual mileage in the ECUs and so on. No online report will show, for example, that the ABS module has stored serious errors or that one of the airbags has been deactivated. CarVertical may mention a recall campaign, but it cannot guarantee that a dealer has actually carried out the recall – that must be verified.
• ❗ Legal nuances of the deal. An expert does not just look at the car, but also at the paperwork: comparing VINs, checking the seller’s details and spotting red flags such as fresh document duplicates. A VIN report will not read your purchase contract or point out that a clause like “mileage according to odometer” effectively frees the seller from responsibility for a rolled-back odometer – but an expert will warn you.

Why you still need an expert on site

A pre-purchase inspection is a combination of several layers: history analysis, technical diagnostics and human experience. That is exactly what a PDF alone can’t provide.

💯 History analysis + cross-checking. A good specialist always looks at the VIN history (and uses CarVertical where available). More importantly, they compare the digital story with reality. If the report mentions front-end damage, the expert will pay special attention to the front structure, alignment and welds. If the report is “clean”, the expert still checks for signs of repairs to confirm or disprove the databases.

💯 Diagnostics and road test. An expert does what an online service simply cannot do: run full OBD diagnostics, measure compression where necessary, listen to the engine, drive the car and feel how it behaves. They “communicate” with the car in the real world. For instance, if the report shows the car has been standing for a year, the expert will carefully check the brakes, tires and battery. If CarVertical hints at a possible mileage rollback, the expert will look for inconsistencies and confirm it via ECUs and physical condition.

💯 Objectivity and protection. A report is just raw information. An expert is your advocate on site. They can estimate the scale of hidden problems and explain how much repairs are likely to cost. With a written expert report you are in a much stronger position when negotiating: it’s harder for a dishonest seller to hide significant defects once they are documented. Many sellers become noticeably more honest when they see a professional inspector with a scanner and paint meter.

💯 Legally relevant facts. If serious issues are discovered (for example odometer fraud or a badly repaired accident car), an independent inspection report combined with the CarVertical data can be a strong argument. German law tends to side with the buyer when false statements were made. A random online report on its own is usually not enough in court – but a VIN report plus a formal expert inspection can make a difference.

By the way, in its own blog CarVertical notes that skipping a professional inspection is one of the biggest mistakes when buying a used car. In other words, even the creators of VIN reports themselves acknowledge the need for a live inspection.

Conclusion: use everything together

We are definitely not telling you to stop using services like CarVertical. On the contrary: a VIN report is a very useful step when shortlisting cars, and we actively use such tools ourselves. What you should not do is rely on them alone. The ideal approach is to combine: first check the history online, then confirm (or disprove) it with an on-site inspection.

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Always remember: no CarVertical report can replace the knowledge, tools and “feel” of an experienced mechanic. A website will not smell burnt oil or hear a subtle knock in the engine. So make sure to plan both time and budget for a proper pre-purchase inspection.

If you want to minimise risk, Sicher-Check offers a comprehensive inspection service: we look at everything from VIN history to how the car behaves on the road. Our experts know exactly where to look and what to test. We work quickly (often on the same day), operate officially and provide a written report. Don’t stop at a PDF – order an on-site inspection from Sicher-Check.

Fast, affordable, official: inspection by Sicher-Check

We work across Germany, with especially fast response in Berlin/Brandenburg. You get a full inspection with OBD diagnostics, a test drive and a formal report.

• ⚡ In many cases we can come on the same day.
• 💬 Choose peace of mind – combine digital reports with a live expert inspection, and let Sicher-Check take care of the latter.
• 💶 Transparent tariffs, online request form — contact form.