Home
Providers
CarsXE
CarsXE
CarsXE is a B2B vehicle data API platform operated by PiWaves, LLC, offering VIN decoding, vehicle specifications, market value estimates, vehicle history, vehicle imagery, license plate decoding and recognition, VIN OCR, OBD fault-code decoding, international VIN decoding, lien and theft screening, year/make/model lookup and single-VIN or 10,000-VIN batch recall checks. A single OpenAPI 3.1 contract covering 21 operations is published at api.carsxe.com/openapi.json, alongside a remote MCP server, an RFC 9727 api-catalog, an llms.txt index, first-party SDKs for eight languages, and a CLI. Designed for automotive marketplaces, dealerships, insurance, lending, fleet, parking and claims platforms that need programmatic access to rich, current vehicle data.
CarsXE publishes 10 APIs on the APIs.io network, including Specifications API, Market Value API, Plate Decoder API, and 7 more. Tagged areas include Automotive, Vehicles, VIN, Vehicle Data, and License Plate.
The CarsXE catalog on APIs.io includes 1 event-driven AsyncAPI specification and 1 JSON-LD context.
CarsXE’s developer surface includes CLI, authentication, code examples, sandbox, developer portal, documentation, API reference, and 40 more developer resources.
1 APIs
1 MCP Servers
On this page
Kin Score
APIs 21
Open Collections 7
MCP Servers 1
Pricing Plans 1
Rate Limits 1
FinOps 1
Event Specs 1
Vocabularies 1
Security Posture 3
Agentic Access 1
Resources 47
apis.yml
66 Operational Transparency
0 Create-or-Update Ergonomics
Composite quality — 74.2/100 · exemplar
Agent readiness — 63/100 · agent ready
Individual APIs this provider publishes, each with its own machine-readable definition.
VIN decoding and comprehensive vehicle specification lookup. Returns year, make, model, trim, engine, drivetrain, body style, and detailed feature and option data for a given No...
Returns market value estimates (retail, wholesale, trade-in) for new and used vehicles by VIN, informed by millions of historical vehicle sales.
Retrieves high-quality photos of vehicles by year, make, model (and optional trim / color / background-transparency options) for use in marketplaces, dealer sites, and compariso...
OCR endpoint that extracts a VIN string from an image of a VIN plate, windshield, or document, enabling mobile-first vehicle-onboarding and inspection workflows.
Decodes vehicle information from a license plate plus state/province, returning make, model, year, and VIN where available.
Image-to-text OCR for license plates. Paired with the Plate Decoder, enables full vehicle lookup starting from a plate image, supporting parking, access-control, law-enforcement...
Raw vehicle-history data endpoint returning title records, accident history, odometer readings, service history, and salvage/lemon flags for a given VIN.
Returns safety-recall and campaign data for a given VIN, sourced from manufacturer and NHTSA data, for use in inspection, compliance, and pre-purchase workflows.
VIN decoding for non-US vehicles, returning make, model, year, and market-specific trim/spec data for international markets.
Matches an OBD-II diagnostic trouble code (DTC) to a human-readable vehicle fault description for use in service, maintenance, and connected-car applications.
VIN decoding for North American and international vehicles — 2 operations (getVehicleSpecs, getInternationalVinDecoder) returning year, make, model, trim, engine, drivetrain, bo...
Vehicle market valuation — 2 operations (getMarketValue v1, getMarketValueV2) returning wholesale, retail and trade-in figures by VIN, with optional state, mileage and condition...
License plate decoding — 3 operations (decodePlate, decodeUsPlate, decodePlateV2) resolving a registration plate plus country/state to vehicle make, model, year and (where avail...
Safety recall lookup — 6 operations covering single-VIN recalls, recalls by year/make/model, and the asynchronous Recalls Batch surface (submit up to 10,000 VINs, poll status, r...
Vehicle history reporting — 1 operation (getVehicleHistory) returning title records, junk and salvage events, insurance records, odometer readings and brand history for a VIN.
Vehicle imagery search — 1 operation (getVehicleImages) returning photo links, thumbnails, sources and dimensions filtered by make, model, year, trim, colour, angle, photo type ...
Image recognition — 2 operations (recognizePlate, vinOcr) that read a license plate or a VIN out of a supplied image URL or base64 payload, returning detected text, confidence s...
Vehicle lookup without a VIN — 3 operations (getYearMakeModel, getYearMakeModelOptions, decodeObdCode) returning trims, features and option packages by year/make/model, dropdown...
Encumbrance and theft screening — 1 operation (getLienTheft) returning active lien holders, theft reports and recovery status for a VIN, for lenders and pre-purchase due diligence.
API key validation — 1 operation (validateKey) against /v1/auth/validate, the endpoint the CarsXE authentication guide documents for confirming that a key is present, valid and ...
Remote Model Context Protocol server exposing the CarsXE vehicle-data endpoints as 12 named agent tools over streamable HTTP, authenticated with an X-API-Key header or an OAuth ...
Scroll for all 21
Open, tool-agnostic API collections (OpenAPI-derived and Bruno).
Scroll for all 7
Model Context Protocol servers that expose these APIs to AI agents.
Published pricing tiers and plan structures.
Documented rate limits and quota policies.
Cost, billing, and metering signals for API financial operations.
AsyncAPI definitions for this provider's event-driven and streaming APIs.
JSON-LD contexts and semantic vocabularies used across these APIs.
Authentication, domain security, vulnerability disclosure, and trust-center signals.
Recommended x-agentic-access execution contracts for AI agents.
Get Started 5
Portal, sign-up, and the first successful call
Documentation 2
Reference material describing how the API behaves
Agent Surfaces 5
MCP servers, agent skills, and machine-readable catalogs
Design & Contract 9
Pagination, idempotency, versioning, errors, and events
Scroll for all 9
Build 6
SDKs, sample code, and the tooling you integrate with
Access & Security 5
Authentication, authorization, and security posture
Operate 5
Status, limits, changes, and where to get help
Commercial 5
Pricing, plans, and the legal terms of use
Company 4
The organization behind the API
Other 1
Properties that don't map to a standard resource type
Source (apis.yml)
aid: carsxe
name: CarsXE
description: CarsXE is a B2B vehicle data API platform operated by PiWaves, LLC, offering VIN decoding, vehicle specifications,
market value estimates, vehicle history, vehicle imagery, license plate decoding and recognition, VIN OCR, OBD fault-code
decoding, international VIN decoding, lien and theft screening, year/make/model lookup and single-VIN or 10,000-VIN batch
recall checks. A single OpenAPI 3.1 contract covering 21 operations is published at api.carsxe.com/openapi.json, alongside
a remote MCP server, an RFC 9727 api-catalog, an llms.txt index, first-party SDKs for eight languages, and a CLI. Designed
for automotive marketplaces, dealerships, insurance, lending, fleet, parking and claims platforms that need programmatic
access to rich, current vehicle data.
type: Index
deliveryModel:
model: saas
open_source: false
commercial: true
callable_host: true
label: Hosted service · you call their endpoint
confidence: high
source:
- openapi
- pricing
generated: '2026-08-28'
method: derived
accessModel:
pricing: freemium
onboarding: self-serve
trial: false
try_now: true
public: false
label: Freemium · Self-serve signup
confidence: medium
source:
- plans
- authentication
- security
generated: '2026-09-03'
method: derived
position: Producing
access: 3rd-Party
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/icons/carsxe.png
tags:
- Automotive
- Vehicles
- VIN
- Vehicle Data
- License Plate
- OCR
- Automobiles
- Recalls
- Market Value
- Vehicle History
- Model Context Protocol
- Agents
created: '2025-02-24'
modified: '2026-09-05'
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/carsxe/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
specificationVersion: '0.23'
apis:
- aid: carsxe:vehicle-specifications-api
name: CarsXE Vehicle Specifications API
description: VIN decoding and comprehensive vehicle specification lookup. Returns year, make, model, trim, engine, drivetrain,
body style, and detailed feature and option data for a given North American VIN.
humanURL: https://api.carsxe.com/vehicle-specifications
baseURL: https://api.carsxe.com
tags:
- VIN Decoder
- Specifications
- Vehicle Data
properties:
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.carsxe.com/vehicle-specifications
- aid: carsxe:vehicle-market-value-api
name: CarsXE Vehicle Market Value API
description: Returns market value estimates (retail, wholesale, trade-in) for new and used vehicles by VIN, informed by
millions of historical vehicle sales.
humanURL: https://api.carsxe.com/vehicle-market-value
baseURL: https://api.carsxe.com
tags:
- Market Value
- Pricing
- Valuation
properties:
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.carsxe.com/vehicle-market-value
- aid: carsxe:vehicle-images-api
name: CarsXE Vehicle Images API
description: Retrieves high-quality photos of vehicles by year, make, model (and optional trim / color / background-transparency
options) for use in marketplaces, dealer sites, and comparison tools.
humanURL: https://api.carsxe.com/vehicle-images
baseURL: https://api.carsxe.com
tags:
- Image
- Media
- Vehicle Data
tags_raw:
- Images
- Media
- Vehicle Data
properties:
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.carsxe.com/vehicle-images
- aid: carsxe:vin-ocr-api
name: CarsXE VIN OCR API
description: OCR endpoint that extracts a VIN string from an image of a VIN plate, windshield, or document, enabling mobile-first
vehicle-onboarding and inspection workflows.
humanURL: https://api.carsxe.com/vin-ocr
baseURL: https://api.carsxe.com
tags:
- OCR
- VIN
- Artificial Intelligence
tags_raw:
- OCR
- VIN
- AI
properties:
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.carsxe.com/vin-ocr
- aid: carsxe:vehicle-plate-decoder-api
name: CarsXE Vehicle Plate Decoder API
description: Decodes vehicle information from a license plate plus state/province, returning make, model, year, and VIN
where available.
humanURL: https://api.carsxe.com/vehicle-plate-decoder
baseURL: https://api.carsxe.com
tags:
- License Plate
- Lookup
- Vehicle Data
properties:
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.carsxe.com/vehicle-plate-decoder
- aid: carsxe:vehicle-plate-recognition-api
name: CarsXE Vehicle Plate Recognition API
description: Image-to-text OCR for license plates. Paired with the Plate Decoder, enables full vehicle lookup starting from
a plate image, supporting parking, access-control, law-enforcement, and valet use cases.
humanURL: https://api.carsxe.com/vehicle-plate-recognition
baseURL: https://api.carsxe.com
tags:
- License Plate
- OCR
- Artificial Intelligence
tags_raw:
- License Plate
- OCR
- AI
properties:
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.carsxe.com/vehicle-plate-recognition
- aid: carsxe:vehicle-history-api
name: CarsXE Vehicle History API
description: Raw vehicle-history data endpoint returning title records, accident history, odometer readings, service history,
and salvage/lemon flags for a given VIN.
humanURL: https://api.carsxe.com/vehicle-history
baseURL: https://api.carsxe.com
tags:
- History
- Title
- Accident
properties:
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.carsxe.com/vehicle-history
- aid: carsxe:vehicle-recalls-api
name: CarsXE Vehicle Recalls API
description: Returns safety-recall and campaign data for a given VIN, sourced from manufacturer and NHTSA data, for use
in inspection, compliance, and pre-purchase workflows.
humanURL: https://api.carsxe.com/vehicle-recalls
baseURL: https://api.carsxe.com
tags:
- Recalls
- Safety
- Compliance
properties:
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.carsxe.com/vehicle-recalls
- aid: carsxe:international-vin-decoder-api
name: CarsXE International VIN Decoder API
description: VIN decoding for non-US vehicles, returning make, model, year, and market-specific trim/spec data for international
markets.
humanURL: https://api.carsxe.com/international-vin-decoder
baseURL: https://api.carsxe.com
tags:
- VIN Decoder
- International
- Specifications
properties:
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.carsxe.com/international-vin-decoder
- aid: carsxe:obd-codes-decoder-api
name: CarsXE OBD Codes Decoder API
description: Matches an OBD-II diagnostic trouble code (DTC) to a human-readable vehicle fault description for use in service,
maintenance, and connected-car applications.
humanURL: https://api.carsxe.com/obd-codes-decoder
baseURL: https://api.carsxe.com
tags:
- OBD
- Diagnostics
- Maintenance
properties:
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.carsxe.com/obd-codes-decoder
- aid: carsxe:carsxe-specifications-api
name: CarsXE Specifications API
description: VIN decoding for North American and international vehicles — 2 operations (getVehicleSpecs, getInternationalVinDecoder)
returning year, make, model, trim, engine, drivetrain, body style, dimensions, equipment and option data from a 17-character
VIN.
humanURL: https://carsxe.com/docs/v1/specifications
baseURL: https://api.carsxe.com
tags:
- Specifications
- VIN Decoder
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/carsxe-specifications-api-openapi.yml
- type: Overlay
url: overlays/carsxe-specifications-api-overlay.yaml
- type: APIReference
url: https://carsxe.com/docs/v1/specifications
- aid: carsxe:carsxe-market-value-api
name: CarsXE Market Value API
description: Vehicle market valuation — 2 operations (getMarketValue v1, getMarketValueV2) returning wholesale, retail and
trade-in figures by VIN, with optional state, mileage and condition adjustment on v2.
humanURL: https://carsxe.com/docs/v2/market-value
baseURL: https://api.carsxe.com
tags:
- Market Value
- Valuation
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/carsxe-market-value-api-openapi.yml
- type: Overlay
url: overlays/carsxe-market-value-api-overlay.yaml
- type: APIReference
url: https://carsxe.com/docs/v2/market-value
- aid: carsxe:carsxe-plate-api
name: CarsXE Plate Decoder API
description: License plate decoding — 3 operations (decodePlate, decodeUsPlate, decodePlateV2) resolving a registration
plate plus country/state to vehicle make, model, year and (where available) VIN, across 50+ countries on the v2 endpoint.
humanURL: https://carsxe.com/docs/v2/plate-decoder
baseURL: https://api.carsxe.com
tags:
- License Plate
- Plate Decoder
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/carsxe-plate-api-openapi.yml
- type: Overlay
url: overlays/carsxe-plate-api-overlay.yaml
- type: APIReference
url: https://carsxe.com/docs/v2/plate-decoder
- aid: carsxe:carsxe-recalls-api
name: CarsXE Recalls API
description: Safety recall lookup — 6 operations covering single-VIN recalls, recalls by year/make/model, and the asynchronous
Recalls Batch surface (submit up to 10,000 VINs, poll status, retrieve or download results, with an optional completion
webhook).
humanURL: https://carsxe.com/docs/v1/vehicle-recalls
baseURL: https://api.carsxe.com
tags:
- Recalls
- Safety
- Batch
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/carsxe-recalls-api-openapi.yml
- type: Overlay
url: overlays/carsxe-recalls-api-overlay.yaml
- type: Webhooks
url: asyncapi/carsxe-recalls-batch-webhooks.yml
- type: APIReference
url: https://carsxe.com/docs/v1/recalls-batch
- aid: carsxe:carsxe-history-api
name: CarsXE History API
description: Vehicle history reporting — 1 operation (getVehicleHistory) returning title records, junk and salvage events,
insurance records, odometer readings and brand history for a VIN.
humanURL: https://carsxe.com/docs/v1/history
baseURL: https://api.carsxe.com
tags:
- History
- Title
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/carsxe-history-api-openapi.yml
- type: Overlay
url: overlays/carsxe-history-api-overlay.yaml
- type: APIReference
url: https://carsxe.com/docs/v1/history
- aid: carsxe:carsxe-images-api
name: CarsXE Images API
description: Vehicle imagery search — 1 operation (getVehicleImages) returning photo links, thumbnails, sources and dimensions
filtered by make, model, year, trim, colour, angle, photo type and transparent-background option.
humanURL: https://carsxe.com/docs/v1/images
baseURL: https://api.carsxe.com
tags:
- Images
- Media
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/carsxe-images-api-openapi.yml
- type: Overlay
url: overlays/carsxe-images-api-overlay.yaml
- type: APIReference
url: https://carsxe.com/docs/v1/images
- aid: carsxe:carsxe-recognition-api
name: CarsXE Recognition API
description: Image recognition — 2 operations (recognizePlate, vinOcr) that read a license plate or a VIN out of a supplied
image URL or base64 payload, returning detected text, confidence scores and bounding boxes for mobile capture and inspection
workflows.
humanURL: https://carsxe.com/docs/v1/plate-image-recognition
baseURL: https://api.carsxe.com
tags:
- OCR
- Recognition
- Artificial Intelligence
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/carsxe-recognition-api-openapi.yml
- type: Overlay
url: overlays/carsxe-recognition-api-overlay.yaml
- type: APIReference
url: https://carsxe.com/docs/v1/vin-ocr
- aid: carsxe:carsxe-year-make-model-api
name: CarsXE Year Make Model API
description: Vehicle lookup without a VIN — 3 operations (getYearMakeModel, getYearMakeModelOptions, decodeObdCode) returning
trims, features and option packages by year/make/model, dropdown population data, and OBD-II diagnostic trouble code descriptions.
humanURL: https://carsxe.com/docs/v1/year-make-model
baseURL: https://api.carsxe.com
tags:
- Year Make Model
- OBD
- Diagnostics
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/carsxe-year-make-model-api-openapi.yml
- type: Overlay
url: overlays/carsxe-year-make-model-api-overlay.yaml
- type: APIReference
url: https://carsxe.com/docs/v1/year-make-model
- aid: carsxe:carsxe-lien-theft-api
name: CarsXE Lien & Theft API
description: Encumbrance and theft screening — 1 operation (getLienTheft) returning active lien holders, theft reports and
recovery status for a VIN, for lenders and pre-purchase due diligence.
humanURL: https://carsxe.com/docs/v1/lien-theft
baseURL: https://api.carsxe.com
tags:
- Lien
- Theft
- Lending
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/carsxe-lien-theft-api-openapi.yml
- type: Overlay
url: overlays/carsxe-lien-theft-api-overlay.yaml
- type: APIReference
url: https://carsxe.com/docs/v1/lien-theft
- aid: carsxe:carsxe-auth-api
name: CarsXE Auth API
description: API key validation — 1 operation (validateKey) against /v1/auth/validate, the endpoint the CarsXE authentication
guide documents for confirming that a key is present, valid and active before issuing product calls.
humanURL: https://carsxe.com/docs/authentication
baseURL: https://api.carsxe.com
tags:
- Authentication
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/carsxe-auth-api-openapi.yml
- type: Overlay
url: overlays/carsxe-auth-api-overlay.yaml
- type: APIReference
url: https://carsxe.com/docs/authentication
- aid: carsxe:carsxe-mcp-server
name: CarsXE MCP Server
description: Remote Model Context Protocol server exposing the CarsXE vehicle-data endpoints as 12 named agent tools over
streamable HTTP, authenticated with an X-API-Key header or an OAuth 2.1 authorization code + PKCE flow whose discovery
documents are served from the same host.
humanURL: https://carsxe.com/docs/integrations/mcp-quickstart
baseURL: https://mcp.carsxe.com/mcp
tags:
- MCP
- Agents
- Artificial Intelligence
properties:
- type: MCPServer
url: mcp/carsxe-mcp.yml
- type: ToolCrosswalk
url: mcp/carsxe-tool-crosswalk.yml
- type: Documentation
url: https://carsxe.com/docs/integrations/mcp-quickstart
common:
- type: AgenticAccess
url: agentic-access/carsxe-agentic-access.yml
- type: Packages
url: packages/carsxe-packages.yml
- type: SDKs
url: packages/carsxe-packages.yml
- type: CLI
url: cli/carsxe-cli.yml
- type: MCPServer
url: mcp/carsxe-mcp.yml
- type: ToolCrosswalk
url: mcp/carsxe-tool-crosswalk.yml
- type: AgentSkill
url: skills/_index.yml
- type: LLMsTxt
url: llms/carsxe-llms.txt
- type: WellKnown
url: well-known/carsxe-well-known.yml
- type: APICatalog
url: https://carsxe.com/.well-known/api-catalog
- type: Conventions
url: conventions/carsxe-conventions.yml
- type: Idempotency
url: conventions/carsxe-conventions.yml
- type: Conformance
url: conformance/carsxe-conformance.yml
- type: Compliance
url: https://carsxe.com/trust
- type: TrustCenter
url: security/carsxe-trust-center.yml
- type: DomainSecurity
url: security/carsxe-domain-security.yml
- type: Authentication
url: authentication/carsxe-authentication.yml
- type: ErrorCatalog
url: errors/carsxe-problem-types.yml
- type: ErrorCodes
url: https://carsxe.com/docs/errors
- type: DataModel
url: data-model/carsxe-data-model.yml
- type: Examples
url: examples/carsxe-examples.yml
- type: Lifecycle
url: lifecycle/carsxe-lifecycle.yml
- type: StatusPage
url: https://carsxe.com/status
- type: Deprecation
url: https://carsxe.com/docs/versioning
- type: Webhooks
url: asyncapi/carsxe-recalls-batch-webhooks.yml
- type: Sandbox
url: sandbox/carsxe-sandbox.yml
- type: RateLimits
url: rate-limits/carsxe-rate-limits.yml
- type: Plans
url: plans/carsxe-plans-pricing.yml
- type: FinOps
url: finops/carsxe-finops.yml
- type: Vocabulary
url: vocabulary.yml
- type: GitHubOrganization
url: https://github.com/carsxe
- type: LinkedIn
url: https://www.linkedin.com/company/carsxe
- type: Website
url: https://carsxe.com/
- type: Portal
name: Vehicle Data API | CarsXE
url: https://carsxe.com/
- type: Documentation
url: https://carsxe.com/docs
- type: APIReference
url: https://carsxe.com/docs/v1
- type: GettingStarted
url: https://carsxe.com/docs/quickstart
- type: Authentication
url: https://carsxe.com/docs/authentication
- type: Pricing
url: https://carsxe.com/pricing
- type: About
url: https://carsxe.com/about
- type: Blog
url: https://carsxe.com/blog
- type: Support
url: https://carsxe.com/support
- type: Contact
url: https://carsxe.com/contact-us
- type: TermsOfService
url: https://carsxe.com/terms-and-conditions
- type: PrivacyPolicy
url: https://carsxe.com/privacy-policy
- type: Login
url: https://carsxe.com/signin
- type: SignUp
url: https://carsxe.com/register
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
email: info@apievangelist.com
x-enrichment:
date: '2026-09-05'
status: enriched
artifacts_added: 41
pass: local-v3
Every provider here is available over the APIs.io API and to AI agents over MCP.
MCP server
One button, every client — Claude, Cursor, VS Code and the rest.
https://apis.io/mcp
Tools for providers
9 MCP tools reach this
find_providersBrowse and filter every provider in the catalog.
get_provider_artifactsEvery artifact this provider publishes, grouped by type.
get_provider_operationsEvery operation across all of their OpenAPIs — one call instead of parsing every spec.
get_provider_toolsEvery MCP tool they ship, with the operation each wraps.
get_provider_evidenceHow each part of their score was established. Free — the basis for a claim should not sit behind it.
get_provider_ratingPRO — composite, band, trend and facet scores.
apis_io_searchSTART HERE — APIs, providers and tags for one query, each with its total.
resolveTurn a domain, URL or GitHub org into the provider it belongs to.
find_cohortsEvery scored population of providers in the catalog.
All 92 tools →
Call it yourself
curl for this page
This provider
curl "https://apis.io/api/v1/providers/carsxe"
All providers
curl "https://apis.io/api/v1/providers?limit=25"
Every operation they expose
curl "https://apis.io/api/v1/providers/carsxe/operations?limit=25"
How their score was established
curl "https://apis.io/api/v1/providers/carsxe/evidence"
Discovery needs no key. Ratings and market analysis are Pro.
Get an API key
Free tier, no form to fill in. Signing in shares your email address with us — we
store it to create your key and to recognise you if you sign in with another
provider. See our Privacy Policy and
Terms .
A second provider on the same verified email joins the account you already have.