From guesswork to precision: unlocking
profitability at the appraisal

Inaccurate appraisals are profit killers. When you rely on incomplete market data, you either overpay for inventory or send high-value trades straight to your rivals. This isn’t just a missed opportunity — it’s money walking off your lot.


The two largest national used car retailers are capturing the lion’s share of used vehicle acquisitions from consumers. They don’t use magic — they just make the process easy by appraising every vehicle and offering transparent valuations.


AccuTrade can do the same for your acquisitions, while giving you the most accurate appraisals in the industry to maximize front-end gross profit. It delivers 34% more accurate valuations than competitors, with only a 4% average standard deviation from final auction sale prices.1 The result? Predictable returns on every acquisition and fewer surprises during recon.


AccuTrade works because it does what other tools don’t — combine real-time market intelligence with VIN-specific condition adjustments and a 100% guarantee. Here’s how our transparent, data-backed approach delivers $2,700 more profit on every VIN.2

Stay ahead with real-time market intelligence

Traditional appraisal tools update weekly, leaving you exposed when markets shift overnight. While you’re working with last week’s numbers, other dealerships are capturing trades with real-time intelligence. In volatile segments like EVs and luxury vehicles, week-old data isn’t just inaccurate — it erodes your cost-to-market objectives and reduces front-end gross profit margin.

How AccuTrade keeps you ahead:

AccuTrade delivers complete auction intelligence that updates daily. Our team buys and sells 1,000 vehicles weekly at auction, feeding every transaction into our database. We track what sold and what didn’t, who’s selling, who’s buying, bidding patterns, and attendance — the complete picture that lets us adjust valuations daily based on actual market conditions.

Get VIN-specific precision for your market

Generic appraisals tend to have lower conversions than precise offers. Tools that apply broad adjustments across vehicle categories miss the specific factors that determine real value — from a vehicle’s exact condition and history to the precise recon costs it will require and your local market dynamics. You end up either overpaying for problems you can’t see or undervaluing vehicles that deserve premium pricing. You need valuations that account for every factor that impacts your actual cost and profit on each specific VIN.

How AccuTrade delivers VIN-specific precision:

AccuTrade factors in all the data points that impact price to give you a precise appraisal:

• Complete vehicle condition and history
• Color preferences and regional demand
• Specific recon requirements (mechanical and cosmetic)
• Individual segment performance trends
• Local retail supply and demand

Unlike tools that force you to manually input deduct values, our system eliminates the guesswork entirely. Refined through millions of transactions, it automatically applies the precise adjustments that maximize your gross profit on every vehicle.

Protect margins with diagnostic intelligence

A basic appraisal module paired with visual inspections can’t catch everything. Diagnostic trouble codes hide under the hood, waiting to ambush your profitability during recon. You need to know about hidden mechanical issues before you make an offer, not after.

How AccuTrade catches hidden problems:

Using the OBD-II scanner with AccuTrade gives you the full picture. Just plug it in and it communicates with over 11,000 mapped codes, automatically calculating repair costs and applying deductions in real-time. Plus, it’s fully integrated into our appraisal platform and connects seamlessly with out-of-the-box appraisal systems in your existing IMS.


The numbers don’t lie: nearly 1 in 3 scans find problems, averaging $715 in savings per issue.3 This level of diagnostic precision safeguards your margins before hidden problems become costly surprises.

Capture every profitable opportunity

Traditional tools tap out on the vehicles that matter most. Can’t handle $100k+ cars? You’re sending high-margin opportunities to specialty dealers. Won’t appraise vehicles with history issues? You’re missing acquisition opportunities that other dealers profit from daily. The vehicles other tools won’t touch are often your most lucrative plays.

How AccuTrade expands your opportunities:

AccuTrade can accurately appraise 98% of all vehicles — including:

• $100,000+ vehicles, including exotics
• Electric vehicles with volatile market values
• Vehicles with poor history reports (excluding salvage)
• High-mileage vehicles (100,000+ miles)

More coverage means more opportunities. And more opportunities mean more profit for your dealership.

Build trust with transparent valuations

Customers expect you to match online offers that ignore reconditioning costs, market realities, and vehicle issues — but traditional tools don’t give you the transparent information to explain the difference. Without detailed reports, every appraisal becomes a trust-destroying argument instead of an educational conversation. You need reports that justify every deduction and turn skeptical customers into confident sellers.

How AccuTrade builds customer confidence:

AccuTrade gives you the tools to handle the situations that typically kill deals. We have the industry’s only consumer-facing Universal Condition Reports. When customers question your offer, you can show them exactly why their vehicle received that valuation — down to the dollar.

No more awkward negotiations or lost deals over pricing disputes, just transparent data that builds trust and closes more trades.

Acquire with confidence and zero risk

Traditional appraisal tools provide estimates but don’t back them up with a guarantee. When their “appraisal” costs you thousands in overpriced inventory or missed opportunities, you absorb the loss. No guarantee means no accountability — and no protection for your margins. You need a partner who stands by every valuation.

How AccuTrade eliminates risk:

AccuTrade delivers exact values with a 100% instant offer guarantee on appraised values. We stand behind every appraisal, giving you a no-risk acquisition strategy that protects your margins and eliminates costly surprises.

Track performance with complete visibility 
& accountability

You invested in an appraisal tool, but can you prove it’s actually making you money? Most dealers have no visibility into whether their appraisal process is generating profit or just generating activity. Without clear reporting, you can’t answer critical questions: Which appraisers are capturing the most trades? What’s your actual trade capture rate?

Even worse, without accountability metrics, appraisals become optional — employees may skip it entirely or not complete the full appraisal process, and you have no way to know how much profit is walking out the door from these missed opportunites.

How AccuTrade delivers complete visibility:

AccuTrade’s reporting dashboard shows you exactly where your profits come from — and where they’re walking out the door. Track trade capture rates, appraisal completion rates, appraiser efficiency, and team accountability. With complete visibility, you can finally manage what you measure — turning appraisals from a guessing game into a predictable profit center.

Deploy anywhere, capture everywhere

Real profit multiplication happens when you appraise everywhere:

• Service drive customers getting oil changes? Appraise their vehicle while they wait. 
• Online leads browsing inventory? Hit them with an instant trade estimate.
• Walk-in shoppers just looking around? Turn them into acquisition opportunities.

How AccuTrade creates seamless experiences:

AccuTrade makes it easy with website integration and a fast appraisal process whether online or at your dealership. This multi-touchpoint approach transforms your vehicle acquisition strategy from reactive to proactive — leading to more vehicle appraisals, more trades, and more profit from every customer interaction.

Acquire with confidence and zero risk

	Competitors
Data Freshness	6-week lookback	Forward-looking & updated daily
Data Sources	Historical sales only	Complete auction data
VIN-specific adjustments	Manually inputted condition adjustment costs	Full VIN analysis (color, history, condition, etc.)
OBD-II scanner integration	Limited integration	Full integration with 11,000 mapped codes
Market Coverage	Limited coverage	98% coverage (including exotics and EVs)
Buyback Guarantee	No or limited buyback guarantee	100% guarantee on appraised values — no risk acquisition strategy
Detailed Consumer Report	No details for deductions/additions	Universal Condition Report showing deduct & add amounts
Brand Control	Appraisal tool branding only	Full white-label control over your branding

The proof is in the profits

While other tools leave you guessing, AccuTrade delivers measurable results that go straight to your bottom line. 


The investment firm BTIG recently found that Cars.com’s Sell Your Car service, powered by AccuTrade, offered the highest consumer value 56% of the time, with the next-closest competitor at 31%.4 Higher consumer offers mean more sellers choose your dealership over competing lots.

That accuracy translates directly to profit protection. When you know the real value, you avoid the two most expensive mistakes in vehicle acquisition: overpaying for trades and undervaluing inventory that should stay on your lot for retail.

Dealers using AccuTrade see the impact across every acquisition channel:

• $2,700 more front-end gross profit per vehicle5
• 38.2% of vehicles are successfully acquired as a result of AccuTrade appraisals6
• 87% more profit per VIN on vehicles appraised through the service drive7
• 75% increase in lead funnel completion rates with website integration8

Whether you’re appraising in the service lane, on your website, or on the showroom floor, AccuTrade delivers consistent accuracy that protects your margins.