Methodology

Every number on this site comes from a documented sale or listing. Here is exactly where it comes from, and what it does and does not mean.

What the archive contains

Our archive holds roughly 14 million dated vehicle listings collected from public online marketplaces between 2013 and 2022, covering about 4.9 million distinct vehicles. A live collection process continues to add current listings. Each record includes what was asked, what was paid where a sale was recorded, the odometer reading as stated by the seller, the title status as stated by the seller, and the date and location of the listing.

How prices are calculated

We report the median of realized sale prices, not asking prices, and we show the middle 50% of the range around it. A sale is counted only when the listing recorded a completed transaction. Asking prices are tracked separately, which is how we can show the gap between what sellers want and what buyers pay.

Model-level curves aggregate all model years. Year-specific figures are shown only when at least eight sales support them. Where a model has fewer than eight sales in a year, that year is omitted rather than estimated.

Appreciation figures

Annual growth is computed between the first and last year with sufficient data, and only when those years are at least four apart. Short spans produce unstable figures and are suppressed. A rising median can reflect a changing mix of vehicles — restored cars replacing projects — as much as appreciation of any individual car. We say the median sale price rose, not the car appreciated.

Odometer flags

When a later listing shows fewer miles than an earlier one for the same vehicle, we flag a discrepancy. Not every discrepancy is fraud. Vehicles built before 1990 typically have five-digit odometers that roll over at 99,999 miles; we detect and exclude the obvious cases. Typographical errors are also filtered. What remains is reported as a discrepancy, with a confidence level — never as an accusation.

Pre-1981 vehicles

The 17-character VIN standard began in 1981. Earlier vehicles carry shorter serial numbers that are not globally unique — two cars from different manufacturers can share one. For these vehicles we match on serial number together with make and model year, and we say so on the report. This is the structural reason mainstream vehicle history services have little to offer for classic cars, and the reason this archive exists.

What this is not

This is not a title search, not a lien check, not a theft record, and not a formal appraisal. It is a record of what a vehicle did on the public market, and what similar vehicles sold for. Value estimates are derived from that record and adjusted for stated mileage and market trend; they cannot account for condition, originality, options, or documentation that we cannot see.

Sources and independence

Data is derived from publicly accessible listing pages and public marketplace records. We record facts — identifiers, prices, dates, mileage, stated title status. We do not reproduce photographs, editorial descriptions, or any other creative content from those sources.

VinRoll is an independent service. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by eBay Inc., Bring a Trailer Media LLC, Carfax Inc., the National Insurance Crime Bureau, or any vehicle manufacturer. All trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners and are used only to identify the origin of factual records.

Corrections

If you believe a record about a specific vehicle is wrong, write to us with the VIN and the correction. We will investigate and, where the record is in error, fix it.