What Makes CARS24 Inspections Third-Party and Neutral

If you have sold your old car previously, you might have noticed that dealers or individuals used to look for ghost flaws in the car to drive the price down. Ultimately, the resale value of a used car was based on how well a seller can negotiate with the dealer or the individual buyer. This negotiating skill is not everyone’s forte, so most sellers usually sell their car at a much lower value.

This ecosystem of gut feeling to conclude a car’s value was the only way in the Indian used car market for decades. But this has been replaced with used car inspections, where professional car inspectors evaluate a car’s health and prepare an inspection report which brings the truth to the table. CARS24 has built this process from the ground up and positioned our car inspection as technical and third-party rather than a subjective opinion.

Decoupling Car Inspection From Resale Value

The most significant factor in our inspection neutrality is the separation of duties. In a typical dealership, the person inspecting your car is the same person trying to buy it for the lowest possible price. This is a clear conflict of interest and creates bias in the inspection report.

However, at CARS24, we have eliminated this bias by separating the roles during and after the inspection.

• The Inspector’s Role - Our inspectors are trained data gatherers. Their job is to document the car’s condition across 300+ points, not to set the price.
• AI Pricing Engine - Once the data is uploaded, our AI-powered pricing engine calculates the initial value, which has been trained on over 10 lakh transactions.
• The Live Auction - The final price is determined by a nationwide network of 20,000+ verified dealers who bid in real-time based on the digital inspection report.

The Result is this decoupling of car inspection from the resale value, ensuring that the inspection is accurate and the price reflects the real-time market trend. With this process, the seller gets what they always wanted, an unbiased inspection and the actual worth of the car in the current market conditions.

Integrity of Digital Flow

Furthermore, we don't leave things to chance to ensure a neutral car inspection. Our proprietary inspection application works on a "closed loop" system.

• Mandatory Progression - For example, a car inspector cannot move from Step 10 to Step 11 without completing the required checks. In simple words, nothing can be skipped during inspection.
• Photographic Accountability - All the crucial parts are photographed, whether they are fine or have an issue. This evidence is then visible to both the seller and the potential bidders through the report.
• Time and GPS Stamping - Every inspection is digitally anchored to a specific time and location, ensuring that the technician was physically present and conducted the full multi-hour equivalent of a rigorous check.

High-Tech Diagnostics vs. Human Opinion

Finally, we have to completely remove the human opinion in our inspection, and we’ve replaced subjective "test drive feels" with measurable data using two primary tools.

OBD-II & ECU Scanning

Modern cars are computers on wheels. Hence, our experts are trained to use On-Board Diagnostics (OBD-II) scanners to communicate directly with the car’s Engine Control Unit (ECU). This car scanning exercise reveals all the hidden fault codes, sensor malfunctions and previous incidents like past airbag deployments. This is what no human can see with the naked eye, no matter how experienced they are.

Paint Thickness Gauges

The exterior panels are in constant contact with the external environment and the traffic. As a car is used on a daily basis, the paint can catch dents, scratches, minor or major damage or other environmental-related issues like corrosion, fading or peeling. Therefore, most car owners get their exterior panels repainted to keep the car aesthetically appealing.

To get the exact data about the car’s paint condition, we use paint thickness gauges to detect if a panel has been repainted. These gauges can measure paint thickness variations in microns, thus nothing can escape them. Since factory paint is applied by robots in a uniform layer, any inconsistency immediately flags a past repair or accident, ensuring the structural integrity report remains 100% factual.

The "CarTruth" Transparency Loop

We at CARS24 believe that transparency is the ultimate antidote to bias. Our CarTruth inspection report is a standardised health certificate that acts as a bridge of trust.

• Shared Perspective - We share the exact same report with the seller that we provide to our network of bidders.
• Third-Party Positioning - Because our inspection standards are so rigorous, CARS24 now offers these inspections as a Pre-Delivery Inspection (PDI) service for buyers purchasing cars from other dealers. This proves that our inspection is a standalone, unbiased product of quality, independent of the sale itself.

Conclusion

When we say a CARS24 inspection is neutral, we mean it is governed by mathematical certainty. By removing the human element from the valuation and replacing it with high-tech diagnostics and a competitive auction model, we ensure that every seller receives a price that reflects the true market worth of their asset.