bid.cars combines a free Copart and IAAI archive with a broker that bids, buys and ships American cars to Europe, and it is the most-visited site of its kind, with Georgia as its top country. The archive is useful. The comparison below is about what an independent report adds.
bid.cars publishes Copart and IAAI sale results and photos for free, supports search by VIN or lot number, and mirrors Bidfax data under its own /bidfax page. As a broker it also arranges bidding, shipping and customs for European buyers. The archive is a reasonable first check on whether a car has been to auction.
| bid.cars (free archive) | Vektracer report | |
|---|---|---|
| Copart / IAAI final bid and sale date | Yes, for sales in its archive | Yes, where the auction reported it |
| Photos from the auction listing | Often, while the archive retains them | Yes, where recorded, across every sale the VIN went through |
| Damage codes and title type at sale | Usually, as stated on the lot | Yes |
| US state title history and brands (salvage, rebuilt, flood, junk) | No | Yes, by state and date, including brands applied after the auction |
| Odometer readings in date order | The auction reading only | Every reading at titles, registrations, inspections and sales |
| Accidents and total losses outside auction | No | Yes, where reported |
| Rental, fleet, lease, taxi or police use | No | Yes |
| Theft and lien records | No | Yes |
| Open safety recalls | No | Yes |
| Canadian provincial records | No | Yes |
| Free preview of which records exist | The archive itself is free | Yes, before you pay |
| Price | Free | $19.99 per report, no subscription |
When the only question is whether a car has been to auction and roughly what it looked like that day, the archive answers it. When the question is whether the car in front of you is the one in those photos, what happened to it afterwards, whether its current title is honest, and whether the odometer is, the archive has nothing to say. For a buyer about to pay freight, duty and VAT on the answer, the second set of questions is the expensive one.
Clean, salvage, rebuilt, flood, junk. Issued by a US state, invisible in every European registry.
How it is checkedCopart and IAAI intake photos, damage codes and sale price, from every sale the car went through, not only the current lot.
How it is checkedReadings at US titles, registrations and inspections in date order. A reading below an earlier one is a rollback.
How it is checkedFor the sales it holds, the bid and photo data mirrors what the auction published. Archives can lag, miss sales, or lose photos over time, and they never hold anything that did not happen at auction.
No. Vektracer is an independent vehicle history service that licenses US and Canadian title, insurance and auction data.
Use the VIN, which is printed on every lot page and on the archive's own record. The VIN reaches every sale, title and registration; the lot number reaches one sale.
Auction coverage differs by source and date. Run the free preview first; if it shows no auction record you have not paid for one. The title and odometer sections of the report still apply.
Enter the VIN to see which US and Canadian records exist. The preview is free; the report is $19.99, once.