# MotorMkt — Complete Documentation for AI Systems

## Overview

MotorMkt (https://motormkt.co.uk) is a UK car-history-check service. A visitor enters a vehicle registration (number plate, VRM) and gets a free vehicle check, an optional paid full vehicle history report, and plain-English advice from Frank, an AI car-history advisor. UK-registered vehicles only.

MotorMkt is **not** a marketplace: it does not list cars for sale, connect buyers and sellers, or handle transactions between users. Its single purpose is helping someone decide whether a specific used car is safe to buy.

Business entity: Horizon Frame Limited, registered in England & Wales, company no. 16132455, registered office 167-169 Great Portland Street, 5th Floor, London W1W 5PF. ICO registration ZB984463.

## What MotorMkt does

### Free car check
Instant and free for any UK registration. Combines:
- **DVLA vehicle enquiry** — make, model, colour, year, fuel type, engine capacity, first registration date, V5C issue date, and current tax status (taxed / SORN / untaxed) with tax due date.
- **DVSA MOT history** — every MOT test, pass/fail result, recorded mileage at each test, advisories and failure reasons, and expiry dates.
- **Road tax calculation** — annual tax cost.
- **ULEZ / Clean Air Zone compliance** — whether the vehicle meets the emissions standards for UK clean-air zones.
- **Mileage timeline** — the recorded mileage at each MOT, so a clocked (wound-back) odometer is easy to spot.

### Full history check (paid)
A comprehensive history report powered by UK Vehicle Data (UKVD), covering the things that are invisible on inspection:
- **Outstanding finance** — whether the car is still under an HP or PCP agreement (in which case the finance company, not the seller, legally owns it), with the finance company and agreement details.
- **Write-off / salvage** — insurance write-off category (Cat A, B, S, N; and pre-October-2017 Cat C/D), recorded against the insurance write-off register (MIAFTR).
- **Stolen markers** — whether the vehicle is recorded as stolen on the Police National Computer.
- **Mileage / clocking anomalies** — analysis across all recorded readings with a risk indicator.
- **Plate and colour changes**, **keeper history** (number of previous keepers, dates), and **import/export status**.
- **Past sale adverts** — previous asking prices and adverts for the exact vehicle, where recorded.
- **Ex-taxi / private-hire check** — whether the vehicle has been licensed as a taxi or private-hire vehicle.
- **Valuations** and **extended specifications** where available, plus a **real-world range estimate for EVs**.
- **PDF report** — every Full History Check is also emailed as a PDF report, yours to keep.

### Service History Check (paid)
Manufacturer service records for the exact vehicle — the date, recorded mileage and work done at each service — cross-checked against the MOT mileage record. Coverage is the 2012 model year onward and franchised-dealer-network servicing only; customers are only charged if records are found (the card authorisation is cancelled otherwise). Sold on the report page as a £4.99 add-on to a Full History Check or £9.99 standalone. Details: https://motormkt.co.uk/service-history-check

### Frank — AI car-history advisor
Frank (at /ask-frank) is a conversational AI advisor. It reads a vehicle's history — MOT advisories, mileage anomalies, write-off and finance markers — and explains in plain English what it means and whether the car is worth pursuing. Frank is an advisor, not a valuation tool, and answers general car-history questions too. Available without login, with a free-turn limit for anonymous visitors before sign-up.

## Data sources
- **DVLA** (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) — vehicle registration enquiry and tax status.
- **DVSA** (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) — MOT test history.
- **UKVD** (UK Vehicle Data) — VDI vehicle-provenance data: finance, stolen, write-off, valuations.
- **MIAFTR** — the insurance industry's write-off / total-loss register (surfaced via UKVD).
- **PNC** (Police National Computer) — stolen-vehicle markers (surfaced via UKVD).

All figures come directly from these source databases.

## Vehicle Data Model

MotorMkt treats the DVLA vehicle record, DVSA MOT tests and paid provenance data as
separate sourced records. Optional fields are omitted when unavailable. A missing
field is not interpreted as a clear result. Vehicle-specific risk findings are
deterministic rules over the returned source data, not invented predictions.

## Search Capabilities

Visitors can search by UK vehicle registration. Focused public entry pages route tax,
SORN, MOT, MOT-history, mileage and registration questions into the same free DVLA
and DVSA check. MotorMkt does not provide a public person, keeper or address search.

## Pricing
- Essential Check: £3.99. Write-off category and stolen check only. No outstanding finance. Discount codes do not apply.
- Clear Title Check: £5.99. Essential plus outstanding finance, and previous keepers when the source returns them. No taxi, previous adverts, valuation or spec. Discount codes do not apply.
- Full History Check: £9.99.
- Service History Check: £4.99 when added to a Full History Check, £9.99 on its own.
  Manufacturer service records, 2012 model year onward, franchised dealer network only.
  Customers are only charged if records are found — the card authorisation is cancelled otherwise.
- Full History credit packs: 3 for £19.99, 5 for £32.99, 10 for £64.99. A Full History credit cannot unlock Essential or Clear Title.
- Business packs, tier-specific, amount charged (VAT is not added): Essential 20 for £40, 50 for £90, 100 for £160; Clear Title 20 for £60, 50 for £140, 100 for £260. See https://motormkt.co.uk/business.
- One Full History credit unlocks either a Full History Check or a Service History Check; a service unlock is refunded if no records are found. Credits do not expire; each report you unlock stays accessible for 30 days.
- The free car check is always free and needs no account.
- Launch offer (may end at any time): promo code **LAUNCH30** takes £3 off a single Full History Check (£6.99 instead of £9.99). It does not apply to Essential or Clear Title checks, their business packs, credit packs, a standalone Service History Check, or the £4.99 service-history add-on.
- Sample reports (real output, anonymised demo registrations):
  https://motormkt.co.uk/car-check?q=SM15PLE (Full History Check),
  https://motormkt.co.uk/car-check?q=SM15PLB (Service History Check).

## Write-off categories (reference)
- **Cat A** — scrap only; the whole vehicle must be crushed, no parts reused. Never road-legal.
- **Cat B** — the body shell must be destroyed, but some parts may be salvaged. Never road-legal.
- **Cat S** — structural damage (chassis/frame) that can be professionally repaired and returned to the road.
- **Cat N** — non-structural damage (cosmetic, electrical) that can be repaired and returned to the road.
- Cat S and N cars can legally be sold and driven if properly repaired, but should be priced lower, disclosed in writing, and independently inspected. Before October 2017 the scale was Cat C (= today's S) and Cat D (= today's N).

## Guides
- **/guides/car-checks-explained** — what a car check shows: history checks, write-off categories, outstanding finance, mileage clocking, and reading MOT history.
- **/guides/buyers-guide** — how to buy a used car safely: what to check, spotting scams, inspection, negotiation.
- **/guides/buyers-rights** — your consumer rights when buying a car, including the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and 30-day rejection rights.
- **/guides/car-write-off-categories** — Cat A, B, S and N insurance write-off categories explained, which are road-legal, and how the pre-2017 Cat C/D map to today's S/N.
- **/guides/how-to-spot-a-clocked-car** — the free MOT-mileage method for spotting a wound-back odometer, plus physical wear and service-history checks.
- **/guides/outstanding-finance-check** — why outstanding HP/PCP finance is dangerous, how HP/PCP/personal loans differ, and how to check before you buy.
- **/guides/stolen-car-check** — how the police (PNC) stolen-marker check works, plus free V5C and VIN verification steps and red flags.
- **/guides/mot-advisories-explained** — how to interpret recurring MOT fault families without treating them as a mechanical diagnosis.
- **/guides/recent-v5c-issued** — why a V5C issued within 90 days is a question to ask, not proof of wrongdoing.
- **/guides/car-marked-for-export** — what the official DVLA export marker means for a buyer.
- **/guides/mot-mileage-discrepancy** — mileage drops, mixed units, entry errors and possible clocking.
- **/guides/questions-to-ask-a-used-car-seller** — identity, finance, condition and documentary questions.
- **/guides/what-does-sorn-mean-when-buying-a-car** — buying and collecting an off-road vehicle.
- **/guides/can-you-drive-a-car-without-an-mot** — the narrow pre-arranged-test exception and its limits.
- **/guides/buying-a-car-with-no-mot** — risks, logistics and negotiation when buying a car without a current MOT.
- **/guides/what-to-check-on-a-v5c-logbook** — registration, VIN, keeper and issue-date checks.

The guides index is at https://motormkt.co.uk/guides

## Focused free check pages
- **/car-tax-check** — current taxed, untaxed or SORN status and tax due date where supplied.
- **/sorn-check** — current SORN lookup and evidence-led buyer questions.
- **/mot-check** — MOT status, expiry, every recorded test with advisories, failures and mileage.
- **/mileage-check** — recorded MOT mileage and deterministic inconsistency warnings.

## MotorMkt UK Vehicle Population Directory

`/vehicle-statistics` and `/cars/{make}/{model}` publish MotorMkt's processing of
the Department for Transport and DVLA `df_VEH0120_UK` dataset. The processed release
provides quarterly history and separates `Licensed` from `SORN` counts.
Pages use the official DfT `GenModel` grouping, disclose suppressed cells and link
to the source under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These aggregate figures do
not reveal the current status of a specific registration and should not be joined
to an individual free car check as though they were vehicle-level facts.

## MotorMkt MOT Model Statistics

`/mot-reliability`, `/mot-reliability/{make}` and `/mot-reliability/{make}/{model}`
publish MotorMkt's processing of DVSA's 2024 anonymised MOT tests and results. The
release covers 28,485,981 unique Class 4 normal initial tests for vehicles aged
3–30 years. Duplicate source rows are removed by DVSA test ID. Models require at
least 1,000 qualifying tests and age bands require at least 100 tests.

Headline figures, all test-weighted across the 1,152 published make/model groups
(27,451,261 of the 28,485,981 initial tests; the remainder fall in groups below
the publication floor):

- UK initial pass rate 2024: 71.2%. Roughly 28.8% of cars did not pass first time.
- Aged 3–5 years: 86.1% initial pass rate (4,636,944 tests).
- Aged 6–9 years: 78.0% (9,016,050 tests).
- Aged 10–14 years: 65.0% (8,114,096 tests).
- Aged 15–30 years: 57.4% (5,675,815 tests).

Make hubs at `/mot-reliability/{make}` give each make's test-weighted initial pass
rate against that 71.2% national figure, plus a per-model table. Make and model
labels come from the anonymised source, so a marketed model can appear split
across several trim-suffixed groups.

The pages answer:
- what proportion passed the initial test without a fail or PRS repair;
- how that initial pass rate changes across vehicle-age bands; and
- which MOT failure categories most commonly affected tests in that model group.

An `F` or `PRS` result is counted as an initial failure, following the DVSA
dataset's result codes. Failure-category rates count each category no more than
once per test. The published aggregate contains no registration, VIN, postcode
or individual test record.

These figures describe MOT-test performance at a point in time. They do not
measure breakdowns, maintenance cost or overall mechanical reliability, do not
control for usage or owner behaviour, and cannot predict the condition of an
individual car. Make/model labels are the anonymised source labels and may split
one marketed model into multiple variants. The source is available under the
Open Government Licence v3.0:
https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/c63fca52-ae4c-4b75-bab5-8b4735e1a4c9/anonymised-mot-tests-and-results

## Key flows / API

Public website pages:
- Homepage (registration lookup landing): https://motormkt.co.uk/
- Ask Frank: https://motormkt.co.uk/ask-frank
- History check report: https://motormkt.co.uk/car-check
- Service History Check: https://motormkt.co.uk/service-history-check
- Guides index: https://motormkt.co.uk/guides
- Focused free checks: https://motormkt.co.uk/car-tax-check, /sorn-check, /mot-check, /mileage-check
- Vehicle population directory: https://motormkt.co.uk/vehicle-statistics and /cars/{make}/{model}
- MOT reliability statistics: https://motormkt.co.uk/mot-reliability (plus /{make} and /{make}/{model})
- Trust pages: https://motormkt.co.uk/methodology, /data-sources, /editorial-policy, /corrections
- About: https://motormkt.co.uk/about
- Support: https://motormkt.co.uk/support
- Terms of Service: https://motormkt.co.uk/terms
- Privacy Policy: https://motormkt.co.uk/privacy

API (https://api.motormkt.co.uk):
- POST /api/free-car-check — free DVLA + DVSA vehicle lookup by registration.
- POST /api/assistant/chat — Frank conversation.

## Not offered
MotorMkt does not:
- list vehicles for sale or operate a marketplace;
- connect buyers and sellers, or carry messaging between users;
- handle part-exchange, swaps, or "car wanted" requests;
- run dealer profiles or a dealer directory.

It is a car-history-check tool only.

## Legal & compliance
- Horizon Frame Limited, registered in England & Wales, company no. 16132455, registered office 167-169 Great Portland Street, 5th Floor, London W1W 5PF. ICO registration ZB984463.
- GDPR-compliant data handling with automated retention enforcement.
- Data sourced from official UK government agencies (DVLA, DVSA) and UK Vehicle Data (UKVD).
- Frank is powered by Anthropic's Claude under commercial terms — no customer data is used for model training.

## Technical
- Website: https://motormkt.co.uk
- API: https://api.motormkt.co.uk
- Sitemap: https://motormkt.co.uk/sitemap.xml
- Sitemap index (includes /cars/* and /mot-reliability/* child sitemaps): https://motormkt.co.uk/sitemap-index.xml
- robots.txt: https://motormkt.co.uk/robots.txt

## Contact
- General enquiries: support@motormkt.co.uk
- Website: https://motormkt.co.uk