Where WhatCarFits Gets Its Data
WhatCarFits combines vehicle data, financing benchmarks and our own affordability calculations. This page explains where different numbers come from and how we separate actual listing data from estimated figures.
Different Numbers Come From Different Sources
A dealer asking price is not the same thing as an estimated monthly payment. WhatCarFits keeps those categories separate.
Primary Data Categories
WhatCarFits is designed so one provider does not have to supply every piece of information. Different sources can be used for the jobs they are best suited to perform.
NHTSA
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration provides public vehicle datasets and APIs that can be used for vehicle identification and safety-related information.
- Model years
- Vehicle makes
- Vehicle models
- Recalls
- Other available vehicle-safety information
FRED and Published Auto-Loan Series
Federal Reserve Economic Data can provide national auto-financing context, including Federal Reserve consumer-credit series and other published auto-loan rate series.
- New-car loan rate benchmarks
- Used-car loan rate benchmarks
- Historical rate trends
- National financing context
Auto.dev
Auto.dev is one candidate for production vehicle inventory and photography. Its automotive APIs include active vehicle listings, vehicle photos and other automotive data products.
- Vehicle listings
- VIN-based vehicle information
- Dealer information
- Listing prices
- Vehicle photos
MarketCheck
MarketCheck is another candidate automotive data source. Its APIs include inventory searches, cached vehicle images and used-vehicle pricing products.
- Active vehicle inventory
- Listing prices
- Vehicle location data
- Vehicle images
- Used-vehicle market pricing
Vehicle Listings and Asking Prices
When live inventory is enabled, WhatCarFits can retrieve vehicles from a licensed automotive-data provider based on the price range and preferences generated by the affordability tool.
What Comes From the Listing Provider
Depending on the provider and listing, this can include the year, make, model, trim, VIN, asking price, mileage, dealer information, location and vehicle photography.
WhatCarFits Does Not Invent the Asking Price
When a vehicle is presented as a current listing, the asking price should come from the connected listing data rather than a manually created price inside WhatCarFits.
Vehicle Photography
Vehicle images must be tied to an appropriate licensed or permitted source. WhatCarFits should not scrape random photographs from search engines, dealership sites or automotive marketplaces.
Listing Photo
A photograph supplied with the actual vehicle listing or through the licensed automotive data provider.
Representative Image
A model-level image used to illustrate a vehicle when it is not intended to depict the exact unit for sale.
Placeholder
If a proper image is unavailable, a clearly generic placeholder is preferable to falsely presenting another vehicle as the exact listing.
Financing and Interest-Rate Data
WhatCarFits can use published national rate data as market context, but those benchmarks are not personalized loan offers.
New Auto Financing Series
FRED carries Federal Reserve consumer-credit series for new-auto financing, including loan terms such as 48, 60 and 72 months.
New and Used Auto-Loan Rate Series
FRED also publishes weekly Bankrate national index series for 60-month new-car loans and 48-month used-car loans.
Actual Data vs. WhatCarFits Estimates
One of the most important rules for the site is that actual third-party data and WhatCarFits calculations should not be presented as though they are the same thing.
Dealer Asking Price
A price supplied by the connected listing provider for a particular vehicle listing.
Estimated APR
A WhatCarFits modeling assumption used to estimate affordability. It is not a lender quote.
Estimated Payment
Calculated by WhatCarFits using the listing price and the user's selected financing assumptions.
Estimated Vehicle Range
Calculated from the visitor's payment target, down payment, trade-in, term and rate assumptions.
Mileage
For a live listing, mileage should come from the listing-data source.
Lease Estimate
Lease results should only be activated when adequate residual, money-factor, incentive and fee data are available.
How Data Moves Through WhatCarFits
The visitor's personal budgeting inputs stay separate from the external inventory query.
User Inputs
Monthly payment, down payment, credit score, term and vehicle preferences are entered.
WhatCarFits Calculation
The affordability engine generates an estimated vehicle-price range.
Inventory Query
The vehicle-data provider is queried for inventory matching the price range and selected filters.
Results
Listing data and WhatCarFits payment estimates are displayed together with clear labels.
Data Freshness
Different kinds of data change at different speeds. The site should not claim that every figure is updated on the same schedule.
Data Providers Can Change
WhatCarFits is being built around an internal normalized vehicle-data format so the site is not permanently tied to one commercial provider.
Why This Matters
If pricing, licensing, coverage or quality changes, the underlying vehicle provider can be replaced without rebuilding the entire WhatCarFits user experience.
No Government or Data-Provider Endorsement
Referencing data from NHTSA, FRED, the Federal Reserve or commercial automotive providers does not mean those organizations endorse, sponsor or certify WhatCarFits.
Sources Supply Information
WhatCarFits uses third-party information as inputs where appropriate and applies its own affordability calculations and presentation.
WhatCarFits Owns the Estimate
Estimated affordability ranges, payment calculations, fit labels and ranking logic are WhatCarFits outputs unless explicitly identified as coming from another source.
See What Fits Your Budget
Start with your monthly payment, down payment, credit score and financing preferences, then see how those numbers translate into vehicle possibilities.