CarVector vs Kelley Blue Book

CarVector decodes VINs and license plates into specs, images, recall notices, and OBD-II DTC codes for vehicles spanning model years 1925 to 2029. A live unauthenticated GET against its real API host, api.carvector.io/v1/vehicles/{id}, returned a 401 "missing_api_key" JSON error over HTTPS — reconfirming auth "API Key" and https true — with no Access-Control-Allow-Origin header on either that request or a follow-up OPTIONS preflight, resolving the stored "yes" cors to "no". Its pricing page lists a $0 Free tier alongside paid $39/mo and $79/mo plans plus a custom Enterprise tier — freemium.

Kelley Blue Book's Cox Automotive-run API program (IDWS, Advertising Data, Instant Cash Offer, and Batch VIN) provides vehicle valuation, pricing, and configuration data behind an approval-gated API key, per developer.kbb.com's own access instructions. Its legacy Swagger doc-viewer content pages (/content/data/*.html) now 404 into the site's SPA shell — orphaned — but the surrounding portal, the key-request process, and Cox Automotive's successor developer platforms (developer.coxautoinc.com, coxautoinc.mashery.com) all remain live over HTTPS, confirming https true and that the program has moved rather than gone dead; cors could not be re-probed live since no public endpoint or key is available. Access requires Cox Automotive approval with no public self-serve signup — paid.