Terms of Service

1. The service

CarTrace is a stolen-vehicle recovery platform offering vehicle listings, VIN/plate search, theft maps, a spotter network, camera monitoring (TraceWatch), search intelligence (SearchMap) and vehicle reports (CarCheck).

CarTrace is an information service. We are not law enforcement and do not guarantee vehicle recovery.

2. Accounts

• You must be 18 or older to create an account.
• Provide accurate information and keep your account secure.
• One account per person; no transferring or selling accounts.

3. Listing vehicles

• Only list vehicles you own or are authorised to list.
• Provide accurate details.
• You should have filed a police report for stolen-vehicle listings.
• Filing false reports may result in account termination and legal consequences.

4. Spotter rules

• Spotters report sightings only — NEVER confront suspects or attempt recovery.
• If you believe you have found a stolen vehicle, contact police (112) immediately.
• Rewards are paid only after a verified recovery.
• CarTrace verifies sightings before any reward is released.

5. Payments & refunds

Listing fees and subscriptions are described on the Pricing page.

Launch offer: until 1 January 2027 CarTrace sells nothing. The full report, a free PDF report every month for signed-in accounts and free stolen-car listings are included at no cost, and nothing used during the offer is charged afterwards. We will announce prices before they apply.

14-day withdrawal right: for digital purchases, EU consumers have a 14-day cooling-off period, unless you explicitly request immediate service and waive this right (required for urgent listings).

Rewards held in escrow are returned to the owner if the vehicle is not recovered within the listing period.

6. Prohibited uses

• Listing vehicles you don't own.
• Filing false theft reports.
• Posting others' personal data without permission.
• Harassment, defamation or threats.
• Illegal activities.
• Uploading copyrighted content you don't own.
• Scraping or botting the service.
• Evading account suspensions.

7. Content & takedown

You retain ownership of content you upload and grant CarTrace a licence to display and process it for the service.

We act on notices under the Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065). Anyone can report a listing with “Report this listing” on its page or by email to info@cartrace.nl; if you leave an address, we confirm receipt and tell you our decision. Every new listing and every notice is reviewed by a person; we do not remove content or suspend accounts by automated means alone.

If we remove or restrict your content or suspend your account, we tell you what we decided, the facts, the section of these Terms (or the law) it rests on, and how to challenge it — a statement of reasons. You can appeal by replying to that email or writing to info@cartrace.nl, and a person will look at it again. You can also seek redress in court.

8. AI assistant and AI-generated content

Leo, the assistant on CarTrace, is an AI assistant: a computer program built on a large language model, not a person. It runs on Microsoft Azure OpenAI in the EU. Leo tells you it is an AI when you ask and never claims to be human. The chat screens say so before your first message, and the first spoken reply of a voice conversation says so aloud.

Other features also use AI to write text: comparison verdicts, summaries of owner feedback, questions to ask a seller, translations of listing descriptions and of inspection defect texts, review summaries, and advert drafts for sellers. On screen these are labelled as AI-generated, translated automatically, or AI summary. Generated text and audio also carry machine-readable markers, in line with the transparency obligations of Article 50 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (the EU AI Act).

AI answers are information, not advice. They are not financial or legal advice and not a guarantee about a vehicle's condition. Registry facts come from the sources Leo looks up, but the sentences around them are generated and can be wrong. Check the vehicle report, and confirm anything important with the official authorities, before you rely on an answer.

No decision about you is made by AI. Approving, rejecting and removing listings, suspending accounts, and prices are decided by people or by fixed rules.

If Leo or another AI feature gives an answer that is wrong, misleading or harmful, email info@cartrace.nl with the date of the conversation and what Leo said. We review reports and correct the system where it went wrong.

9. Disclaimers

The service is provided “as is”. We don't guarantee the accuracy of vehicle data, stolen status, or CarCheck reports. Always verify with official authorities (the vehicle registry and police). CarCheck data comes from external data sources and our own database; we don't guarantee completeness.

10. Limitation of liability

• We're not liable for indirect or consequential damages.
• Total liability is capped at the amount you paid us (if any).
• Users waive claims against us for other users' actions.

11. Termination

We may suspend accounts that violate these Terms. You may delete your account at any time.

12. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Netherlands. Disputes are subject to Dutch courts, or your local courts if you are an EU consumer.

13. Contact

Questions? info@cartrace.nl.

Single point of contact under Articles 11 and 12 of the Digital Services Act, for authorities and for users: info@cartrace.nl. You can write to us in English, Dutch or German.