Your user’s check engine light is on. Your API returns a one-line description and shrugs.
CarVector’s DTC reference goes past the description — category, system, severity, safety-risk and emissions flags, and related codes — so your product can triage a code, not just repeat it.
Repair economics — parts and labor ranges — is on our roadmap for Pro.
The description is where every other API stops.
“P0420 — Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold.” One line. Your user now knows their catalytic converter might be failing — but not whether it’s safe to keep driving, or how urgent it is. A description without context is a diagnosis without a recommendation. We classify every code so your product can resolve, not just repeat.
A classified code, not a one-liner.
Every code returns its category, severity, and safety + emissions flags. Build triage logic on structured fields, not by string-matching a description.
{
"code": "P0420",
"title": "P0420 Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold (Bank 1)",
"category": "Powertrain",
"severity": "Medium",
"safety_risk": false,
"emissions_related": true,
"related_codes": []
}A growing library, not a static dump.
Our DTC reference expands every month — new codes added with full classification. Every addition lands in the changelog, so you can watch coverage grow instead of hoping a database you can’t see inside got updated.
See the changelogWho decodes codes with us.
Shop management SaaS
A service advisor looks up a code and sees its severity and safety context immediately — not a description and a shrug. The start of a real customer conversation.
Insurance & claims
A claim arrives with a reported DTC. Severity and safety flags let you triage at intake, before a $150 diagnostic appointment.
Fleet maintenance
A diagnostic sweep returns 40 active codes. Severity and safety flags turn a code dump into a prioritized plan — which are urgent, which can wait.
AI agents
An agent asked about a code should return structured classification it can cite, not a hallucinated guess. The MCP server gives it direct access.
The check engine light is on. Your users are waiting for more than a description.
Free tier. No credit card.