Privacy Policy

Browsing and contacting us

You do not need an account to read CarTold or use its tools. The web server logs technical information such as the requested page and IP address for security and troubleshooting. If you email us, we keep the correspondence to respond and, where relevant, investigate a correction.

What the tools send and save

• Recall check: your browser sends the VIN you enter directly to NHTSA's decoding service. The tool uses the returned make, model and year to search recall campaigns. It does not send the VIN to CarTold or include it in a page URL or analytics event. NHTSA handles requests under its own privacy policy.
• Fuel calculator: calculations run in your browser using the figures loaded with the page. The calculator does not send your mileage or entered fuel price to CarTold.
• Data explorer and inspection checklist: vehicle selections are sent to CarTold to fetch the relevant records. Checked checklist items are saved in this browser's local storage. They are not an account or a saved inspection of a particular VIN.

Analytics and browser storage

Where Google Analytics is configured, CarTold asks before loading it. Choose No analytics to use the site without loading Google's analytics script, or Allow analytics to measure visits and feature use. Both choices leave advertising storage and personalization off. The tools work either way.

With analytics allowed, CarTold's custom events identify features used and may include a vehicle's make, model and year. CarTold does not pass a VIN, entered mileage or fuel price in these events. The page address supplied by CarTold excludes query parameters and fragments; its custom source-link events send only the source website's name. Google's own measurement features may collect additional interaction details, such as clicked link addresses, depending on the Analytics configuration. Google can also receive technical information, including your IP address.

The site saves this analytics choice in local storage. Use Cookie choices in the footer to change it. Turning analytics off stops new CarTold events, removes CarTold's Google Analytics cookies where accessible, and reloads the page without the analytics script. If browser storage is unavailable, the choice applies only to the current page. Clearing CarTold's site data also removes checklist ticks. Google provides an Analytics opt-out browser add-on.

Advertising and Google AdSense

CarTold uses Google AdSense to show advertising. Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this website or other websites. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on those visits.

You can opt out of personalized advertising in Google's Ads Settings. You can also opt out of some third-party vendors' use of cookies for personalized advertising at www.aboutads.info. Google explains how it uses cookies in advertising and how it uses information from partner sites.

Where consent is required, CarTold asks for it through the site's consent banner before advertising cookies are used. You can change your choice at any time with Cookie choices in the footer.

Questions

CarTold is intended for an adult used-car buying audience. Send questions about this policy to [email protected].