About Truth Trade

Truth Trade exists to bring honesty and transparency to buying a used car. We talk to the person who knows the car best, its previous owner, so you can walk into the dealership knowing what the listing doesn’t tell you.

Who we are

Truth Trade is a Florida-based vehicle investigation service. Our team researches pre-owned cars for sale at dealerships, and every report is handled by a Florida-licensed private investigator. Each report is built on real conversations and careful research, not an automated database pull.

Why we started Truth Trade

Most used car buyers rely on two things: what the dealership says, and a vehicle history report. Both are useful, but they only show what was formally reported. They can’t tell you why a car was traded in, whether a repair was paid for out of pocket, or how it was really driven and cared for.

The person who can answer those questions is the one who owned it. Until now, buyers had no practical way to reach them. That’s the gap we fill.

What makes a Truth Trade report different

How an investigation works

1. 1
   You tell us about the car.Paste the listing link or the VIN, the dealership and the listed price. About two minutes.
2. 2
   We find the last owner.Using licensed, lawful investigative methods, we identify the car’s last registered owner and start reaching out within 36 hours. 18 hours with Rush.
3. 3
   We have the conversation.We ask about the car’s history, problems, repairs, maintenance and why they traded it in. Then we check what we can against independent sources.
4. 4
   You get a clear report.A PDF arrives in your email with the bottom line, the markup, key findings, open recalls, known problems for that model and what to ask before you buy.

What’s in your report

A five-page PDF, written in plain English, about one car. It opens with the bottom line: our read on the car in three sentences, and the markup, meaning what the dealer paid the previous owner next to what they are asking you. Then it covers:

• What the previous owner told us: why they let the car go, what broke, what was repaired, how it was maintained and how it was driven, each point marked Verified or Owner-reported.
• Where the listing and the owner disagree, so you know what to ask about.
• What we dig up on that model: open recalls, the problems that model year is known for, and how much factory warranty is left.
• Before you buy: what to ask the dealer and what to have your mechanic check, plus well-reviewed independent shops near the dealership.

The report shows what we learned. If a topic never came up, it is left out rather than padded.

Open the full sample report (PDF) →

Respect for previous owners

Previous owners are doing buyers a favor, and we treat them that way. Talking with us is always voluntary. We explain who we are and why we’re calling, we record a call only with permission, and we stop reaching out the moment someone asks. Owners’ names and contact details never appear in a report and are never shared with buyers or dealerships, and we never tell an owner who ordered the report. We follow the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act and Florida’s private investigator laws. You can read more in our Privacy Policy.

Our promise to you

The details are in our Refund Policy.

Where we work

We investigate pre-owned vehicles for sale at dealerships in 41 states, and our customers can live anywhere in the U.S. We don’t currently take orders for cars at dealerships in California, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont or Washington, and we don’t investigate new cars or private-party sales.